Returning back to the African heritage: the Greenhouse – Karimenga
While the rest of us are busy embracing modern technologies, one man is maintaining the olden cultural practices of pure organic agriculture. Living in a small community of Karimenga in the Northeast Region, Ibrahim comes from Bongo in the Upper East Region of Ghana, where his ancestral heritage is traced. His great grandfather who was captured as a slave just a few moments before the slave trade was abolished, is believed to have been the first man to bring the British to Bongo.
After completing secondary school, Ibrahim was obsessed with farming which was his father’s occupation. He always tried new cultural practices on the plants to see their response and told his father how they could do things differently from the normal practices. Ibrahim has a long track record of volunteering and has been a site guide as well, which explains his passion for ecotourism – and has traveled a lot, including to the Netherlands.
In 2007, Ibrahim decided to start his greenhouse project called ‘friends of the Greenhouse’, which was later registered in 2010 with the Ghana Tourism Authority. His love for art and tourism saw him think of a way he could sell his small community to the rest of the world. Ibrahim amazingly was honored with an award by the Ghana Tourism Authority in 2016 as the ‘best site guide’.
,Communication students, Stephanie Roggekamp and Eline Teunissen from Hodgeschool Journalistiek in the Netherlands are using communication tools to document their experience in Karimenga and the story of the ‘greenhouse’. They have been staying at ‘the greenhouse’ in Karimenga for the past three weeks are volunteers from ‘Meet Africa’ who are on a volunteer trip to the community to learn diverse cultures and inter-continental relations. Prior to their journey to Ghana, they were given some form of orientation to prepare them to fit well when they come. The two did not feel boredom or home-sake as they had already prepared their minds and knew that no matter what, they are going back home. “Staying together as a pair also has helped us a lot and we can easily communicate with each other”. They added.
Stephanie Roggekamp and Eline Teunissen
The two have done a minor course on Global Development Issues which is centered on the SDGs and are therefore using their communication skills to produce a video about ‘the greenhouse’ and the karimenga experience. According to Stephanie and Eline, they saw more than they had thought they will. Traveling in broad daylight from Accra all the way up to the north, they were able to see Ghana and the beautiful landscape and its people. Speaking to Sanatu Zambang’s Zakaria Abdul-Hakim, Eline recommended the hospitality of the community and how they interact with them.
Stephanie said one thing she has learned includes the wise sayings of the people which is not always the case back home. “… Don’t judge people. Coming to Karimenga has taught me that we don’t need luxury (the phones, cars, etc.) to live. From Karimenga, they will come coming to Tamale to stay for two days at Sanatu Zambang Studios, then head over to the Volta Region and finally to Accra for departure back to Holland.
Each room has a bucket and calabash, with which guest bath and a woven basket as a waste bin. ‘Friends of the greenhouse’ has a resting hut with layback stick couches and a dining table, where guests eat. However, guests are only considered a guest at their arrival, where the entry is done. Afterward, they are no more guests, but family. The tourist home has a green farm where vegetables and other crops are cultivated under strict organic processes to feed the family. Everything that is eaten in the home is from the farm, to be sure they don’t eat stuff on which chemicals are applied.
While these may have helped the world in so many ways, they have also exposed the planet to a wide range of global crises including climate change (which has been at the peak for the last five years), environmental pollution, chronic diseases, etc. In Karimenga, one person is revolutionizing agriculture. Even though Ibrahim has been farming since his youthful days and took over from his father in 2000, he finally established an organic farm in 2016.
This was after a sought for land near the White Volta Lake that was on the uplands, such that it cannot be flooded during raining season. The farm supports dry season farming since it has an irrigation pump that supplies it water from the lake.
The 7acre farmland produces several vegetables and cereals all-year-round that feeds his family and some sold in the market. 2acres of the farmland is used for bee rearing. Amazingly, instead of pesticides, the farmer implores the technique of symbiosis, by rearing guinea fowls in the farm, who pick insects from crops as food while, controlling diseases. Manual labor is also used in weeds control using hoes.
From Nijmegen in the Netherlands, Loes Van Mullekom is a special creative artist at the Pompestichting private foundation for Forensic Psychiatry who helps people with physical disabilities to find themselves again. The foundation treats people who are or will be dealing with injustice. Treatment, care, and security are aimed at crime prevention and safe functioning society.
It provides the right balance between safety for society and a new opportunity for patients to change their lives. On January 16, 2020, Loes arrived in Karimenga and will be staying there for six weeks. As a creative artist who uses her art to help patients out of depression and bettering their future by channeling their minds towards a new direction; she has soon realized that she has a lot of impacts to make in Karimenga before she leaves Ghana for the Netherlands.
Loes Van Mullekom is a special creative artist at the Pompestichting private foundation for Forensic Psychiatry
Serving not just as a tourist site, Ibrahim has been able to build a library with reading books and has also built a computer room for the youth in the community to have space for studies and has supported a number of the children through Senior High School. Ibrahim has also with the helped of the community, dug a dam which serves as a source of water for the people. Ibrahim believes in growing together and therefore always want the rest of the community to move along. He tries to share whatever he has with them whether material or knowledge-based. He wants to bring back the spirit of the community.
Staying at the ‘the greenhouse’, she is experiencing the African experience and has been amazed by the hospitality and kindness of the people. To feel the true African spirit, Loes and her colleagues do not wait for someone to cook for them. They cook by themselves and do laundry as well. Loes realized that almost everywhere, there are plastics often from ‘pure water’ sachets thrown away by people. As a challenging issue today, she has started recycling all plastics and other materials such as clay, sticks, old cloths, leather, etc. to make handy crafts from them. This she hopes will boost the craft shop of ‘the greenhouse’ as she will be putting them there to attract more patronage and empower the people. She says she wants to help people in a way that will inspire them because, she cannot solve all the problems nor put money in people’s pockets, but she can change people’s mindsets. She uses natural materials that are ecofriendly to make the products. Loes has so far made a cloth package for cheese, a cap made from cloth, honey stick, wooden package, etc. Her colleagues save the sachets each time they drink water, so she can get enough to make her crafts.
