Kpano visit
On Sunday I went to visit one of the communities that SIMLI works with called Kpano. SIMLI’s work revolves around "REFLECT" circles, which are basically community meetings which allow everyone to participate and discuss issues concerning them. Each community meets 4 times a week in the evening and they decide on their own discussion topics and any action to be taken etc.
So I went to observe one of these meetings taking place. It was great! They start at 8pm, as by this time everyone has finished cooking and eating and is free to attend. Obviously it’s dark and there is no power in most of the rural communities, so we all met around 1 kerosene latern. They start the meeting with singing and dancing.
On Sunday the topic was water. They are particularly concerned because the rains are late in coming this year which affects their farming. So there was some general discussion about this and some key points were written on a blackboard. These points were then used to practice reading and writing, as adult literacy is less than 10%. 
It was really amazing to watch - women, men and children all equal, trying to read the words. Then they got me up to read it, in Dagbani, which provided some entertainment! They also forced me to dance some traditional dances and play some games which was pretty funny too, but everyone seems to appreciate me trying!
I even got to meet the village chief who was lovely and spoke amazing English. I had to present him with some money and kola nuts. Also, when you greet an elder, especially a chief, you have to crouch right down as a sign of respect. The chief was sitting on a raised platform, which accentuates this submission to him, I guess. This particular chief has a horse which has it’s own house and you even have to crouch down and take your shoes off to greet the horse!!
