Malaria Prevention and Management campaign in Nima

We organised today jointly with our partner organisation Infanta Malaria Prevention Foundation (IMPF) a malaria prevention and management event in our community of Nima.

IMPF already helped us design our malaria training curriculum last year and shared with us some of their training tools that we use in our health and hygiene trainings.


This event in Nima consisted in the screening of approximately 150 children through a simple blood test (called Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests) and a training on malaria.
The campaign is the result of a joint effort of both organisations to gather necessary materials to make the tests on one hand (IMPF) and to find a venue and gather the Nima community on that particular day on the other hand (ID-Ghana).

The Mad Masters

Here is a movie by the famous French filmmaker and anthropologist Jean Rouch made in 1955 in Accra, called Les Maîtres Fous (the Mad Masters). The first third of the documentary presented here shows some interesting images of Accra of that period, which is interesting to put in perspective with what Accra is now. Moreover, most of the people shown in the movie were living in Nima, a district where ID-Ghana works today...
"Les Maîtres Fous investigates one African response to colonial oppression. Around 1925 a cult was formed which went by the name of Hauka and whose members were possessed by colonial figures of power. Filmed in Accra, which was at the time the capital of the colonial Gold Coast, Les Maîtres Fous introduces its viewers into the world of Hauka possession ceremonies - a place filled with strange rituals and sometimes shocking practices.
At the request of the Hauka, Rouch attends and films one of their possession ceremonies. As the film progresses and the men in the cult become possessed, the transformation is dramatic. Once possessed, many of the members of the Hauka cult begin drooling, their bodies in a state of paroxysm; some even parade through the compound while burning their own flesh, as proof of the fact that they are no longer human. The apex of the ceremony happens when the Hauka spirits sacrifice and then eat a dog."
Text adapted from maitres-fous.net.You can read more about this movie by clicking here.





YouTube sources: part 1; part 2; part 3.

Nima in Black & White

We received last December the visit of a photojournalist called Guillaume Binet from MYOP photo agency in Paris.
Guillaume has extensively worked on the expansion of cities in the developing world, in Africa and South America more particularly.

He spent a few days in Accra and explored the area of Nima & Mamobi where he took some shots of the people there, many of whom are ID-Ghana partners.
From the lower part of the area where the gutter flows to the uphill side of Kanda highway, the snaps give an insight of the life in Nima and allow the viewers to sense the atmosphere of this historical popular district of Accra, which received as early as the 1910's its first migrants coming from the Sahelian region to work in the the then economically dynamic Gold Coast.
Come and discover the diaporama on MYOP website by clicking here!

The Success Story of March in Ghana

Lardi is 43 years old. She is married with three children. Her hus-band, 48, works with Prudential Bank. She lives in Nima with her family. Her eldest child is 20 and has just completed Senior High School; the second child is 18 and is in Senior High School form 2; the last, 12, is in class 6.

Lardi hails from Kongo in the Upper East Region of Ghana. She migrated to Accra in search of a job. Upon her arrival in Accra she lived with an uncle at 37 Military Hospital until she got a job as a house help. She later left the job because she felt she was made to over work, yet her salary was nothing to write home about. She then started selling ice water, initially in the street, until she met her husband. She later moved from her uncle's house to join her husband at Nima where she has resided since. Even though they changed accommodation a number of times, they have always lived within Nima.
Long after she got married Lardi continued selling ice water until her customers started requesting for minerals. She therefore started saving some money from her profit towards this business venture. After saving for some time, her husband contributed some money to get her start her minerals business. The money however was still not sufficient for her to register with the Coca Cola distributor. It was at that point that she needed a loan to en-able her realise her dream.
Fortunately, she got to know about ID-Ghana. She happened to be living in the same compound house with a brother of Sunday Daa Tii, a Credit Officer of ID-Ghana. She came into contact with Sunday, when he went to visit his brother. Through a conversation she got to know he works with a micro finance organization. She immediately told him about her desire to secure a loan. Sunday was helpful in getting her her first loan and he has continued to be helpful and good to her since.
She received her first loan of GH¢ 30 on 20th, August 2007. With her first loan she was able to register with a Coca Cola truck which supplied her with bottled minerals (sodas). With her subsequent loans of GH¢ 60, GH¢ 100, GH¢ 150, GH¢ 200, GH¢ 250 and GH¢ 400 received between March 2005 and November 2008, she was able to diversify by adding canned minerals and biscuits to her business.
Further, her business has expanded, thanks to the support from ID-Ghana. She has also been able to purchase a glass stand where she now sells very comfortably. Before dealing with ID-Ghana, she made sales of about GH¢ 10 a week. Currently, her sales range between GH¢ 100 and GH¢ 150 a week!
On the issue of trainings received from ID-Ghana, she thinks it is very beneficial since it helped her manage her finances better. In addition to her savings of GH¢ 150 with ID-Ghana, she is able to save with a Susu collector (local traditional savings system) and also has an account with Stanbic Bank.
Today, our financial support has helped her greatly in the payment of her children’s fees. She has been able to buy a lot of kitchen wares which she did not have before. She is also able to support her husband better now.
Her future plan is to save enough money to help her husband to complete a building project which he has not been able to finish due to financial difficulties.

The Success Story of October in Ghana

Mercy is a 53 year old divorced woman. She has two children, the elder 30 and the younger one 23 years old. She comes from Abetifi in the Eastern Region of Ghana. She came to Accra with her husband shortly after they were married and has been living in Nima ever since. Mercy started selling bread and later added a few provisions. She sells at the Nima market. She begins work at 7.00 am and closes at midnight. She got to know ID-Ghana when one of the branches was operating in her church premises. At the time she was in need of a loan to enable her buy her stock in cash instead of on credit. Before she started taking loans from ID-Ghana, she was selling on a table top. She used to buy a few provisions on credit to sell. The maximum quantity of sugar she bought was two tins, and she would then measure it out into smaller consumer quantities for sale. Mercy faced a number of challenges when she was buying on credit. She had to pay a higher price than those buying in cash; preferential treatment was given to those buying in cash, particularly in the case of bread where those buying in cash had the opportunity to select the big-sized loaves before the rest was given out on credit. She was not at all happy with this, so as soon as she got to know of ID-Ghana she immediately seized the opportunity and took a loan to improve her business. She received her first loan of Gh¢25 in October 2003; 2nd loan of Gh¢50 in April 2004; 3rd loan of Gh¢100 in October 2004. She went on to receive her fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth loans in the amounts of Gh¢100, GH¢150, GH¢200, Gh¢200, and GH¢350 between 2005 and August 2008. Thanks to ID-Ghana, she no longer buys her stock on credit. The joyful part is that she no longer sells on table-top. She now sells from her own container shop. Her shop is also well stocked with provisions. She makes weekly sales of Gh¢480 as against Gh¢30 in the days of her table-top business. According to her, she has benefited greatly from the loan. There are even times when she withdraws money from her savings to top-up her capital instead of taking another loan. She does this when the market is not booming. The loan has helped her not only to expand but also to diversify her business. She now sells different kinds of provisions which she wasn’t selling before. Currently, she has savings of Gh¢170... Some of the many improvements in her life are her ability to pay her rent with ease and her ability to sponsor the education of her two grand children aged 7 and 5 years. Her future plan is to establish a tie and dye business. She has had training in this area but has not yet been able to set up due to the capital intensive nature of that business.On the whole she is very happy and says “Ayeekoo” which means well done to all ID-Ghana staff.

Visit of EdM

Frank Renaudin, the Director of Entrepreneurs du Monde and Laëtitia Raginel, the Coordinator of EdM for West-Africa (based in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso) came to Accra for 5 days to get the pulse of the Ghanaian programme.
Their visit was an occasion for Frank to appreciate the progress made by the programme since his last visit in October 2007 while for Laëtitia, it was more of an opportunity to get the grip of her contact with ID-Ghana, her mission being the first to Ghana since her holding of office last November. It was the first time for me as well to receive Frank and Laëtitia on the programme after the visit of the financial staff from Poitier.(Hélène Keraudren & Fathi Nouira) last February, as I was just landing.
Most of our time was spent on field (see photo on top left Frank and Laëtitia in Nima area). We thus visited the branches in Nima-New Town, Madina, Chorkor, Glefe & Agbogbloshie, that is to say 5 out of ID-Ghana’s 7 branches. These visits were not only an opportunity to meet the beneficiaries but also an occasion to interact with staffs of the various branches (like on the right in Madina and in Chorkor). The replication of ASA methodology was the dominant topic as the success if this project is critical to ID-Ghana’s long term success. These discussions were fuelled by the field visit in Madina, where this methodology was implemented in March & in Glefe where the pilot project ASA started in January 2007. In both these cases the interactions with the groups of beneficiaries turned out to be particularly interesting & enriching.
The social mission was equally the centre of the discussions as we attended different sessions of training in Glefe & Chorkor (see photo down left & right). In Glefe itself, some 311 beneficiaries received two trainings each this month (one related to social issues and one related to management of micro businesses). These trainings are carried out by two Trainings Officers who share the work over the7 branches of ID-Ghana.
The visit was completed on a meeting with the staff of the pilot branch of Glefe with whom we laid the foundations of the operations manual of ASA. This manual, whose first version will be ready by mid-April, will incorporate the fruits of more than one year testing and fine-tuning of the Bangladeshi NGO “ASA” methodology in a Ghanaian context. This methodology was initially developed in the 1990’s.

Translated by Promina Tevels

The Success Story of January in Ghana

This month Francisca, the Social Worker of ID-Ghana brought us a story of a woman named Selina Togodui which is really motivating for us. This story is available on the web site of Entrepreneurs du Monde (see ‘Our Actions\Success Stories’ on the central section of the home page or click here).
“My name is Selina Togodui. I am 39years old. I live with my husband and my 4 children in the area of Nima in Accra.
For the last few years, I own a very chop bar. In the beginning I was only cooking and selling fufu* & banku * under a wooden shelter without walls. In the rainy season it was very difficult to cook in this open space: it was difficult to keep the fire burning. As time went by I developed a clientele who really liked my cuisine and encouraged me to increase the variety of my dishes. In 2005 I really felt like extending my business…I felt I was capable of it, but I badly lacked capital!!!
Fortunately, at this time, a neighbor spoke to me of ID-Ghana and encouraged me to submit my application. I went there and the staff gave me the confidence to develop my project of extension, and they finally trusted me! I obtained my first loan of GH¢ 100/- (€ 70/-) in September 2005 and then another 6 subsequent loans as I my business was developing.
I cook and sell a lot of things now! And as for the shelter, I built a room and a kitchen in concrete blocks in addition to buying chairs and tables. Moreover, I equipped myself with a gas cooking range (instead of using wood) which is more much economical, ecological & practical. My chop bar looks like a real restaurant now and I employ 6 people!
Above all, thanks to this development which I am proud of I have saved some GH¢ 1,392/- (€ 977/-) thanks to ID-Ghana and I send my children to a good school.
Every day I recommend ID-Ghana to all the micro enterprises in my area. Indeed thanks to this organization, I had got the capital to invest in my business, I could put some savings aside and I benefited from the trainings: business management, customer relations but also good hygiene and health habits.
I have only one regret regarding ID-Ghana: for each of my loan application, I was given a lesser amount to what I had requested… Well, I guess it helped me develop my business at a safer pace...”

You may also download this success story in pdf format by clicking here.

Banku: Fermented corn/cassava dough mixed proportionally and cooked in hot water into a smooth whitish consistent paste.
Fufu: boiled cassava, yam, plantain or rice, pounded into a glutinous mass, usually in a giant, wooden mortar and pestle.

Translated by Promina Tevels

Training and orientation of beneficiaries

In order to enable its beneficiaries to use wisely the financial services it offers, ID-Ghana is implementing a major training and guidance programme, in addition to its micro-credit activity. The Social Mission department of the organization has two trainers and one social worker. Each of the trainers is involved in a defined geographical area, covering 2 to 3 branches, while the newly recruited social worker is in charge, among other things, to organize social permanencies at each branch and channel our beneficiaries to the social and health services of Accra.
Apart from trainings, ID-Ghana organizes orientation sessions for the beneficiaries about the credit policy of the NGO, on the use of loans, the management of profit, etc. These orientation sessions are held at the branch premises before the disbursement of the loan, and are delivered by the Branch Manager.
Above, some pictures taken during training / orientation of our beneficiaries in the branch of New Town.

Published by Racine Ly (former Programme Coordinator)