When tourism delivered a health centre for a welcoming community…by PaJohn Dadson
When tourism delivered a health centre for a welcoming community…by PaJohn Dadson
It had always been the inhabitant’s dream to have a health post. Then, Jolinaiko Eco Tours, searching for an authentic community where they could offer tourists a glimpse of traditional African life and spark a feeling of pride in its inhabitants through tourism, came across the town, adopted the Atsiekpoe community in the Vome District in the Volta Region, and decided to build their corporate social responsibility programme there. The conclusion was unanimous when health was settled on. It was very easy for everyone to agree, after a myriad of consultations with each focus group, that what they would really like the tourism people from Jolinaiko to help them acquire was a health post. So together with his wife, co-founders and owners, Cindy and Apollo Panou rolled up their sleeves and though it took them some eight years to complete in 2022, they finally handed over a beautiful building to be turned into a clinic. PaJohn Dadson attended the handing over ceremony.
Atsiekpoe is a typical example of an obscure serene community, like many in the country that doesn’t have any obvious touristic attractions, but lays within an environment that can be intrinsically developed and curated into a fantastic off-the-beaten-tracks destination. It has a water body! That’s almost enough for any creative to design so many fascinating itineraries here. Then, it has traditions with folk who tell beautiful stories of how things have been before. With that third eye, it is easy to fall in love with this place.
That certain calming serenity about the village of Atsiekpoe, cradled along the southern edge of the River Volta, is what so endears it to many. Like other settlements in the Volta Region, which consistently win the ‘cleanliness award’, this community is a model settlement where the life of the people is not hurried, and very communal.
Atsiekpoe literally means “Home of the cashew tree”, pronounced “a-tjémpe”!
Lying on the opposite side of the river bank from the villages of Aveyime and Battor, the location is quite unique. Just one and a half hours drive from the hectic traffic of Accra via the Tema-Akosombo road, you can also access it from Aveyime, where you will need to cross the Volta River by ferry-canoe. Once there, surrounded by beautiful nature, you will find your peaceful place.
The main economical activities here are farming (cassava, maize, peanuts), fishing (tilapia and shrimps) and trading. Local life is very much centred on the river where local fishermen prepare their boats and nets, children play and swim, and women do their laundry, and their homes, consisting largely of termite clay houses with thatched roofs, are always immaculately tidy.
Also, craftwork is another important source of livelihood. The local people weave baskets and mats from palm branches. And the blacksmith follows a century-old process in the production of iron tools. It is a beautiful place for a day return break!
All this is what made it easy for Apollo to convince his team at Jolinaiko to adopt Atsiekpoe community as their pet project. Particularly, the way the community welcomed him with friendliness and invited him to their festival when he was introduced to them was so endearing. Atsiekpoe stood out from other places he considered because of its serene natural environment, the people’s openness toward visitors and a dedication toward its own development, which they demonstrated by raising funds to connect the village to electricity.
When you are inspired, you inspire others. If others are inspired, the impossible becomes possible. This is the mantra of Stepping Stones for Africa, a sister foundation of Jolinaiko Eco Tours, through which they run projects that inspire community development through tourism; and it was easy for the Panous to rally support from near and far to bring their love for the people of Atsiekpoe to bear.
They struck a strong friendship, which very quickly turned into a partnership with the people of Atsiekpoe when they created a little local-style lodge at the riverbank. With this accommodation set up, more and more tourists found their way there, and they began to raise revenue from excursions and such activities, creating additional sources for support from inspired visitors.
The impact of community tourism was also felt in different areas, from the construction of community latrines to the KVIP at the Vome Methodist School, a school exchange and library projects.
There came a time when youths from the JHS had the opportunity to participate in a dance performance in the National Theatre in Accra and also got to expand their worldview by traveling around
Ghana as part of an exchange programme with students from France. All these were programmes activated by ‘Stepping Stones in Africa’.
In 2014, together with Jolinaiko Eco Tours, ‘Stepping Stones for Africa’ adopted a participatory approach to enable a more significant impact on their partner communities in tourism, bringing the community together in a series of sessions to discuss their challenges and prioritise their number one dream project. Unanimously, healthcare delivery and infrastructure was identified, and a clinic or health post became their number one community dream. It was a good dream, but now both Jolinaiko Eco Tours and Stepping Stones for Africa thought perhaps they were biting more than they could chew.
A strategic delegation was set up to visit the district medical offices to share the dream vision with possible stakeholders.
“From talking to medical personnel in the district and witnessing incidents of women giving birth overnight at the riverbank, it became obvious that this community and its environment did indeed need a clinic quite urgently,” noted Cindy.
After the district health directorate confirmed that when a building is constructed, the government would take over the management and run the facility as a public health post, team Jolinaiko and Stepping Stone firmed up their commitment to support Atsiekpoe.
With a clear focus now on building a beautiful clinic together, they generated revenue through tourism by creating more activities, excursions and events which would inspire their networks locally and abroad, encouraging them to participate and contribute. “We believed that more individuals and organisations would join us as time went on, and we never lost hope even when the going was tough,” recounts a delighted Apollo.
The COVID-19 pandemic which collapsed the entire tourism industry slowed things down tremendously. But when they did donate, the generous support came from among others, Stichting Vomm and the
Reformed Church, Heerhugowaard (the Netherlands), the Lincoln Community School and The Swiss Embassy in Accra.
“There were also some individuals, notably the honourable MP for the Vome District, Okudzeto Ablakwa, as well as Isobel Falconar from Scotland, and then Project Maji which added a triple effect by contributing to potable water supply,” added Cindy.
Although the Covid situation has improved, Atsiekpoe as a community tourism destination continues to feel the impact today with challenges on all levels; socially, politically, financially and environmentally. As tour operators covering the entire region of Ghana, Togo and Benin, Jolinaiko recognises the challenges to livelihood and development in this area, and are therefore, particularly proud to celebrate the completion of this project which will indeed go a long way to help. “I feel that the clinic brings dignity to the people of the Vome Constituency, the dignity we all deserve, and this makes me especially proud,” says Cindy.
“Looking back to 2014, life has not been any easier here since we started this journey,” recalls Cindy. “But when we planted the seed, there was unity, understanding, respect, trust and a belief that we can realise dreams together. There was a willingness to sacrifice and nurse that seed.”
Moving forward, as they hand over the new building with new stakeholders and communities in the forefront, it is the wish of team Panou that everyone applies the power of Sankofa and practice; unity, respect, trust and sacrifice. It is indeed their hope that tourism can be used to revive all communities.
Fin
