We ended our tour with a visit to a a women's co-operative near Navrongo. Quoting from the booklet:
Women in Sirigu have a weak social and economic position because of the traditional relations in the family system [dowry, polygamy], the low literacy level and the heavy workload in farming, crafts and household activities. Pottery and wall decoration are activities that provide income and give cultural identity for women in traditional society.
In 1997 SWOPA, the Sirigu Women Organisation for Pottery and Art was established.
The founder of SWOPA. Mme Melanie Kasise, is the first woman of the community who received higher education. She said: "My mother was a famous wall painter and potter. She was able to pay for my school fees through the incomes she earned from pottery. I want to support women in Sirigu to strengthen their position through pottery, art and education"
We took part in a weaving workshop run by 2 local ladies. They took the basket weaving very seriously, and undid and redid much of our work, so we were still there 5 hours later as darkness fell! We finally retired to the dormitory to sleep, but it was the night before the local elections and we were kept awake for much of it by excited shouting about a possible vote-rigging scam, a noisy drunk, cars revving into life, motor bikes roaring, a car alarm that went on for 40 minutes... pity that mosquito nets aren't soundproof!
Next day the weaving ladies were back in Sunday best for the elections.
In theory Sirigu has electricty and running water. In practice the water tank was awaiting a refill and the electricity went off overnight. So Di and I got busy in the morning and took buckets to the borehole to refill the toilet cistern so it would flush, and have (surprisingly warm) bucket showers. Somehow I expected borehole water to be fresh and chilly, but bucket after bucket came up quite tepid.
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