Roads...

Roadways are very interesting here in the northern region.

I have continued to spend more and more time in the district interviewing communities and most recently looking into specific issues like high fluoride bore holes and faulty installations. The roadways have proved more and more interesting the further out they are from the regional capital and the further it is into the rainy season. Paved roads are the exception rather than the rule which is no big deal but if they are not paved it only takes one or two good rains before a passable road is deemed only passable by foot. This of course is assuming it was relatively well taken care of before the rains. Some communities are so far off the “main” roads that a foot path is the only real way to get into the village and this may mean a 1 hour hike.

Recently I was in a district near the Togo border and needed to visit a village on the other side of the River Oti. The river is quite large and there is no bridge over it in this district. Luckily the partner organization that NORWASP was working with had motorcycles and one of their field staff, Annas, was from the same village so he volunteered to take me there. So off I went on the back of the “moto” for about 45 minutes along a relatively well maintained dirt road until it suddenly stops at what appears to be a cliff. So I hope off and Annas edges the bike closer to the rim of the ravine that leads down to the river. Soon enough though a man who I later discover is a boatman arrives at the top and grabs the bike from Annas and lowers it down the very steep slope. At the bottom there are three long dug out canoes, two of which are loaded with bicycles and passengers and are headed across the river. On the other bank about 100 meters away I can see a few other travelers waiting to come the other way. The boatman, with some assistance, picks the moto up and balances it into the canoe then gestures for me and Annas to get in. I few other passengers load in and the boatman moves to his position at the back of the craft. Another boatman pushes the craft from shore and we make our way across the river. At about the midway point we pass one of the other canoes full of bicycles and travelers moving in the opposite direction. Soon enough the boatman beaches our canoe on the other bank and I hop out. Oh year along the way they are telling me of all the crocodiles that are in the water and that I should jump in and take a swim. I’m not sure if they are serious or just trying to get me going. Anyways on the other side they haul the moto out and ride it up the steep slope to the top of the ravine. We pay the set fare and promise to meet them on the way back out. I hope they keep their promise as they are the only way across the river. Another 20 minute ride and we are at the community. I do my interaction with them and on the way back it is basically the same experience. Overall it was really quite fun.

The next week I was even further away from Tamale in a district called Zabzugu. This district had the worst roads I have seen thus far it took about 2 and a half hours just to get to the district and the roads to the district capital were sign of interesting events ahead. The majority of them are questionably passable by truck or motorcycle. For one village I went to with a different partner organization we had about an hour truck ride across some “roads” I’m sure are deemed impassable and was sure more than once that we were to get stuck. This was some serious off-roading by Canadian standards. Then after we deemed we could not go any further another 45 minutes on the back of a motorcycle across a dirt foot path that I really wasn’t sure was there at times until we had to give up the moto. Then a 150 meter trudge through a thigh deep stream that appears during that rains. Followed by a 30 minute walk into the actual community. Then the same thing on the way out. Another fun experience overall.

Although for me it really seemed like an adventure it did highlight another majour struggle.

Imagine getting seriously sick in one of these communities?

More than likely you don’t have access to a motorized vehicle immediately and even if you did in the rainy season it way not help that much. It could literally take you hours or even days before you made it to a majour road or crossing to try and get a lift to the closest trained medical care. Infrastructure really needs to be improved to help allow access to better healthcare, access to education and markets along with many other things. Hopefully, with debt relief and the liberated income this generates, this can be one of the things that the government can work on improving. Of course, this is just my humble opinion on one thing that debt relief and the freed income generated can assist in I am sure much greater minds are thinking on this issue who are much more aware of the complexities of it all. Regardless, a simple thing like a safe and reliable road to travel on can provide so much more security. Improved access to food supply as travel is made more easy, improved education as teachers can now travel to more remote areas or will actually live there, and improved access to healthcare to name but a few. It is funny the things that we take for granted. In Ontario at least, you would be hard pressed to find a road that is impassable for 4 months of the year and only marginally passable the remainder. Even in the winter it doesn’t take long before people are complaining that no one has plowed there residential street of about 40 homes imagine if this were the case for the main arterial road?

Just something to think about.

Take care and God Bless,

Jason