by Carrie Wells
There is a belief in Ghana that if you do not work, you do not deserve to eat. From what I have seen, everyone works hard; men pull in fish eight hours a day, and women chop wood, and fetch food and water shortly after giving birth.
This morning my team toured Blekuso, with the village elders, to understand the opportunities for tourism, which would be a new way of life for these Ghanians.
As I look at the children, I think, they are the ones who will be impacted. Perhaps fishing or farming will not be their source of income, but instead guiding foreigners through their magnificent area, with its 72 species of migratory birds and endangered marine turtles.
Before this can happen, much needs to be done. Tourists require sanitary conditions. Blekuso, like many communities in the Ketu South District does not have adquate services in place for garbage removal. As a result, the people have no choice but to dispose of it in the lagoons. Toilets are another issue. There are not enough and the ones that exist are not clean.
However, for the people of Blelkuso, their top priority is not garbage disposal or new toilets, but a new bridge. They live on the ocean, and the ocean is rising, pulling their community underwater. A bridge will enable them to haul bricks across the lagoon and rebuild on the other side.
It is an enormous challenge, balancing today’s immediate need with the basic requirements for creating an industry that could provide opportunity for thousands in this area. Over the next 3 ½ weeks, we will develop a strategy for achieving both. It will be a multiyear plan, focused on solving the infrastructure issues, and growing the tourism industry over time, enabling a positive change in the living standards the generation of tomorrow.
