Think Creative Spring 2022

Building Community

Chief Mahamudu Alburi-Hammah was surprised when a team arrived at his com pound with a curious request. They wanted to interview him about the relationship between ethnic Fulbe and non-Fulbe in his communi ties in the area. The outsider interviewers, called enumera tors, from the NGO SAVE Ghana, also sought Alburi-Hammah’s permission to distribute questionnaires to a selection of residents in the 61 communities of his chiefdom. The ques tionnaires were about residents’ social and economic contributions to the region, as well as the years of discrimination and marginaliza tion they have suffered. “It was the first time that someonewas in terviewingme, so I was a bit shy and afraid at the same time,” recalledAlburi-Hammah, a traditional Fulbe leader inGhana’s UpperWest Region. “I was not surewhether granting the in

How a survey reduced ethnic strife in Ghana

By Atiewin Mbillah-Lawson

Photo by Erick Gibson

20 | Think Creative | Spring 2022