Postcards from Dana Perino
Dana Perino is currently traveling through Ghana and Sierra Leone with ONE and sending back daily updates to the Politico. Dana was the White House Press Secretary 2007-2009 and is a Fox News contributor.
Below is her recap from day 1.
“It’s been nearly two years since I’ve been in Ghana, and I’m so glad to arrive to find progress continuing in governance, entrepreneurship and health. I’m here with the ONE campaign’s Women One-to-One initiative, and I’ve joined a diverse group of women for a week’s worth of observing, question-asking, and story-telling. We’re a long way from Washington and the urgent pressures to help Haiti. Several of us remarked today about the situation, knowing there wasn’t much we could do at the moment in Haiti and we’re grateful for all the people from all over the world are doing to rescue the survivors and to try to give them the shelter, clothing, food and medical care they need in the first days after the earthquake. Ghana is being held up as a model of a country that’s turned around remarkably, and perhaps lessons learned here can apply to Haiti and other countries around the world that are rebuilding from strife – from war, natural disaster, disease and/or crushing poverty (though typically it’s a combination of all of these things that leads to terrible living conditions).
“Our week started with a focus on trade, especially what women are doing to build businesses. There are some success stories – we saw two of them: Edtek and Tekura. Both textiles businesses, batiks and woodworking respectively, are doing well despite a lot of obstacles. They are supported by their husbands, as well as by the West Africa Trade Hub (WATH). … One of my favorite moments of the day was asking Josephine, the owner of Tekura about her process – she still has quality control checks at each step in the process…and she does them herself. She’s not about to let a product leave her doors that isn’t up to her standards. Another favorite thing about Ghana is that people regularly use the word “whilst”. What a great word – let’s all start using it more. So – whilst I’m away in Africa, I’ll keep you updated on the Women One-to-One trip…dp.”
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