PAGSUNG in dagbani means ‘good
woman’ and the organisation consists of women from the shea nut pickers and
processors association.The PAGSUNG organisation is focused on empowering women
by providing them with a sustainable livelihood and educating them in key areas
of their choosing such as money management, language skills and marketing.
Here is an introduction to our team in
counterparts:
Nanna
Cat
Our team leaders Cat and Nanna were both ICS
volunteers before taking on their own cohorts. For Cat this is her second time
being a team leader but for Nanna it’s a first (not that you can tell). Although
this team has presented challenges, such as using the entirety of the medical
float at least three times over by the fourth week, they have remained positive
and helped everyone to achieve the team goals. Each of them brings their own
unique style of leadership that all members of the team respond to and enjoy;
as a team we are lucky to have them and couldn't imagine our volunteering
experience with anyone else at the helm.
Matilda
Hattie
Hattie has found a love for the markets here in
Tamale and under Matilda’s tutelage has become a champion negotiator
getting clothes and fabric for less than half the original cost. Hattie is also one of our communication leads
and has miraculously managed to triple the number of followers Pagsung has on
twitter. Matilda may come across as shy but when crossed by a taxi driver
trying to charge to high a fee she comes to life and quickly puts them in their
place. She takes no nonsense but can always be seen with a smile on her
face.
Azara
Hafsa
Hafsa and Azara are
definitely the life of any party and though the group has tried, no consensus
has been reached on which one of them is the loudest. They were made to be each
others counterparts because not only could no one else in the group get a word
in edgeways but no one else could keep up with their either of their dance
moves (which has been proven by a dancing competition). Opinionated,
passionate, hysterical these are just a few of their shared characteristics
which make them invaluable to the team.
Fatahiya
Lizzie
Lizzie holds a
special position within the team as she is the only one with any artistic
ability so her talents are often loaned out to people for their various
projects. Fatty on the other hand has quickly become one of the teams best
pubic speakers, delivering raising awareness sessions in the local language of
dagbani to the Pagsung women. We greatly appreciate both of their skills and
wouldn't be able to run the project half as effectively without them.
Gifty
Zara
Zara and Gifty both have a love for food and
discussing it has been a major point of cultural exchange between the pair. As
of now they have realised that Zara is not a fan of TZ but mostly enjoys
everything else Ghana has to offer and that Gifty is a fan of crisps, especially
pringles, but has an aversion to pizza as she hates cheese. Other than this
Gifty can often be found shepherding Zara around town trying to balance not
losing her with avoiding her getting hit by cars, so far this has been
successful but we’ll see what happens by the end of the 10 weeks.
Zak
Luke
Zak and Luke have quickly become the best of
friends during their placement and the two are generally inseparable. They're
so close that even though their host family provided them with a room each to
use they decided to share so that they can have long discussions before bed.
Always up for a joke the two of them bring some much needed light hearted fun
to the group and are always found making others laugh, even at their own
expense. Although this project will only last 10 weeks we are sure that Zak and
Luke will be lifelong friends, especially as Zak’s already
planning his visit to the UK as the project continues.
Matthew
Matt and Jonathan live in a house that by their
description has about 40 people who either live in the house or come for daily
visits. The two of them are enjoying being a part of an extended family and all
of the chaos that goes along with it. Jonathan, although a man of very few
words, always has something nice to say about everyone and is the perfect
person go to person to cheer people up. Matt is the group organiser, very
adeptly keeping everyone on task, leading by example. Anyone feeling short of
motivation has to look no further than to ask for his help to feel inspired
about the task they are doing.
Rukaya, Maite and Esther have all been
incredibly flexible and adaptable due to the odd numbers of volunteers and are
great assets to the team. Rukaya is the
mother of the group always taking care of everyone and making sure we all have
what we need. Maite is the most experienced volunteer having undertaken similar
placements in the past so she is the person to go to with any questions about
volunteering and living away from home. Esther is the voice of reason within
the group and can always be relied upon to think of a practical solution to any
problem. Overall they are invaluable to the team and we are lucky to have them.
Great blog and lovely introduction to you guys :)
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