Introduction

I am going to tell you about my 3-month experience in Ghana. Being here as a volunteer is something I really wanted to do before starting to work. And even if nowadays it can sound quite banal to do it (especially in the UK), I think it is really a unique experience in one’s life and I am glad I took it!! You may think: ‘Well, 3 months, it does not seem long enough!’ But everyday, there is a small thing (meeting some people, a clever pupil, a smile of a baby) that makes me feel: it is so magic to be able to get into such different culture and way of life! To sum up, I would like to advice anyone who has this opportunity to take some time off, just to go for it!!!

Kumasi's market: the biggest in Western Africa

It took me so long to start publishing this blog because first I needed to find the right connection internet in Kumasi which will allow me to post one picture in less than 3hours every Saturday, and second I had to find the time to work on it during the week. For that, I had the chance to have a laptop at home but we had lately so many unusually long power cuts that I could not use the laptop most of the evenings (indeed the battery lasted 2minutes!). Finally, I did not want to publish incomplete bits or parts without any picture, assuming that most of you won’t read my prose twice…except maybe David Boateng who very thoroughly follows our work here.

My first picture in Ghana: from the taxi in Accra

The UK organization

Of course, one of the hardest parts in volunteering is to find the organization that will bring what you are seeking. Again, I feel lucky that I met David Denison last February in Cambridge (at the Works), director of Africa Trust Networks (http://www.africatrust.org.uk/site/). I made up my mind very quickly as they were almost the only organization at the fair which was offering a 3-month experience on the field and a focus on teaching. In addition, David definitely convinced me within the 30minutes I chatted with him. Also I found it quite attractive to share this experience with 4 other (English) students. ATN is represented in Ghana by the General Manager Joseph ‘Kwame’ Yawson, and through 2 partner local organizations with which the volunteers work:
-CEJOCEP (http://www.cejocep.org/) : a very dynamic organization started by 3 young friends based in Kakumdo, a small village at 20 minute’s drive from Cape Coast.
-TACCO (http://www.africachild.net/) was started in 2002 by Antwiwaa and Jan to help the community of Jachie, Antwiwaa's homevillage at 30 minute’s drive from Kumasi (if there is absolutely no traffic!!). David Boateng joined them in 2003 and is currently the TACCO Projects Coordinator & UK Director. Since this year, it has been registered as a UK charity.
I will present these two Ghanaian organizations more in details below but just wanted to point out here that so far, I did not have any big bad surprises with these 3 organizations. Everything has always been well managed and clearly explained.

The volunteer team

Let’s introduce the team. I had met the girls once beforehand, at the Pre-Departure meeting London one week before the flight. Holly and Helen are both on a gap year before starting the university. Helen is going to medical school whereas Holly will study English at Oxford. Holly loves speaking French and she is very good at it. Helen speaks with a very strong accent and a specific slang from Liverpool to which I had to get used to!! Kathryn has just graduated in history from Cambridge and speaks very fast. I had the opportunity to meet her in May. Pete, the only boy, arrived straightaway after his 3-month volunteering/traveling in South Africa and has also just graduated from Birmingham University. What a coincidence: he is also going to start working within Procter & Gamble!! But he will start in Leeds whereas I will be based in Geneva.

Pete, Helen, Holy and Kathryn

Arrival in Ghana

We flew from London to Accra. Joe was waiting for us outside the airport with two taxis. The first things that struck me as soon as you step out the airport are the stifling heat and the unbelievable traffic (one line, completely packed!). Of course, you feel that because of your skin, everyone knows you are a stranger and gazes at you. And all this is also true in smaller towns like Kumasi or even Cape Coast. For our first night, ATN made sure we were not completely deprived of our European comfort. Namely, we were given a welcoming bedroom with air conditioning, and a private bathroom. The English volunteers even have their evening beer … ;-). Only one hiccup: there was running water in the evening, but none in the morning. Who would have guessed we had to fill up the buckets in the evening to have a morning shower. Of course, we did not…J In the afternoon, we took a big bus (company STC) to get to Cape Coast. The bus was quite ok except that all the windscreens were cracked and the driving was far from the safe English one (but maybe safer than the Argentine one!).

View from our bus STC