Hectic.

Just returned from a trip to the Eastern Region and to be precise, i stayed in a village called Marfo in the Suhum - Kraboa – Coaltar District of Ghana. Wandering what i went to do? That won’t be a problem to narrate. I was part of a team that went to pilot a survey on the LIVING CONDITIONS AND SUSTAINABILITY IN COCOA FARMING (That’s quite a mouthful). I must recognise that many researches have been done in the area of Cocoa but this particular one expands on the variables used in previous surveys a more in-depth. It looks at almost all aspects of concern to the economic welfare of the cocoa farmer vis - a – vis his community and to an extent the nation as a whole. This noble idea should be recognized and receive all the commendation it deserves. The team was made up of Seven (7) members from Harvard and Ten (10) members from ISSER. We had great company from Maja(the leader), Noah, Mauricio, Andrew, David (who taught how to use the word “awesome” often), Leya (pronounced L-E-E-A),and of course my favourite Joe. The guys were great and fun to be with. The pilot itself seemed successful though it came with its own difficulties and bottlenecks. I am pretty sure the Harvard team had a great deal of difficulty to adjust in terms of the accommodation arrangement, and you know why i think so? Because even those of us pretty conversant with situations in rural Ghana barely managed. As to what i think about the questionnaire; well i think it had enough quality in terms of content but the design could be looked at again to make it more interviewer friendly. Designing the grids to fit a landscape portrait may solve the problem somewhat. Of course how could i forget the fact that our bus got stuck in mud on the last day and we all had to push and get it out (great job by the guys!). We’re now looking forward to the main work sometime next month.