GH2560 cedis worth of donations burning a hole in my pocket!

I have GH2560 burning a hole in my pocket!!

A year ago, I started a campaign to raise funds of GH50 or $25 from 100 people to build a biogas plant for a little farming village in the Upper West Region of the country, estimated at GH5000 then. (See the right-hand top column for all the links). I managed to get some donations in, some contributions, some word-of-mouth support, and a 12 months later, I am ‘stuck’ at GH2560 cedis.

About GH350 of it came from selling our Eco-Poofs – seats made out of discarded car tyres. The rest came from pure contributions directly meant to support the fundraiser, with our biggest support coming from MAKSI Fashion House (they advertised in magazines, online, and gave us a percentage of sales made from part of their clothing range) and Bibie Brew, the legendary Ghanaian musician based in France and recently Ghana (contributed financially, ordered most number of Eco-Poofs for her theatre café in Tesano, Ghana and has offered to buy our eco-rocker which is not yet in production).

I must admit that due to career, parental, and academic responsibilities, I have found it extremely difficult to keep chasing after donations, blasting word out on the social media platforms, and sustaining the momentum with which I started. I am practically my own team for everything happening under this Renewable Energy initiative and within my NGO Energy Solutions Foundation. It is NOT easy. However, every now and then, I do get to take some time off everything and continue the fundraiser, because my research work, advocacy work, and charity work under Environmentalism, Renewable Energy, Bio-Technology Inventions, Climate Change innovations are still going on very strongly – those can be done from practically anywhere. Unlike the fundraising!

Well, bottomline is, I have been wondering how to transform this amount thus far into something beneficial for the village in question: do I use the money to make briquettes and send to them in the village? (Can last the entire village a month – free fuel for cooking and lighting) OR do I hold on to it and keep fundraising (I am unsure when I will hit the target, and if the money will still be sufficient for such a project) OR do I ask my readers and the donors to this fundraiser to guide and counsel me on WHAT TO DO WITH THEIR MONEY??

I somehow liked the last option better, so here I am …. asking ... what will you like me to do with the money you donated to me for the Tuori Biogas project? I really really really want answers and suggestions, even from those who did not donate. After all, there is a lot a young beautiful lady like me can do with GH2560 cedis, and that ish is seriously calling my name!

HELP! or as a former friend of mine once blatantly told me, “Money is never dead. No matter how long you owe someone, the amount is still the same, and money will still exist. You will definitely pay the person that value when the money comes to you. It is not fruit, that it should spoil.” He had just ‘chopped’ my GH800cedis. The reason he is a former friend should now be obvious. Clearly, he’d never heard of bad debts and what they can do to the lender’s state of mind.

If you don’t give me suggestions for this money, this money will become like my former friend’s wise quote … 

They're sitting pretty ... hands folded and placed in-between their legs. They're sitting pretty.

People!! Wharrup? Eh? Kilode? What's good? Que pasa? Comment ca va? And all o' that ... and all o' that!


Mehn, I've got pictures on the 1st ever National (Ghana) Congress on Environment, Water, Sanitation, Science to show y'all ... now where that folder at? 
I'll set it up in a bit soon as I settle, okay? Ha!


Okay! So have you donated to our TUORI Biogas Facility Fundraiser yet?
Why not? Oh.


Please .... my eyes are closed. Before I open them, swivel your lovely eyes up to the top right-hand corner of this page ... yes, this very page ... and softly CLICK on the "Donate" button there ... and D O N A T E.


Donate something people. It takes little effort and time, but impacts these people in Tuori in a big way. If you (still) don't know what I'm talking about, see HERE to read all about this Biogas facility for this struggling little farmstead + cattle ranch up north of my country. 
We raising only $3500, and the team to build it donating their own logistics in support (about $3000) ... but we need your donations to make it happen!


Now, have you finished reading the "HERE" link?
Have you clicked the "Donate" button?
Have you donated?


Now, please tell another body...
     .....
I'll wait for you. Please go tell another body.
............................................
(2 hours later)
All done?


Good. Great. Now .... Ghana has gotten REAL PROGRESS in the bio-diesel direction.
A fabulous guy who has also, like me, fought against the odds for almost 5 years to make it happen, has ACTUALLY produced bio-diesel out of normal palmoil, waste vegetable oil, and is working on a 2500-litre capacity for anyone who wants to/feels like using bio-diesel (available right here in Ghana). 
There is also a brilliant Ghanaian from up North with success in sunflower bio-diesel, though not on the same scale as my friend's palmoil and waste vegetable oil AND any other fat source set-up. (Tell you more in next post). And these two people have met ... and I have met one of them, and we are going to meet together ... and you get the idea.


The side products - glycerin - will be used in creating job opportunities for the people in soap making and body lotion too (I use glycerin often when I'm in Europe 'cus my skin gets very dry) and the palm chaff, palm kernels, palmkernel-nuts - will be used for animal meal AND briquettes!!!! 
More jobs. More sustainability!


The bio-diesel from the palm and the waste vegetable oils and the other sources of fat (I have seen the team and the equipment, people!) CAN be used in diesel generators, diesel cars, diesel motors, diesel commercial processors, diesel everything .... and my engineer partner in Aburi is ready to develop more appropriate technology to meet the bio-diesel team of S. Tawiah  for more innovative machines for power, cooking, burning,lighting that can utilise this.


Side intentions are  ... to use the steam produced from the esterification and other processes ... to also power equipment ... on-site and near-site and off-site!


Oh God! I see the future coming, and it looks so good people! And it looks good Ghana style! 
You cannot imagine how happy, hopeful, and high I have been these past few days, just meeting S. Tawiah, seeing his progress, seeing how my plans, works, and his are dove-tailing ... and the vast opportunities and possibilities.


And y'all know I don't write about just anything ... I write about what I am SURE of, whether that thing is good, or bad ... I am often sure about my facts.
And THIS development I am sure about!


I shall be writing more about this, introducing S.T to you all, and making you part of this incredible journey that is now looking very good.


Now .... back to my TUORI Biogas Fundraiser ... 
I am auctioning an awesome picture from RQV (Rodney Quarcoo Visuals), a popular excellent photographer here in Ghana. 
He donated it in support of the fundraiser! I am so grateful! (visit www.ayigbeboy.com to see some of his work).



I am AUCTIONING it, and the funds will go into the Biogas Fundraiser for Tuori. Please join in the auction too ... see the image of Rodney and the picture in question below: 

Rodney Quarcoo with image he donated to Tuori Biogas Facility Fundraiser ... for auction!

Rodney autographing the picture ... at his studios in Accra.

He calls it "No Parking" and it is the first-ever printout of the image. 
He shot it at dawn at one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Accra called Jamestown, and captured the fishermen about to set off in what looked like an impromptu convoy of fishing boats ... the rising sun ahead, on the horizon. 
I will pay $500 for this in a heartbeat. 
It will come framed, can be FedExed to you, and it is autographed by Rodney himself.


I am also going to try and put it up on e-bay, but if not, email me or comment on here, or GooglePlus me about the auction. 


Current offer is GH200cd for the image. It is still going higher.
Someone out here can do better, and get this actual AUTOGRAPHED Rodney Quarcoo image original that tells people you SUPPORTED a Ghanaian village get a biogas facility!
How cool is that?! Let's do this, people!!
Donate too!


MAKSI, the FashionHouse supporting us also handed over their 1st cheque from a percentage of their clothing line sales that they designed to support everything we're doing here at Energy Solutions Foundation. 


They initially intended to support till August, but they fell in love with what this one woman (me, yes me!) is doing here and decided to extend it indefinitely ... so every 3 months, they intend to donate percentage of their sales.


This first cheque came for GH150cd and I put it into the Tuori Biogas Fundraiser kitty.
We have now raised GH1200 cd with GH3300 more to go! HELP people!
See the image of handover below (forgive the quality. A better one will come.) That's Nana Darkoah Sekyiamah of MAKSI (www.maksiclothing.com) handing over the cheque to me:

Nana Sekyiamah of MAKSI handing over 1st cheque for GH150cd  in support of ESF!

One of the fliers MAKSI has out for their campaign with us (ESF)

... And that's me (sans my spectacles). Hello.

People are struggling really hard with fuel, power, energy sources, comrades.
People are fighting hard to get access to what should not even have to be a problem.
When I was in Lawra, Yargpelle and Tuori, the women would leave home at dawn and go scout for twigs, grass, fallen branches (treasure!) and logs (ooh la la!) and carry them home, getting back about almost noon. Before they go fetch water, come and cook, and take care of the home.
The girls and the women do this. Where is the time to make a career or a job, or even go to school? Where is the peace of mind for developing their community, or even the time?
They come down here in droves and flocks and we wonder why. Their sons, brothers, and fathers might become criminals and attack us in our homes, and we wonder why?


Where is the parliamentarian who talks big and joins a string of big words together, and forgets people are actually dying every single one of the minutes he is spouting rhetoric nonsense right here in Ghana ... from poverty, low standards of living, poor housing, nutrition, education, unemployment??
Where is the policy-maker who has the Energy Bill and Renewable Energy Bill of Ghana sitting in his toilet as spare/emergency wipe, or on the magazine rack as comic material instead of actually working hard to pass the damn thing into law and fine-tune it for the people?
Where are the Ghanaian businessmen and wealthy "boggers" who can come together and help people like me, S. Tawiah, others out there also struggling to develop alternatives and future safeguards as we are doing ... to help us financially, network-wise, contact-wise, investment-wise ... to do this?
Where is the President of Ghana?
Where are you, you the one reading this right now?


Are you going to help? Or are you just gonna sit pretty, and clasp your hands in-between your legs ... looking at me?
ARE YOU JUST GONNA SIT PRETTY? ...


Facebook page : Facebook Page

When i went to Wa ...

On the Black Volta tributary at Lawra (Wa)

A pregnant woman, carrying her firewood find of the day

This has been a long time coming ... the report about what i saw, felt, went through when my not-for-profit took a tip to Wa.
Darn right, it's 3 weeks late! I'm not sorry about that ... i cherished the memories, and held on to it for as long as possible, unwilling to share it with y'all ... for fear the magic and potency will be watered down, then slowly vanish into nothingness.

Am i wacko? Sometimes. So what? I'm liberated. Hehe!!

I had been pining to go up there for a long time, but I was unsure where to start from ... i mean aren't they another country all together? Aren't they so neglected, their foreign aid so squandered and misused by their own political reps, their way of life so retro and impoverished, compared to the rest of the country?

They flock into town, and all we do is make sure the rift which left them hapless, abandoned, frustrated, stuck in a rut ... is still maintained ... so they resort to being porters and 'watchmen', stone-hearted criminals and walking time-bombs riding on motorbikes, with matchets in hand ... blood boiling red-hot in their hearts.

I went up there to see where they come from, and how they come ... where did i start?
From Wa.

Wa ... a green patch in a dustbowl.
Mehn, their shit is tight!

The place is gorgeous ... we went in September (16 - 18th) and it was in the wet season, so it was even more green and gorgeous. 
See the pictures here : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=235017&id=561970996


It is more beautiful than Accra, it has vast swathes of land, has beautiful people, and some amazing tourist spots like the Hippo Sanctuary (a little out of Wa) and the Black Volta tributary at Lawra.
It is full of green places, vast parks and unused lands, good roads linking up everywhere, and trees.

I left town with an OA bus at 10pm from the Circle station, and we travelled through the night, stopping 4 times for passengers to see to their needs. We got to Wa at about 7 am next day, and the arrival spot was right around the Wa-Na's palace.

Unfortunately, that palace is also prey to a terrible chieftaincy dispute, so there are 2 factions fighting over it, and at the time we were in town, the palace had been shut down and declared off-limits, patrolled 24/7 by soldiers, and no photographs allowed to be taken. (we managed to take long-distance ones from the bus though ... what? It's our heritage too!)
We were surprised to hear that apart from the Yaa-Na's brutal murder and consequent chieftaincy dispute, the Wa-Na also had one raging, its public limelight stolen by the Yaa'Na's.
It's unfortunate, and i hope these both are resolved very soon, and very well.

We made our way by taxi to our host's office, Mr. T, and he sent us off promptly to our gest house, just 10 minutes away. We bathed, took a light meal, then hopped into the loaned 4-Wheeler our host lent us ... filled it with fuel, and headed off.

Uncle Dan was our older brother, guide and chauffeur through our 2 day assessment stay in Wa.
He made a few calls and told us he was sending us to see a friend near Yargpelle near WA, for us to talk to him about the real situation on the ground for fuel sources for the people in that district.

Mind you, we were there to assess and prepare for a firewood alternative programme for the people ... since this was one of the major problems they faced ... hiking several kilometres a day for firewood, having little or no electricity in some locations, living hard, impoverished lives, and having no jobs and sources of employment.

So off he cruises, and shortly slows to a halt.
"I have to call a police friend of mine," he says.
"Why?"
"Well, we need a police escort or two, because the route we are about to use is notorious for angry attacks by soime irate youth, and they can brutalize, vandalise, and kill us ...so let me just pass by the market and buy some yams for him, and he'll escort us to Yargpelle."
He says this calmly ... and we can only nod ... our mouths were too dry. With fear and excitement!
Here in Ghana, we're about to see a live movie? Idiot! This is dangerous, you know. Eeeek! But still .... wow!

Okay, adrenaline down ... Uncle Dan, isn't there a way their woes can be addressed?
He shrugs ... they stripped a policeman guarding a Metro Mass bus naked and ordered him to walk 15 kilometres to the nearest town as their nicest gesture ... you care to try it? I don't, he says.

Ooooo boy! Excited!
So we head on, and he makes a few more calls, and whaddayaknow? ... he says the friend we are going to see has just alerted him to another route to use which is safer, so ... whew! ... no more need for police escorts.
Aaaaaawww, shucks! Hehehe.

We got on the highway, and I wished we'd never stop driving ... small dams, little lakes, green stretch upon green stretch, a small airstrip, a large stadium, miles and miles of millet, wheat, corn, and groundnuts ... it was mind-boggling.

So. why.do.the.people.all.migrate.down.bloody.choked.South. to Accra and its hell?
I would stay here anyday ... scrreeech to a halt the swinging music in my head. ... aaaah, if I get a job that can cover my life's expenses.
So that was godammn it!
The only reason these people leave their homes (in Wa, I'm yet to travel to other districts in the Upper and Northern Regions which are more dry and un-green that Wa and find out their problems) and come and endure street life, rape, murder, hunger, teenage pregnancy, and all sorts of hell in Accra ... is because there are not hardly enough sources of employment and income for them.

All the foreign aid, the donors ... all that junk about the North and Upper regions being fed money to develop them ... and all the popular ministers in parliament ... and this ... THIS is still a problem?!

I was choking .... Uncle Dan, this is outrageous!
I was very quiet for the rest of our journey, mulling the senselessness of the whole thing in my Einstein head ... solutions? Solutions? Solutions?
"I wanna be a billionare, sooo freaking bad ... buy all of the things I never had" kept playing in my head ... only this time, I did not want to be on the cover of Forbes magazine, or be by Oprah or other gunk.
I wanted to be a billionare so freaking bad to help this people ... swoom into town and change things overnight for thebetter ... train the people, chage mindsets ... generate a new generation of people to run and propagate this change ... actualise the top-notch potentials glaringly residual in most of our people who are still romantics in a world of canker and gracelessness.

I wanna be a billionaire so freaking bad ... i sang as i watched the magnificent baobabs swing by through the car window, watched the fields of agric, saw several groups of women nd children shuffling along the ears of the road with precious finds of firewood, tattered clothes, lean faces, dead eyes, and ... crushed my heart.

We finally got to Uncle Dan's friend's place.
He was called Francis, one of the heads of Yargpelle, and sitting with him was his best friend, Prince Joshua of Tuori, another village close by ... soon they were joined by another friend, a lecturer at Univ of Development Studies in Wa.

Their story was memorable ... I shall share it in Part 2.
Stay tuned.

But the ruling generation, the one before them, and the generation about to come into power has a lot to pay for, to explain, to make right.
Someone's got to pay for this mess ... and someone's got to turn the tides.

Or we're toast.