CEVA Logistics teamed up with Transaid, the international transport charity, to support a pioneering project in Ghana, Africa.
Shaun Dempsey, operations training coordinator, went out to Ghana for two weeks to work with other professional volunteers to help implement the project. He has over 21 years’ experience of driving and instructing drivers of large goods vehicles in the UK.
Prior to leaving for Ghana, Shaun worked with Andy Jenkins, manager, operations training, to prepare a programme for classroom-based theory work, vehicle checks and driving. The programme was designed for one day in the classroom and four days practical for a pair of drivers.
Shaun wrote a journal while he was in Ghana. Here are the highlights:
Monday, 10 March
The project I’m working on is The Female Market Traders Cooperative. The main aim is to provide sustainable transport for all the women market traders that make up the Cooperative. Presently, the market traders work a very long day (even with families) and they rely on public transport to transport their goods.
Transaid and Iveco have supplied the Cooperative with three new Iveco vans so they can transport and deliver their own goods. I am responsible for the driver training. Six drivers have been hired, although three are males because experienced female drivers are very rare in Ghana. The three female drivers are having driving lessons at a local driving school to achieve their driving licences. So we currently have three experienced drivers and three novices.
Transaid have also engaged the help of Nga Yu – a car driving instructor who works part-time in the UK, whilst completing a course in Transport Logistics.
So, today was our first classroom day, covering lots of theory of defensive driving and familiarisation of the drivers to the vehicles. We all met at 0800 in a thankfully, air-conditioned room and after lengthy introductions, I began presenting the course.
Whilst Ghana is an English-speaking nation, I was asked to speak very slowly and clearly to my audience, which worked very well and we had a very good session. We included and encouraged the drivers to interact as much as possible. I also took time to ask them about driving in Ghana so that I understood the problems, which would help me with my ‘on road’ training.
Unfortunately, Ekow informed me that the three vans had not been customs cleared. So we hired one van and I spent the day familiarising the drivers with the vehicle. Then I went through the vehicle checks. We set up some reversing for them and I talked through some paperwork to support procedures from the theory day.
Friday, 7 March
Richard Ling, my colleague from the driver training team, kindly drove me to the airport and on arrival in Africa I was met by a new friend Ekow, (pronounced Echo), Transaid’s western Africa project manager.
Ekow drove me to the guest house where I would be staying and I was pleased to find it was basic, but it had air conditioning. I would need it – it was night time and 30 degrees.
