Ghanaian Greetings: This is what I do

Hello!

I’ve just about finished my third week working at the Christian Rural Aid Network, or CRAN for short, in Cape Coast, Ghana. The experience so far has been interesting and quite the eye-opener to say the least. Let me begin by giving a little information about the organization.

The NGO was started in Germany in the early 1990s and the CRAN office in Ghana was established in 1993, the ultimate aim of CRAN is to promote self-help strategies toward community development and poverty reduction. The NGO has two branches, Microfinance for Development (this is where I am working) and a Social Development program. However, they are also involved in many community outreach projects, including education funding for needy youth and a relatively new project that provides solar lighting for those without access to electricity.

The Microfinance office is a Kiva Field Partner, so U.S. donors fund most of the loans through Kiva. The process, as I understand it, is as follows:

CRAN will send loan officers into different rural villages and interview potential loan recipients. These potential clients will have already established themselves into a small group of anywhere of 10 to 30 members and will receive the loan on a group basis, that way they will keep the others in check and if one should default the others will have the responsibility to repay that persons portion of the loan. The loan officer will then proceed to ask a few general questions about their business, their family, their experience and their plans for the loan. This information is then compiled into a group loan document and then transferred and uploaded onto Kiva’s website for benefactors to view and fund the loans. (This is what I have been doing so far.)

Kiva allows CRAN a $100,000 loan capacity each month, however they have only reached this level a few times. My fellow intern, Rosemary, and myself have made it our goal to reach this amount all three months that we are here. If we are to succeed, Kiva will increase CRAN’s loan capacity. I am really excited because it looks not only like we will reach the $100,000 mark, but we are doing it with a few days to spare, which means we get a head start for on loans for June!!

The general atmosphere in the office is warm and hospitable. Ghanaians are naturally welcoming and always enthusiastic to help us Obrunis, whether we need it or not. (Obruni means foreigner in the local language, but we are often called by this by children and locals to get our attention) Christianity is a huge part of Ghanaian life as well and every morning from 8 to 8:30am we have morning devotion, where we read a passage in the Bible and then some will begin a conversation about the interpretation and the meaning. Also, a small note of appreciation, the office is also air-conditioned! Air is rare in these parts, as I have learned.

I have gotten to know most of the office pretty well in just the few short weeks I’ve been here. This is mostly due to the power outages and slow Internet that allow us to talk more with co-workers. The power outages will happen at random and can sometimes last just a few minutes to the entire day, so sometimes we are not able to get anything done. This is just one of the things I have had to adjust to that I found myself getting very frustrated at in the beginning, but have gradually learned to work around it. I can already feel myself learning to be more patient, and will probably be my most improved personal attributes once I return home.

I should be going out into the field soon interview current clients. The purpose is to check back to see how they are using the loan, how it has improved their lives and their business, and also to educate them more about financial responsibilities and repayment procedures.

I haven’t been able to take very many pictures so far, but I have a couple candid shots around the office.