22 January 2025 Part 1 – Workshop with the ICT department of the Catholic University of Ghana, two surprise visits and more
Today we were on the radio, shook hands with the chairman of the Ghanaian Bishops’ Conference, moderated a workshop with the ICT department, visited two clinics, spoke to a midwife and then had dinner in an authentic Ghanaian restaurant. That’s a brief summary of today. It’s unbelievable what we experienced in one day. One report is not enough to tell you all about it, so there are two parts to today’s report.
But first things first: The day began with a 4-hour workshop that we held with the ICT department of the Catholic University in Fiabre. We want to establish a knowledge hub for the north-western part of Ghana at this university. The university is not only a partner in our “1Bed4All” project, but we also want to set up 3 new HITA-PC Labs at this university with a total of almost 200 workstations to support the training of nurses and midwives. This workshop today and the second part tomorrow will serve to lay the foundations for further cooperation. To this end, we want to work with our colleagues to create project management structures that will enable us to carry out our work there.
A first step in this direction was a Gemba walk, i.e. a structured inspection of the existing ICT facilities at the university. A workplace inspection with the aim of observing employees at work, asking them directly about opportunities for improvement in order to ultimately increase the quality or efficiency of their work or service. The term “Gemba Walk” is derived from the Japanese word “Gemba” or “Gembutsu”. This means something like “the actual place”, i.e. where the actual work takes place. In our case, in the server rooms, in the existing computer labs, or generally speaking, wherever ICT is used. It is a simple but effective lean management method that is used to promote the continuous improvement of work processes.
We learnt how sensitive we sometimes have to be with our criticism by a tour of the existing computer labs at CUG. The new lab is the university’s pride and joy. 160 computer workstations have been set up there and are to be equipped with computers in the next few weeks. The first question that comes to mind is how can 160 nurses and midwives manage their tests, which can last up to 4 hours, in such a small room? In 8 rows of 20 seats each, 20 people sit opposite each other in this room. The aim was to be able to conduct as many exams as possible at the same time. How was the problem solved? By reducing the size of the furniture. The work boxes are approx. 60 x 60 cm in size. Because you don’t want to put the computers on the floor because of the dust, you put a large computer across the box, a flat screen in front of it, the keyboard in front of it, and there’s hardly enough room for the mouse. It is absolutely unimaginable for us to work for 4 hours at a time in such a space. When we tried to express our doubts about the usability and ergonomics of the solution, we were met with great consternation. It was only when we tried to work out solutions together that we were able to re-establish a solution-oriented atmosphere. It was clear to everyone that the computer had to be put under the table somehow. As it could not be placed on the floor for the reasons mentioned above, we suggested cutting a kind of shelf and mounting it as high as possible so that the computers could stand on it. Although this considerably restricts the foot space, at least we can ensure a reasonably ergonomic sitting posture. How lucky we are that we have labor law regulations and DIN standards that set out the minimum requirements for the workplace.
We don’t know whether it was a lucky coincidence or why we had the chance to talk to the chairman of the Ghanaian Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, today. After we told him about our activities and problems in his diocese, he promised to support us in all matters.
In return, he asked us, also as operators of the Catholic University of Ghana, to support him in setting up a new medical school at the university. He explained that the aim of the university was to establish a medical school that would meet the highest standards. For him, this naturally includes equipping it with modern e-learning facilities. We promised him that we would be happy to do this as far as we could.
In the background you can see Sister Rena, who runs a large hospital in Berkum, about 1 hour north of Sunyani. We have been in contact with this hospital for several years. We have promised this exemplary hospital 60 beds. All the more reason to finally get them out of the harbor. On Friday, we will visit Sister Rena in her facility to discuss some issues.
What a reception! We had no time at all to get used to this new environment and we were already live on the radio. Adam Siaka, a jack of all trades and head of the radio station, asked us to take a seat in his studio and off we went. “You are listening to Wisdom FM 101.1 and today I welcome two very special guests Thomas Erkert and Daniel Gerlach … ” Adam is a professional, he was really well prepared and asked us questions that went much deeper than a superficial interview. We had just about 15 minutes to answer all his questions in a very relaxed interview “live on air”.