2010 Davis Projects for Peace Report

The Conflict-Free Community Initiative, Cornell University Daniel P. Clerk, Ghana, United World College Costa Rica ’08

Section I: Project Summary The principal goal of the Conflict-Free Community Initiative was to find innovative multi-dimensional ways to bring lasting solutions to sporadic conflicts in the of Ghana through the creation of model focal communities. Through radio panel discussions, seminars, hands-on interaction, sanitation activities, healthy competitions and fun games, the project aimed to augment the genial atmosphere within the Tolon-, with support from Davis 100 Projects for Peace and King’s Village, Ghana, an NGO, based in the district, where poverty, deprivation as well as high illiteracy level is so real.

Project Location and Scope The Tolon-Kumbungu District forms 3.9% of the total landmass of the Northern Region; it is bounded to the North by West , East by / and Tamale Metropolis, to the South by Central Gonja and to the West by West Gonja district. It has a projected population of 165,838 (2000 population census) and an annual growth rate of 2.9%. Most of the settlements are scattered and the inhabitants are mainly subsistence farmers. Overall, the project covered about seventeen communities/villages (an expansion from the initial ten) throughout the month of June. These were Bontanga, Yipielgu, Saakuba, Wuba, Gbugli, Kukuo, Jegbo Gbulago, Tiring, Tibung, Kumbungu, Gizaa, Voggu, Kushibo, Kpalsogu, Bagurugu, Kpiegu and Zangbalang.

Project Details On arrival, the project team held initial planning meetings to map out the activities. They were spearheaded by Mr. Moses Yahaya, Deputy Project Coordinator of the King’s Village, Ghana who as an indigene of the district, knows the northern landscape and has an excellent understanding of the area’s culture. Others in the project team were Terry and Ann Carpenter from Nottingham, UK who are involved in clean water and sanitation programmes and helped with that aspect of the project. Mrs. Gloria Clerk, a counsellor from the Ghana Education Service (GES) provided her expertise in educational activism at the grassroots. Dr. James Duah of the King’s Medical Centre served as project mentor/ advisor. I coordinated different segments of the initiative together with community and opinion leaders.

The first step of the scheme was to have a radio panel discussion with other members of the project team, on the importance of peace and the effects of conflict on society at Simli Radio (95.3 FM) located in Dalun, an affiliate of Ghana Developing Communities Association (GDCA). It was followed by my announcement of the line-up of activities for the project, while Mr. Yahaya went out to the communities to brief and get volunteers for the programme, particularly the seminars.

The lecture series on peace began the following week with the volunteers from the villages. It was an open, informal and light-hearted family-style discussion. The high turnout of women for the function coupled with participant input was very encouraging. We had previously been informed that many would not attend due to the farming season, and therefore many were out on their farms. Many attendees pointed out that peace was not just the absence of conflict, but also included good health, education, poverty eradication, environmental preservation, friendship and long-term development. Others said that conflict sometimes arose through idleness during the off-farming season when many of the youth had nothing to do. During the conference, prayers were said by both Christian and Muslim leaders to foster camaraderie. The meetings were convened in English and Dagbani (local language of Dagbon State) with Mr. Yahaya acting as interpreter. Watch-dog arbitration committees were also formed.

In the evenings, we went to the villages to show documentaries on peace. We improvised in several villages using a white flour sack for a screen. A generator was used at all the communities as there was

The Conflict-Free Community Initiative

2010 Davis Projects for Peace Report no electricity. On one occasion, the fuse of the, generator blew out, thus changing our evening’s plans. These small setbacks and challenges allowed the project to be more flexible. Also, the distances between villages were great (sometimes over 70km or 43.5mi) which posed great transportation problems.

For the next two weeks, we visited all seventeen villages to discuss communal cleanliness through the Water and Sanitation (WATSAN) Committees led by Terry and Ann Carpenter. The clean-ups included desilting of stagnant gutters and flooded land space where mosquitoes were breeding, construction of soakaways behind bathrooms and weeding and sweeping of bushy surroundings. King’s Village Ghana had implemented several extensive projects which have been further strengthened by the initiative.

The third phase of the project was the study tours. We started with the King’s School, a department of the NGO where resource persons and I were invited by acting school headmistress, Missionary ‘Efua’ Gye Won Jang of Seoul, South Korea to talk to school children on the power of education in creating world peace. We presented educational materials on HIV/AIDS and drug abuse as well as board games and mats (for school assembly) to aid in the learning process. The project team interacted with, and presented food items to mothers and their malnourished children at the NGO’s Nutrition Centre. Our group then met with the Saatchi (National Youth Leader) and the regent (Kumbungu-Na) of Kumbungu, the second highest king in Dagbon State, Na Abu Idris II to discuss peace, sanitation and development in the district.

The fourth and final stage of the project was a final assessment of the communities by the project team. It was unanimously decided by community leaders that the villages of Saakuba, Wuba and Yipielgu would take part in the conflict-free community phase of the project. The Peace Tree was planted in each of the 3 villages and christened Goo Zabili (Dagbani for “the tree that separates fight”). Together with chiefs, elders and opinion leaders we erected the conflict-free community metal sign boards in the three villages. We organised two days of sports for the villages. Fun games included tug of war, lime and spoon, needle and thread, sack race, bread eating and apple eating competitions. On the final day, there was a big Unity football/ soccer match between randomly selected teams from the three villages. The Red Team beat the Blue Team to win the inaugural Peace Cup which will now become an annual affair. There was great fun.

Section II: Project Results The participants widely expressed satisfaction with the depth of the project. Many, especially the chiefs, said they had never seen so much community involvement. One chief promised to make it a part of the annual Fire (Bugum) Festival. The feedback from the seminar was really heart-warming. They clamoured for more of such activities in the future. Others requested that future schemes should include tackling of rampant snake bites on farms during the rainy season through the provision of rain boots and gloves. As mentioned previously, the games would be held yearly during the off-farming dry season in January. King’s Village has also promised to expand the games to include several villages to form colt leagues.

Implications for Peace Peace, in its purest form, embodies a place of gentle waters where all conflict-free elements of life and society such as social stability and overall well-being come together.

Evidently, several activities of the project have unified the communities in the short term. The planting of the Peace Tree will be a permanent reminder of how this project in its own tiny way has initiated constructive dialogue within the area. Most certainly, there will be a positive chain effect in other districts in the region in the long term. With the help of future fund-raising efforts, the project will be sustained.

Whilst occasional quarrels may be part of human nature, I have learnt through this pilot grassroots project that, even litigants, yearn for peace. This was best summed up after a video show event in a village, when many children happily yelled into the night, “We want peace!” in Dagbani. Perhaps, each remote village in the northern Ghanaian corridor represents an oasis of peace in a desert of disparities. Like the children who cry for peace, the socio economic playing field waits to be evened out.

The Conflict-Free Community Initiative

2010 Davis Projects for Peace Report

Participants of Peace and Conflict Resolution Lecture Series

Kick-off before the Unity Football/Soccer Match

Erection of the “Conflict-Free Community” Signboard in the Village of Wuba with chief and elders Photographs by Martha S. Clerk

The Conflict-Free Community Initiative