Nurses Protest Over Allowances and I Just Kind of Tag Along

Earlier this week I was finally allowed out of the newsroom to cover a demonstration.

Long story short: Nursing students in Ghana are supposed to be paid allowances by the government while they're in school to help cover the cost of school fees, books, food, etc. but the governments hasn't paid up in about two years. The demonstration met at Circle, a pretty big transportation and market center in Accra, and from there walked a few miles (or at least it felt like that far) down to a large field where they presented their petition to the Deputy Minister of Health.

As required, the demonstration was escorted by police officers, but there was nothing violent about the protest at all. As one of the nurses told me, "We are angry, but that doesn't mean we can't have a good time."

As an American, it seemed more like a parade than a protest, at least on the way to where they were planning to present to petition. After they arrived there and the Deputy Minister started talking, it turned into more of what Americans would expect of a demonstration for payment from the government.

Still, there was no violence. Neither police officer nor protestor was pushed, hit, bit, or anything like that. Instead, people were laughing and joking around with each other in between chanting and booing the Deputy Minister (the Minster was supposed to show up herself but sent the Deputy Minister in her place).

One of the things I loved the most about this protest were the many allusions to one of the biggest controversies in Ghana right now, including the one in the picture to the left.

The Ghanaian government just went through with a loan from the World Bank to improve schools. Doesn't seem like something that should cause anyone to get heated, right? Wrong, because part of the loan would go towards providing sanitary pads for young girls in schools.

In a country where talking about women's.... issues.... is a taboo and poverty is high, many people think it's a misuse of public funds, a humiliation of women, sexist towards men ("What do the boys get?"), to name a few responses.

The nurses' point was that the government was willing to pay for sanitary pads but not pay their nursing students, which in my opinion, is pretty valid.

Beyond the experience of the demonstration, I also got the chance to hang out and really talk with one of my coworkers, Ruben. We discussed everything from religion to sports as we made our way to the field and while we were eating lunch, he told me that he, "never had a white friend like this before."

Ruben and I "working"

I've found that my views are very different from my coworkers on, well, most things, but I don't feel ridiculed or excluded because of it. It's a really great work environment, even if it gets a little crazy sometimes.

Internet crashes and my busy work schedule have made it really hard to keep up with my blog, but expect another post after our weekend trip to Kumasi!