Perceived changes in human capital Bongo

The women of Bongo positively looked at the population increase in their villages in recent decades. According to them families are larger now because there is less infant mortality, and therefore more labour is available for farm work. Women value the increased attendance at schools and free access to education. And they very much value the fact that an increased number of women nowadays is better educated and more enlightened. They freely talk about “women empowerment” and they are better aware about health risks and in particular about AIDS, thanks to the introduction of HIV/AIDS education. On the other hand they notice a low participation in development activities among many women, and they criticise the education level of women which is still very low. They note that too many teachers are not indigenous and see it as a sign of low indigenous human capacity. The women fear AIDS and note that it is becoming a problem in society, while it was not there twenty years ago12.

Anafobisi women who were present at the focus group discussions say that polygamy has decreased compared to the 1970s. Due to poverty and external influences most men have reduced the number of wives to 2 or 4 at the

12 _{In appendix 2 more information is given about the health care situation, based on interviews with key persons} and secondary material. In Bongo the health data do not show that HIV/AIDS has become a problem yet. At Bawku Hospital between 1991 and 1998 848 persons tested ‘positive’ on HIV/AIDS.

most. Only chiefs still marry many women if they want to do so. Out of 16 women in the focus group, 4 were in single marriage, 6 were ‘in rivalry’, i.e. polygamous marriage, 4 did not want to tell, while 2 were single. Twenty years ago only men were known to be family heads. Now, in this group of 16 women there were four female heads. Out of the 16 women present only one had ever been to school. Presently all group members with the exception of one, have or had all their children of both sexes in school. The one exception had to remove her children from school because of the inability to cope with school going expenses. Group members narrated that they had suffered numerous humiliations and sometimes thefts and misinformation because they cannot read and write. As a result in spite of the difficulties, they have to struggle and find money to keep their children in school. They sell food and livestock in spite of household food shortages and add money from income generating activities to pay for school expenses for their children. Ten out of the 16 women in the focus group are receiving adult education night classes. They can now write their names, the names of their husbands and children and many more. The informal schools started in 1999. Their only responsibility is to contribute and buy kerosene for the lantern. The people of Anafobisi enjoy two health posts. One is a hospital at Bongo Town and the other is a clinic close to Bongo. The hospital used to be a small health post about 40 years ago, which was expanded into a health centre and recently to a hospital. The women could not remember the year of expansion nor the funding agent. During the last year all the group members claimed they had attended the health posts The clinic was completed five years ago but started operating three years ago. Payment at health centers is a problem now. Balungu women said that more and more children are attending the schools, but the school-fees and the costs of school-uniforms give some parents financial difficulties. Most of the women have not attended school

themselves. A medical centre is near to Longo, but it has not yet been opened. Nobody in the group seems to know the reason of this. When the people need medical treatment, they have to go to the hospital in Bongo.

Bongo men saw a major improvement in ‘lifestyles’, thanks to more exposure to other lifestyles and skills. It gives them “satisfaction and confidence, and a better ability to make decisions and right choices”. They are also convinced that nowadays innovations are accepted more easily and faster than twenty years ago, and they see the increase in education among the youth as a major factor13. The improvements in lifestyles are also visible in improved eating habits and more varied food, which results in an increase in productive capacity. The

improved health situation (health centres, latrines) also results in major economic benefits.

A lot of the men present during the focus group discussions in Balungu started going to school, but some of them stopped because the school was relocated. Some of their village friends managed to go as far as the University but these people are currently not staying in the community. More children are now going to school than in the olden days. Some men used to attend adult education classes at Bongo Town but now they do not attend anymore. However, they are all convinced of the importance of formal education: “ It enlightens you”; “it is an eye opener”; “you can live well and get remittances from your children if they have gone to school”; “you are abreast with development issues nationally and globally”; “you get wiser”; were opinions given about the benefits of the school. However, the men also mentioned some disadvantages: “The knowledge you get might not

necessarily be good”; “the payment of fees is a burden”; “children will not be available for animal rearing”; “school drop-outs create problems and are involved in social vices and are not prepared to work on the farm”. In times of sickness the men from Balungu resort to self-medication first, then call for a medicine man especially during the rainy season and then go to the hospital as a last alternative. In the olden days it was basically self- medication and reliance on the herbalists in the community. In the olden days they had more powerful herbalists than now because the government is encouraging them to go to the hospital and these herbalists have withdrawn. The most common sickness since the olden days is fever/malaria in addition to measles for children. Now they also have Traditional Birth Attendants (and these are both men and women).

Garu

13 _{In appendix 2 more information is provided about education. Statistics show that for Bongo District as a whole} between 1991 and 2001 the number of primary school children increased twofold (to an estimated enrolment rate of 65%), of junior secondary school 2.5-fold and of nursery school sixfold. The increase in the number of primary school girls has been rather spectacular (x 2.9) and there is hardly any difference anymore between school enrolment rates for boys and girls. Data for Anafobisi and Balungu show comparable changes. For Garu and the research villages there no education statistics could be found.

The women from Garu saw as the most important change in human capital that far more women are better educated than in the past. Also the men started their inventory of ‘most positive changes in human capital’ with the increase of the average education level and better access to schools, although they complain about the quality of the teachers. The men added that the new generation has more skills in more diversified forms. People’s health and nutrition status has gone up, thanks to better access to health care and better food. However, the men are worried about the health impact of the fact that traditional values have gone down and about the erosion of knowledge about traditional medicine.

Women from Kugsabilla recalled that in the past formal schools were rare and far away from their community. They were not paying school fees and where there was payment it was done only by their husbands. Not many women did go to school. Some women used to have non-formal education but that has now stopped. Night school still goes on but abates when farming is at its peak. Many of their children do or did go to school, though. A few women said that they were very happy that one can now read the bible in Kusaa. Many women got training in agro-processing and the use of soybeans and regard that as very useful knowledge. In terms of health care the women from Kugsabilla said that two health facilities have just been provided. They can go for treatment and pay later. Many women now combine traditional and formal medicine.

The women in Tambalug said that there was virtually no formal education twenty years ago. Adult literacy classes existed about 6 years ago but they are no longer provided. There are no schools in their village; children go to the nearest school at Namboko (1.5-2 km away). The women said that they had received informal training in soybean cultivation, credit management and improved mud store construction. There is one health post at Garu; most women patronise a herbalist at Namboko.

Among the men in Kugsabilla the discussions in the focus groups mainly centred on the benefits of education. The men agreed that the benefits of the school (and of improved education) were:

• Distance to school has reduced drastically • Schooling has brought enlightenment

• School children can help in the home now due to proximity • The benefits derived from school far outweigh the cost involved

• Through the night school four people have even made it to the university.

The only disadvantage is that the children become troublesome at times because of what they learn at school. From this village four people finished a university degree (one is in Bawku; three elsewhere in Ghana). There are no university students now, but nine villagers study at teacher training colleges. All three teachers in the village school are Kusasi, one from this village, two from outside. There is no health clinic in this village, but one in the neighbouring village. Bawku Hospital is not too far away.

The men from Tambalug said that many children now attend school in Namboko, because there is no school in the village. At least one child per household nowadays attends school. Twenty years ago, only two persons in the village had ever attended school. The men saw as benefits of education that it enhances communication, skills are acquired, it improves agricultural practices, and it enables record keeping. Few men and women in the village can read or write, though, and there is no non-formal education in the village. There is also no hospital, clinic or health centre in the village. The immunisation programme of the government visits the village about once a year, and as a result infant mortality has reduced. For medical care, people visit Garu hospital or local herbalists. Traditional health care is still popular to cure certain diseases. The ‘Cash & Carry’ system (instant payment) of the hospital can make it difficult for people to get access to adequate health care. People pay herbalists in kind (e.g. fowls). Payments to herbalists are not necessarily lower than the hospital bills, but no instant payment is usually required.

2.5 Perceived changes in economic capital