Ghana Community Volunteer Journals

My last week in Ghana went quickly and the pressure to produce some form of a business proposal for the Klefe stone business grew daily.  It would be a document that the Klefe Youth committee could draw upon for future reference. What were the business objectives? What is the suggested buying price for stone from the Klefe stone workers? What was the lowest price we could accept from our buyers that would enable the stone workers to be better paid and still draw a profit?  It included a list of all the organisations and individuals contacted as part of this [...]

Second instalment of Susie’s time in Ghana (30 Nov – 16 Dec 2009)
My name here to those who are younger than me is ‘Sister Susie’.  When I walk back into the village after being in Ho all day, I have a hundred kids swarming about my feet saying ‘Sister Susie, you’re back’ or on those nights when I have returned from having a drink or two with other volunteers, I get ‘Sister Susie, you’re late!’. The kids will drag my backpack off me, throw it over their little shoulders and then hold my hand as we walk down to Bertha’s [...]

Ghana has begun to enter the dry season, which entails the sahara coughing all over this land.  The air is, well, dry, and you cannot see too far in the horizon.
After “twooo goood munths” as they say, life seems normal here.  The children in the village have not stopped harassing me, and sometimes I have to discipline them, but not quite as severe as the Ghanians using the stick to whip the children’s hands when they do not remember an answer to a question in school.
The past weeks have involved teaching classes with not much turnout of pupils, hanging out [...]

This past weekend I visited the most beautiful place my eyes have ever seen.  It’s what I would hope to see when I come to Africa.  Endless ocean and beach with no one around to ruin it’s peacefulness and serenity.  It was magical – for a lack of better words – being in a place where are you are completely swept away by its extraordinary and priceless beauty.
The name of the resort was Meet Me There located in Keta, about three hours from where I’m staying.  On the way there I saw what could be considered slums, depending on who [...]

First Week: 23 Nov – 30 Nov 2009
All up the first week was quite amazing.  I met the other 2 female volunteers Lauren (USA) and Jo (AUS Syd) who are located in other communities and doing separate projects. They have been here for about a week.  Lauren is helping put electricity into a community and Jo is helping complete and kit out a youth centre for her community. There are 2 other male volunteers here but they were off sightseeing at the Cape Coast (where the slave castles are) and wouldn’t be back for a few days.
On Monday afternoon I [...]

Ghana is truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited! So plush, and green, and tropical,  old & new all at the same time.  I’m also finding that you encounter the same types of people here as you do everywhere else ranging from more privileged to less privileged (wealth, education, opportunity), very kind to not so kind, and the money takers to peace makers.  It almost seems as if there is no medium, no shade of gray, only black and white – you do or don’t, you will or you won’t, it is or it isn’t.   [...]

20 November 2009
My volunteering adventure to Africa began with farewells from family in Canberra and Sydney.  I have not been away from family for this length of time so it will be interesting on both sides as to how we all cope, but I am sure they will be absolutely fine. I am going to Ghana to fulfil a dream of mine to get hands-on experience in a developing country. The project that I have been provided by the organistion in Ghana called  BRIDGE (Building Rural Institutions and Developing Grass roots Social-Entrereneurs) is to help the Klefe community develop a business which will [...]

I came to Ghana with the initial thought “I am here strictly for the people”.  Now, almost two weeks into my journey I realize I am here just as much for myself as I am for the people.  I can feel my very being searching for something, but what is the question?  I’ve concluded until I figure that out this whole experience will remain a mystery to me.
To some I say I am an adventurer – a true explorer, to others I say I am a warrior, to most I say I AM Lauren Goodwin.  I guess what I’m wondering [...]

Boy, time has been flying after the first month.  It took just about four weeks for me to become completely comfortable in this foreign place, and now I’m just ridin on the clouds. Its a good time, the least I can say.
Ghana seems to be a meeting place for many world travellers and philanthropists.  Every day when travelling in and city I meet a person with a story; yesterday, it was a Ghanian-Canadian trying to sell miracle balm, today it was an australian taking a trip around the world (as in a straight line circling earth).
Teaching the children how to [...]

The past weekend (extended – thursday to tuesday) was spend with a total of 34 hours on a bus/van to travel to Mole National Park in Northern Ghana.  Every morning we had to wake by four to catch some type of public transportation, but the traveling was well worth it.  The park was filled with antelope that gallop at blurring speeds and giant waterbuck that make the antelope look like little babies.  The term “african sunset” was fulfilled up north, with a flat streak of fire orange burning away the day.  We spent two nights there, one at the touristy [...]

Imagine four aged men who haven’t touched a peice of electronics trying to operate an American windows computer in a language they don’t fully understand.  It was a grand olde time teaching them today for a few hours, with lots of laughs and lots of unsuccessful clicks.  “No, don’t move it while you click!!  Just tap your finger, don’t punch it!”.  This is the first of three classes weekly in which I will be teaching basic computer skills.
Friday Ghana won the FIFA under 20 world football cup.  This means that every single human being in Ghana that night went absolutely [...]

Colors: green, black, brown, yellow.  Smells: heavy, wet, smoky, hot. Sounds: screaming, laughing children; beating mortar and pescle, drumming; rap music.
If I am to walk in the middle of the dry, grassy field behind my house, and slowly spin in a circle, noting all that I see, it would be like this: small hill a few miles north, trees springing off it; closer there is a roughly paved road with a tro-tro passing by (a small van with 16 people packed in, the typical choice for public transportation), a group of children using machetes to chop the grass behind their [...]

I’m at the headquarters (a room on the upper floor of a cement building), and the internet is faster than my mother’s. Public transportation here is a bit different; a “bus” or trotro is 15 people vacuum-packed in a small van. The food has been very tasty and spicy, the air is humid, and the accents are thick. I got in yesterday and met Joy, a dreadlocked dude who guided me to the hotel, stayed the night, and rode with me to Ho today. Last night was great. I drank Club beer (freakin delicious) and [...]

It’s been a little over two weeks days since I returned to the USA, and I’m still marveling. “Did I really go to Africa?  as I step into a real shower, turn on the tap for a glass of pure water, get in my car to go to a grocery store.
I can’t quite believe I’m home. At times, I awaken wondering why the roosters were so quiet, before realizing that I’m back home and the only noise is that of my purring cat.
I promised him I’d never leave him again for so long, although he was well cared for in [...]

We are home now. Welcomed back by the English rain !
It definitely feels strange, I think it’s going to take a few days to get used to. The weather will anyway, I already feel cold ! Even though it rained a few times out there, it was still very hot.
As I said in the last blog, there’s mixed emotions about being back. We are both glad to be back and were both ready to come home but it was sad to leave. The friends we made in the village and the people we met really made the trip. The Ghanaian [...]

Hotels in Ho provide a clean towel or two, but bring your own washcloth. The soap may have been used by a previous guest (NOTHING is wasted), and there certainly aren’t any free little shampoos.
If there’s a TV, it will have two, maybe three channels. One will have non-stop commercials and little else, the other music videos, an occasional movie, futbol game or news. Commentators may be dubbed in English, or maybe the voice recording didn’t get synched with the video. Movie subtitles are so small I can’t read them WITH my glasses. Sometimes the “foreign film” is USA action [...]

Just a quick post while I’m at the airport.
Our time in Ghana has come to an end now.
I think we’ve both got mixed emotions about leaving. At the same time I’m gutted to be leaving but also looking forward to going home and seeing my crazy dog ! The goodbyes this morning were quite sad – we’ve made some amazing friends here that we will never forget.
It’s definitely been a life changing experience and one that i think will be hard to beat. So much has happened in the space of a month. As there hasn’t been that much time [...]

 A DEAD CHICKEN, A BASKET OF CORN, AND THOU
Church in the Village is a three-hour affair, with a minimum of two collections, lots of music, dancing in place, ritual, and more contrasts.
Ghanaians are well-dressed, in spite of poverty. They make most of their clothes. Tommy Hilfiger in the Village is a rarity. Large pieces of cloth artfully wrapped around the body, layered for decoration and shocked with contrasting head scarves (women), are as appealing as anything you’ll see in back home. I don’t know how they mix and match the plethora of colors and prints they do, but they are [...]

IX. THE WHOLE TRUTH
I know you’re wondering. “What’s she not telling us about that place?”
Well, lest ye think I haven’t cleaned my rose colored glasses lately and have fallen victim to the “Noble Savage” construct, fear not. I may have my head in the clouds, but my feet are always on the ground (well, almost always).
So, what’s the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help me Mawu?
They have bugs here, paralyzing humidity, 24 hour roosters, and teenagers.
The bugs are, frankly, the least of it. Mosquitoes never liked me much anyway. Some say it’s all the B- vitamins I ingest [...]

The tro-tro was crowded, so my backpack went in the trunk. I didn’t realize there was a youth there also, until he banged on the window to alert the driver to “STOP.”
I was mildly uncomfortable, dismissing it till I reached the hotel in Ho. Sure enough, my TREO was missing. Hoping I’d left it in Kloe, I determined not to jump to conclusions and settle the matter when I returned after the weekend.
On Monday, it was painfully clear that my Treo had been stolen, and as difficult as it was, I notified Samson and Worlanyo, my village Counterparts.
Fortunately, I knew [...]

She could be my age, ten years older or younger. Routinely passing my perch in early morning, toting at least 25 lbs of cassava root on her head in a large metal pan, a wicked machete in her hand, she’d announce her arrival with a simple “NORDEBRAU.” I soon learned that’s her name, meaning she was born on Tuesday. Many older Ewe were named for the day of their births.
As days passed, I’d see her at the “market”, the space alongside the main road in town under the big Acacia trees, sitting in her plastic lawn chair, selling small, square [...]

Hiya everyone.
We’ve been here two weeks now -can’t believe it, it’s gone so quick ! Just under two weeks left then we’ll be back in England. Quite settled now & more used to the surroundings and the way things are done here. Still having an amazing time. When I stop and think that I’m in Africa its still hard to get my head around. The last few days though I’ve been dying for a big fat cheeseburger ! There’s only so much rice a man can take !
Anyway, Just thought I’d better give you all a quick update of what’s [...]

Funerals are REALLY big here. I’ve been to three: two on the same day. Seems like the entire region turns out. It’s not merely a memorial, it’s a real celebration.
When I die I want a memorial like the Ewe’s.  A prominent Christian denomination hosted one ceremony in the sanctuary. Another denomination hosted theirs outside.
While both had music and dancing, the former was more subdued, with dancing somewhat restrained, if you can call a singing Conga line up the center aisle restrained. Drums played all night and day. If the  drummers don’t play in shifts, they must be just [...]

Tall, well-dressed and skeptical, I could see in his eyes the moment I stepped beneath the thatched canopy of the outdoor classroom, this man was going to challenge me with questions I was hoping someone would ask.
It’s not always good to have unquestioned support from the get-go. People need to ask hard questions too, and when they don’t, I start wondering who’s really thinking. Tough questions always result in better outcomes if one learns from them.
“The first thing I want to know,” he asked, “is why did you come here, and what do you hope to do?” The look [...]

Why is it so hard for some people to be nice?
I am in Ho this weekend, on a little R&R from the heat and roosters. I decided to stay in a motel with running water and a/c. I also figured my caretakers might need a break too. Sure enough, even though Ruby questioned me closely about my plans, she made plans to visit relatives in an adjacent village, a fact which reinforced my feeling that she also needed a little R&R, although she would never have said so.
They’ve been very good to me if a little overprotective at times. [...]

VII. THE JOB WE’RE DOING
Today was an all-time high: watching two young men discover the world through computers.
Francis and Emmanuel, early twenties, are victims of poverty. Having finished high school but thwarted in continuing educations, they are the youngest members of the CBO, wanting to help their village find ways to increase educational opportunities. They are always polite, dressed neatly in long  pants and shirts, looking as though they stepped off any USA college campus and found themselves caught between yesterday and tomorrow, with no way of transition.
My work with the CBO has been productive.  Within a week, we identified [...]

A fat white chicken nesting quietly in a circle of tiny black goats, safely curled under dim light near the house.
Full silvery moon floating in a hazy halo of humid air over encroaching jungle, a few degrees to the left of blinking red lights on microwave towers nearby.
An outhouse standing silently 50 yards away, visible in the high tech headlamp I use to light my path.
Lost in a writer’s paradise, I can’t get enough of these contrasts, metaphors leaping out at me like benign jungle creatures everywhere I look.
Surprisingly, there is little to alert one to [...]

The last week has been manic – sorry for the delay in writing!
We arrived safely in Accra on July 1st, although our flight was delayed. We spent the first night in a Guest House there as the journey would be too long to our village near Ho. People gathered round us as we came out from the airport – the air smelt different – hundreds of people everywhere – us, the only whites!! It was a huge culture shock. And we were exhausted.
We spent a long day travelling to meet our “host”, Bismark (he co-ordinates BRIDGE – the organisation that [...]

I started my Malaria pills today: one each morning for the next 115 days. If I feel any stomach unease, I am to take the pills with a small amount of bread or crackers. Do not take calcium with the pills. If a multivitamin has calcium, take them at another time of day… etc, etc. I have two alarms already for my daily regimen! I’m not even there, yet!
One more day in peaceful Concord, Massachusetts. I will spend my last day picking up odds and ends, making sure I have e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. I need for my trip, making sure my parents [...]

IV. OUT OF AFRICA
Twenty-seven 27 hours and almost 8,000 miles later, I met a surprisingly cool breeze, and a boy named Joy.
All I could think of was the loving mother to so name her son, with his geographic smile and youthful confidence, to be my almost constant companion for the next 24 hours.
The spare Kokomleme Guest House had, thankfully, working facilities, a busy ceiling fan and resident rooster. I fell into relieved sleep after a short walk to unwind.
Early the next morning, pretty young Lucy served Joy and I a simple but nourishing breakfast as we discussed plans for the [...]