The Brussels Post, 1975-01-01, Page 1ESTABLISHED
1872
russels
104th Year - Issue No. 1.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1, 1975
OS
BRUSSELS
ONTARIO
RESTING -Gerald Bann of Walton, a CUSO.
volunteer in Ghana. reat6, with his inteeotetee and a
local man on: their way to On e'. the villages where
Gerald has ettablithed.demonstratiort plots tei shot,*
farmers how' Id In-Create' .CrOti-
alton man tells
f life in ., Ghana.
•
THE RAINY SEASON — Jerry Baan snapped this picture of. the Ghanaian mission
station where he lives during the 'April to September rainy season. The rain's
onslaught,is pretty hard on the thatched roof building in the rear. Other buildings at
the mission have tin roofs.
THE CHASE — The men in this picture are chasing the bucking cattle beast to the
right of the tree, Jerry Bann explained. The cattle had just been delivered to Jerry's
village in Ghana after a rough ride in an old truck and this particular cattle beast
was mad . The bull never did calm down and eventually had.to be slaughtered for
meat, Jerry said.
MIXING CEMENT Gerald Baan and' a grotip: of Ghanaian MenShOVettand WhiCh
Will be' mixed by .hand intd.dettient for a•garagefouhdatioq, The4rOug built. the new
garage at the bitheran -MittiOrf in WarikpUtuga 'where Jet* hat .lived for tkivo years.i_
The tin garage roof blew .Off during- a:Stahl eedeotlyr jereygald'wheh. he was, . horrid
, in Walton on -hOliday last Month,
"Home 'for the holidays" is a
popular phrase this time of year.
But one Seaforth area man has
already been home on furlough
• and is gone again. Jerry Baan will
be spending his Christmas
holidays in a small village in
Northern. Ghana, West Africa,
where he is a CUSO volunteer.
A CUSO is a non-sectarian
Canadian -organization. which
operates in many parts of the
world.
Jerry, a son of Mr. and Mrs.
Martin Baan of Walton, was
hoMe for several weeks in.
October and early November on .
his first 'visit since he arrived in
Ghana in September 1972. Jerry
is full of enthusiasm, about his
work in Africa.' He is so
enthusiastic that he is seriously
thinking of going back to Ghana
or Somewhere in Africa when his
time with CUSO ends a year from
now, after spending some time at
a Bible College in Canada.
Jerry is a deeply .religious
person and he feels that perhaps
work in AFrica might be one way
of piffling his beliefs to work.'
His present work in Ghana is
done in the spirit of Christian
witness, it's obvious from a talk
with the serious young man
'who is a graduate of SDHS.
Jerry works as an
agriculturalist (he is a graduate of
Ridgctown College of
Agriculture) in Bunkpitrugu, a
village of about 2,000 people close'
to the logo border in Northern
Ghana. He is a volunteer with
_Canadian University Services
Overseas but lives at 'a mission
station , of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church of Ghana with
an. American. ir:Ssionary.., and his
wife and three children. The
missionary and his family live in a
house in the AFrican sty le
compound. Jerry - has a robin
near the mission office and eats
ail his meals with the missionary
and his family.
There are - other CUSO
volunteers in Ghana but Jerry,
says he has little contact with
those vim are teachers "they are
mostly in cities and their lives are
very different from - mine".
Volunteers like Jerry who live and
work in agricultural communities
find that they have no typical
working hours. "As long as I am
there, I am working", the young
man says.
Jerry gets up early and he may
spend the morning travelling in
various villages in the area where
he has agricultural demonstration
plots. The Ghanaians in the north
are subsistence farmers and Jerry.
is trying to help them improve
their yields,, by working with new
methods and materials which can
easily be adapted to local
conditions.
He is running. a fertilizer
program, distributing WEst
German made fertilizer at a
subsidized price to local, farmers.
Fertilizer was previously not used
widely. Jerry says that farmers
traditionally work an area of land
until it becomes unfertile and
then they move on to a new plot.
Jerry emphasizes that all the
material things he can help
farmers get are not given away,
but sold, though sometimes at a
subsidized price. Giving , people
things makes them lazy and
dependent and things are
appreciated much more when
people have to work hard to buy
them,. Jerry believes. The worst
legacy the western world could
give to Ghana would be to make
the people there accustomed to
getting something for nothing, he
feels.
. Sending people to teach in
undeveloped countries is much
better than giving handouts;
slowerand 'harder but better in
the long run; Jerry thinks.
Agriculture in his area in
Ghana bears absolutely no
relation to agriculture here, Jerry
' stresses. Even a simple tractor
would not be of a great deal of
use,. considering its huge cost, on
the small subsistence farms.
Jerry's aim is to improve the size
and quality of local crops using
simple, basic methods and some
modern technology.
A big part of his work in Ghana
has been to introduce a well
digging program. Local men have
been trained to construct sanitary
wells and several villages now
have cleitner and safer water as a
result.
A new project he is working on
(Continued on Page 7)
Boy is top
colourer
The huge number of entries in
the Brussels Post Christmas
colouring contest, have 'been
judged-and the winners are, first
prize, Michael Watson, age 11 of
Brussels, second, Sandra
Huether, 8, of Brussel§ and third.
prize, Sandra Turvy, 10,
R.R.2,' Bluevale.
Mrs.Clark Matheson of
Brussels had the big job of sifting
through the many entries and
picking the winners. Entries were
received from,many local children
and from the children of far away
subscribers. Cheques will be
mailed out to the winners and
photos of the fop three. will appear
in next week's Post,