A CARE Germany executive takes new perspective from visit to the field

TWEAPEASE, Ghana — Mornings in this small cocoa-farming community of roughly 65 families begins with the sound of bamboo brooms sweeping red clay, while a minister recites prayers over a loudspeaker. Last month, Stefan Ewers awoke before dawn, peering outside his host family’s residence. The deputy director of CARE International Germany is the grandson of farmers himself. Ewers had experienced rural life many times before, but never rural Ghana. “I’m really excited to work in the field,” he told Devex. Ewers visited Ghana as part of the Exposure and Dialogue Programme, a weeklong leaders training that connects senior-level German aid workers, government officials, members of the private sector, aid recipients and senior officials in developing countries. The program begins with a visit to a rural cocoa-growing community, where topics such as wealth and social justice play out in real time. Following the “exposure” visit, participants offer feedback to local aid, government and private sector representatives. Over the course of his 72-hour visit to Tweapease, Ewers told Devex his perspective shifted. An aid executive used to city life in Germany, his immersion was a reminder of the individual lives and families behind each aid intervention. Terms such as “beneficiaries” and “stakeholders” — common in his usual work — “don’t tell you anything about about the people behind it — like their daily needs, what makes them sleepless, or what makes them laugh and feel happy,” Ewers explained. Field visits like these, Ewers said, are much needed for senior-level aid workers, who often make program decisions from the comfort of their offices abroad. “I learned personally what’s important and meaningful to the people we serve,” he said. “Now that I’m back home, I still think about how narrow my view was about certain things before.” Village life begins early. The women in his host family, the Marteys, rise by 5 a.m. to sweep the front porch and fetch water. Young men wash their clothes and prepare breakfast porridge. A teenage boy had returned from fetching a 20-liter basin of water from a well about a half-mile away as Ewers was just waking up on the twin-sized mattress that had been placed on concrete for his visit. Ewers overflowed with curiosity and excitement, eager to experience life as a cocoa farmer. He arrived at the water well before sunrise, leveraging all his strength to pull water up from 20 feet below. Filling his small bucket, Ewers resolved to carry the water back home balanced on his head, imitating what he had seen others doing. “This is harder than it looks,” he commented, gripping the silver pail. Winded by the time he reached his host family with the water, the day was just beginning. Ewers would continue his day participating in the local Community Development Committee meeting, where residents discussed the completion of a teachers’ living quarters to help attract high-quality teachers to their community. From there, he visited a demonstration field to learn best agricultural practices. Local residents demonstrated how to determine ripe from spoiled cocoa pods and how to remove them from the highest branches. Ewers was then invited to the home of Justice Appiah, a local cocoa farmer whose home smelled rich with the cocoa beans he had begun drying the day before. Once removed from their pods, cocoa beans are fermented over a period of three days before being placed on bamboo racks in direct sunlight to dry for about a week. Each day during drying, the beans must be handled every half hour to ensure they dry on all sides. In the days to come, Ewers would meet with the Tweapease Cocoa Youth Club to learn how young farmers sustain themselves during non-harvest times. They shared ideas of starting a collective vegetable farm, and discussed how each person would be expected to participate in all aspects, from planting to harvesting to maintenance. Ewers visited the nearby school to hear why teachers were planning to transfer to the city, and how this would affect students. He even practiced pounding palm nuts that were being crushed to make cooking oil. He also helped his host family harvest their last of this season’s ripened cocoa pods. Reflecting on the visit, Ewers recalled his own experience working with CARE as an intern in the programs department. “At that time, I was attracted by the idea of doing something to make the world a better place,” he said. “And not just for the happy few in the developed countries, but for everybody.” He was most fascinated by what could be achieved by aid work, particularly to improve the lives of women and children. After 10 years in the development industry working as an auditor, he ended up back at CARE and eventually rose to deputy director and board member. The visit to Tweapease was a chance for Ewers to see that positive impact firsthand once more. He was surprised to learn that prior to three years ago, Tweapease didn’t have electricity, a basic amenity provided as part of the Cocoa Life project. The project had also funded a new school building, set to be outfitted with a tech-equipped lab and library. Still, Ewers’ fondest memory from Tweapease was the village’s emphasis on social family life, he told Devex. “The best thing was when I got the impression that they really didn’t see us anymore as foreigners. Even in the evening and night discussions, I felt like we really belonged together.” Though he couldn’t understand the language, he said he felt included in what people were laughing about. The experience gives him a new perspective when making project decisions, he said. Whether proposing a project budget or considering action items, Ewers told Devex, this visit has better equipped him to lead his team. “Whenever I have to decide on a project now, I will picture the faces of my host family.” Editor’s note: The Exposure and Dialogue Programme facilitated Devex's travel and logistics for this reporting. However, Devex maintains full editorial control of the content. Read more international development news online, and subscribe to The Development Newswire to receive the latest from the world’s leading donors and decision-makers — emailed to you free every business day.