The town of Konkonuru lies in the foothills of the Akwapim state, along the road from Accra to Jankama (some 1 ½ hours). Konkonuru has always been referred to as a town as it has just under two thousand inhabitants, with some 300 being 5 years of age or under. It is a young population (70 % within the 16-54 age group) with a male to female ratio 1:3 (RMF:2002). This ratio has occurred as the men seek paying work elsewhere leaving the women and young girls behind to care for house, family and farms.

Since the seventies, access to the town has been via the steep Jankama side using a winding, slippery dirt road, full of ruts and valleys worn by the showers of the rainy season. The land is fertile and the sense of community is traditional. Houses are constructed of swish, concrete and block with a great deal of cement being used for culverts and terracing around buildings.

Konkonuru has an ideal type climate, cooler than Accra all the year round, lying as it does, some 1200 feet above sea level. Allegiance to their traditional leaders and to the Adontehene is still of importance to the people of the town even though political power may have passed onto the government of Ghana

This is a community of highly independent women who continue to strive for economic strength while simultaneously maintaining a strong, functioning family link between the past and the present.
“The economic independence of the Akan woman is well known and any deviations form strictly matrilineal observances is not supported” (1977:1 )

Over the years these women have held fast to the traditional ways of preparing food and that of general child care. This has not, however, made them resistant to new influences. Konkonuru is set in a State which has been influenced by the advent of the missionaries whose work it was to spread the gospel. While doing this, “they developed Twi and Ga as written languages and produced primers, dictionaries and translations of the Bible.” It is significant that our work with Konkonuru intends to build on this rich past continuing a tradition of literature and leadership.

The town is served by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health through the basic, primary and Junior High schools. Child immunizations and vitamin supplements are regular. Most houses have outside kitchens in which food is cooked in traditional style on earthen fireplaces. Sanitation remains an issue to be addressed as pit latrines are available only in some dwellings. Transportation to and from the village is by means of public taxis. Due to the continued migration of men in and out of the community in search of income, children are usually left with in the care of mothers and grandmothers.

Since the intervention of the RMF and the assistance of a neighbour, Mr Papaye (who has now established additional recreational areas and housing for visitors), the road has been paved, there is potable water from our own source, the main road is electrified and the school has been extended to include early childhood education. The school also benefited from the donation of a bus from the Bob Marley Foundation which is used for the school/and the school teachers as well as an income source by providing general transportation around the villages. In addition our Council of elders is now represented through the Chief on the District Assembly.

In August 2002, the RMF conducted an assessment of living conditions in the villages including Konkonuru, as well as the community’s perception of their living conditions. It showed clearly, the inability of the older caregivers to provide nutritional meals for the family due to lack of income, poor traditional farming practices and a tendency to hold on to the tried and tested ways of parenting. In fact in a community meeting held in Konkonuru, caregivers requested RMF to be more pro-active in helping caregivers to bring p their children more in line with advances in international standards.

(1: A history of the people of Konkonuru. The London School of Economics and Political Science, 1997)