Thankyou, whoever you are
on Anthony Lovat in Bolgatanga (Ghana), 21/Oct/2010 16:31, 34 days ago
It all started early in September when Aidan, a VSO volunteer living in Koforidua, a bustling town nestled in the lush green hills of the Eastern Region above Accra, sent an e mail round to all the VSO volunteers in Ghana. On a recent trip back home to England, he told us, a generous benefactor that he knows personally gave him roughly£20,000 as a ‘gift for Ghana’. This benefactor entrusted Aidan with spending the money wisely, thereby bypassing the bureaucracy and inefficiency of many NGOs. Aidan is a professional financial manager so is used to handling large sums of money. Nonetheless, he admitted to struggling with the responsibility that comes with such a fortune. Many, perhaps most Ghanaians will not make so much money in their lifetimes. It was like being the secret millionaire, Aidan told me.Aidan therefore asked for development projects that could be undertaken by groups working with volunteers. I immediately wondered if TangaCulture might be a good vehicle to conduct a worthy project, thereby also helping kit out the group with badly needed equipment.I sat down with Kwesi, Joe and Culture to talk about the proposition. Culture has often talked, in dreamy and emotive rants, about helping‘street children’ in Bolgatanga. As a former street child himself, an NGO called ‘Afrikids’ gave Culture a decent start in life, shelter and a basic education. Music has been a life-enriching skill for Culture. As well as being enjoyable, it has provided opportunities to travel, to earn money and to raise himself in the esteem of the community. Culture is a successful former street-child. He has a house, a business and is supporting a young family. He has a story that should be inspirational to young people born into similarly unfortunate circumstances. Projects to support Bolgatanga’s street children should not necessarily be run by foreigners and the Ghanaian middle class, as is the position now. The most successful projects to help the underprivileged, as in the UK, are likely to involve individuals who know what it is like to be in that unfortunate situation.Based on our discussions, I wrote and submitted a proposal. Firstly, I said, we could link with Atia, an Afrikids teacher who happens to drink in the same spot as Kwesi and Donatus. He takes a group of children on Tuesday and Thursday evenings to teach them reading, writing and arithmetic. They don’t always come, he told us. They often prefer to stay in the lorry park, earning a few coins by working as head porters. TangaCulture would teach them music on Fridays – training them up to a standard where we can stage a concert. This would build the confidence of the students, promote a network of support, raise the profile of their situation and encourage them to study hard with Atia.Secondly, now we have the contacts and the experience, we thought we could replicate last December’s AIDS awareness programme elsewhere in the region – especially in rural areas with gold mining and the associated clusters of casual migratory labour.Funding would be needed for instruments, amplifiers, microphones and speakers. We, as a group, would be volunteering our time but would then be able to use the instruments to perform in local spots, schools and funerals thereby earning some income that would, we hope, extend the project in the future as well as promote local musical culture.Aidan formed a committee to choose between the projects. After some deliberation, he rang me last Friday to inform me that‘TangaCulture – Musical Empowerment’ has been awarded 3,530GHc (about £1,700).I invited all the members to a meeting at the weekend and broke the news. It was fantastic.A third of the money has been spent already. We have purchased a PA system, a bass amplifier, three microphones, cables, two djembi drums and a calabash shaker. We now have the equipment we need to do the work. Last night was our first rehearsal with all the new toys. Everyone was there and, unusually, everyone was on time. There was no more trying to patch wires together using selotape. There were no more shoving bare wires into sockets. There were no more crap speakers making white noise. We just plugged in, tuned up and started playing.TangaCulture is currently riding on the crest of a wave. We’re all hugely excited and looking forward to our first fully kitted out gig on Saturday. We are meeting the first group of street children this evening and shall be starting the Friday sessions with them next week.Philanthropy is, for many, a difficult concept to fully understand. It doesn’t sit easily in capitalist economic thinking where selfishness and greed are regarded as mankind’s only motivation. Excuses must be made for it as a human affliction. Perhaps, it is argued, the donor or, as they are derogatorily referred to as, the ‘do-gooder’ receives something in return –increased status within the community or an increased level of ‘social capital’. Perhaps the motivation to give is simply a question of body chemistry – a shot of serotonin inducing the warm fuzzy feeling associated with an act of kindness.The anonymous philanthropist who gave Aidan the‘gift for Ghana’ is, undoubtedly, a wealthy and therefore powerful man. His money goes a long way but philanthropy is not the preserve of the super-rich. Many ordinary people, even in these ‘difficult economic times’, still manage to curtail their own accumulation of material wealth to makea genuine sacrifice to those less fortunate. Cutting back from Kellogg’s cornflakes to Tesco’s cornflakes will, after all, save you more money than many Ghanaians earn in a day. Your definition of ‘super-rich’ is relative. Your definition of ‘difficult economic times’ is relative.Culture has lived much of his life on less than $1 per day. Even now, as a barber earning 20p per haircut, he must work hard to feed his wife and child and the future is far from certain. Nonetheless, he will continue to give his time, effort and money to support TangaCulture as we work to empower the unfortunate street children of Bolgatanga and raise awareness of HIV and AIDs. Culture, despite his poverty, is a philanthropist who thinks of those less fortunate than himself. If you therefore ever hear any cynical remarks about rich philanthropists or any smug jibes at middle class do-gooders, please think of Culture’s example. Please think of our anonymous benefactor’s example. Any gifts to Ghana, the rest of the developing world, and anyone less fortunate than yourself, however big or small, are always appreciated.As Culture announced to the group last night, after we’d finished carefully packing away our precious new equipment: “God must bless that man – your friend – the man who gave us this opportunity.” Everyone nodded in agreement, including me.