July 1982 RAIN Page 13 CHINA WHERE Fusseini and Ann at an Amasaachina meeting Several weeks later the village Amasaachina leaders invited us back to discuss constructing the dam. At this meeting and many others that followed we emphasized that we could only help them with contacts and that all of the money, materials, and initiative would have to come . from them. We asked a hydrological engineer from the I Ghana Irrigation Department to help the village select a I site and supervise the construction of the dam. Fuseini I recommended a contractor that he knew would do a * good job. All during the construction we were the in- ; termediaries between the village, the contractor, and the I engineer. I By the time the dam was completed the community I had developed confidence in itself and in us. That was I the right time for us to step into the role of extension I agents and suggest a project ourselves: planting trees I and grass on the bare walls of the dam to protect it from i siltation and erosion. This suggeshon may not sound ■ very innovative, but it was loaded with cultural meaning. The people of that area have a tradihonal belief that f anyone who plants a tree will die before he or she can enjoy the fruit; but still the elders saw the wisdom in protecting the dam. Their solution was to ask the young people to plant trees in the name of the traditional ruler, who was an old man! The Ghana Forestry Department provided seedlings and they were planted on the next i communal work day. When we left Ghana in October 1981 grass had grown to cover the dam walls, most of the trees had survived, the dam was full of water, and people were coming from neighboring villages to draw from it. When we told the District Council how the village had raised all of the money to construct the dam themselves (about $16,(XX)), the Council was so impressed that it Women carring water from a village dam We encouraged communities to identify and use their strengths to take control of their own development. Borquists Borquists
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