I'm currently sitting in the office of the Uniterra partner organization that I'll be working with for the next 3 weeks in Accra, Ghana: the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). Recognizing a need to strengthen and promote gender equality in the engineering sector in Ghana, they've established a new Women in Engineering (WIE) division and are carrying out activities to reach women who already work in engineering and technology in Ghana, as well as to attract young women to the fields.
My role is to support them in this as a Public Engagement & Advocacy Advisor. It's pretty different from my current job at CMAJ but I'm hoping my previous experience with communications work will mean I can come through for them! I'm already learning a huge amount about the field in Ghana and have some ideas that may be helpful. This week is all about gathering information, next week will be putting ideas together, and in my final week, I'll present the material and offer some capacity-building training.
If it sounds like I've hit the ground running, I have. I was eager to: 3 weeks is really short and I want to use them as fully as I can! I arrived on Monday night and stepped out of the airport into Accra heat and humidity: basically from -20 in Ottawa to +30 in one short (well, 26 -hour!) hop. Staff from the World University Service of Canada in Ghana (WUSC Ghana) were there to meet me (thanks, Yenutien and Mr. Asari!) and take me to the apartment where I'll be staying during my time here. Yenu had also brought me some dinner and breakfast things, because she's a doll.
The very next morning, I went out to the WUSC office for some extremely useful Ghana- and partner-specific training -- and lunch (see below)! I also got to meet up with some of the other WUSC volunteers, who are in Ghana on longer assignments.
Day 1 lunch: jollof and fried rice, chicken, shito sauce (which I've already fallen in love with), fish, plantains and watermelon!
After lunch, we headed to IET for the tripartite meeting -- the first meeting between WUSC, IET and myself -- where we had an initial chat about my mandate. Later this afternoon, I'll be meeting with the female engineer who's a driving force behind IET's WIE division, and talking more with her about next steps.
I haven't seen a whole lot of Accra yet, but I'll be going exploring in the next few days. Watch this space.