A Growing Support Network in Ghana's Volta Region

A town in the Volta Region

Victor Ntumi lived with his grandmother as a young boy. He was keenly aware of the sacrifices that she made to provide him with adequate food, clothing, and education. He grew up and succeeded as a businessman; now, he owns and manages a shop for spare parts in Ho, the center of Ghana's Volta Region. When his establishment could first operate smoothly without his presence, he began working to empower women in his grandmother's position. He founded African Rural Integrated Women Empowerment in Business (AFRIWEB) to share his business acumen with women who receive little training or financial assistance in their own life-sustaining ventures.

Initially, AFRIWEB sought to counterbalance the inequalities and discrimination that women face in the business world. Mr. Ntumi struggled to "help them tap their resources." The limited resources of lower-class rural women are often exhausted on expensive funerals and funeral clothing or converted into golden jewelry that is seldom worn—funerals are enormously important in Ghanaian culture; they are a time when everyone must look their best and seem prosperous.

African AIDS Awareness Team visits the AFRIWEB Office in Ho, Ghana

Mr. Ntumi counseled the women he deals with, "You have the money for your needs. You have misplaced your priorities. Sell your ornaments to school your children." He sought to train needy rural women and to equip them with a mindset that would enable their future success; he stated, "I haven't educated you if you are not ready to apply the measures and make amendments to your lifestyle."

But Mr. Ntumi noticed that something was obstructing his efforts. The crippling expense of living with HIV/AIDS, or caring for someone with HIV/AIDS, was preventing numerous women from achieving anything at all. So, more than two years ago, Mr. Ntumi changed his focus. He and his growing staff are now operating the Volta Regional People Living with AIDS Support group (VORPLAS).

He began work in this challenging field without any formal training. Just four months ago, Mr. Ntumi completed a three-month distance learning course on counseling people with AIDS that was designed and funded by a subsidiary of the UN. He currently supervises the counseling of 350 people. (Of the 350 people in his association, roughly 250 are women and roughly 50 could be considered orphans or vulnerable children.)

GSMF's omnipresent AIDS slogan

He told us, "Many people attend these trainings and then do nothing," which is absolutely true. We spoke with other attendees of the same seminar who have not counseled anyone since their completion. (Training programs and NGO-funded seminars are terribly popular for their per diem allowances and free food; it is disappointingly rare to find attendees who fully exercise their new learning.)

Mr. Ntumi did not build his network of "clients" by sitting in an office beneath his certificate. He knows that it is difficult to attract the attention and earn the trust of people living with AIDS, especially the ones in rural areas who know the least about the disease and have the greatest suspicion of outside intervention. So, he organized animations and small-scale events in dozens of far-flung villages. He traveled to these places and shared information about HIV/AIDS while making available some general medicines for the unwell.

By displaying his generosity and concern, Mr. Ntumi ensured that he would be approached. His network quickly grew larger than he could handle. He began by organizing weekly gatherings of his clients, but he soon had people traveling hundreds of kilometers to throw themselves onto his resources and consolation. There were people sleeping nights in his office and Mr. Ntumi was struggling to help the sick with food and transportation costs. He was forced to reduce the frequency of his gatherings to a monthly basis. He also felt the need to train more counselors.

The long road to rural communities

Now he rents a second office near the market and bus station of Ho. This is staffed by three people living with AIDS who Victor Ntumi has counseled and trained.

Click here for article on Evelyn and Pearl, AFRIWEB staff members

They refer particularly difficult cases to Mr. Ntumi's attention and manage with the rest of the center's visitors as best as possible. This allows Mr. Ntumi to focus on other aspects of his plan. His desire to advance rural women in business remains strong and he is ramping up efforts to train his clients in small-scale, sustainable community business ventures like snail farming and pillow sewing. He is also networking with larger associations, seeking funding for the food and transportation of the people under his care, and working to purchase and promote affordable local medicines that work in concert with the expensive and largely unavailable anti-retroviral drugs.

He diverts profit from his spare parts shop (at least 10% of every month's take) and self-funds an enormous amount of his labor. The Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ghana has agreed to care for the nutritional needs of twenty of his clients—offering multivitamins and similar fare—and the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) assist him with foodstuffs that are made available at the AFRIWEB counseling office.

At first, the Ghana AIDS Commission was providing Mr. Ntumi with modest support; but his organization grew and the Commission shifted its focus toward orphans and vulnerable children, essentially stranding him mid-project. Mr. Ntumi referred to his clients, saying, "I have become their perpetual friend. I can't say the program is finished, so go away."

What Mr. Ntumi needs now is financial assistance. He has spent the last months writing to more than one hundred fifty different organizations, individuals, churches, and businesses. They refer him around and away and he hasn't received anything.

Mr. Ntumi's network seems healthier, happier, larger, better run, and more consistently cared for than many of the networks run by famous NGOs with millions of dollars. He does not lavish money on his offices or his vehicle and his staff have followed his example by contributing their per diem rewards into the fund for the people living with AIDS. He sets a good example and merits help.

To contact Victor Ntumi-Attah you may:

email: afriweb@hotmail.com
telephone: 233 20 8160475
write: PO Box 550, Ho, Ghana

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