What was Ghana really like?

Hi everyone! Here is my very last update to give you a bit more detailed information about my internship in Ghana. In order to do this I’ll answer some general questions about my experiences.

What did you have to get used to the most?

That was the heat for sure. It was about 37°C every day, but it felt even hotter. Besides this I really had to get used to the fact that everyone at every moment asked you how you were doing and if they could help you.

Were the people nice? And how did they react to the fact that you are a white redhead?

The people were absolutely amazing! They were very kind and genuinely wanted to help you. The moment you looked a little lost in the middle of a huge market someone would come and run up to you asking if they could help you. I was very aware of the fact that I am white as everyone would greet me by saying jevu (pronounced as ‘jofo’, meaning: white person) or obruni (meaning: the one from behind the horizon (also a white person)) depending on which language they spoke. The fact that my hair is red didn’t even seem to be something they noticed. The fact that I am white already got their attention. Some of the little kids did respond very surprised as sometimes I was the first white person they ever saw. The kids at the children’s home also enjoyed touching my skin and pressing their finger into it in order to create an even whiter spot. They thought this was very interesting and couldn’t stop trying it, especially after I got a bit of a sunburn.

One thing that happened to me all the time, because I was white, was the fact that a lot of people asked me to marry them. Telling them that I was 17 was not a proper answer. Saying that I’m married (which I’m not) was still not a proper answer, especially if they asked me if I have any kids and I responded negatively.

What was the food like in Ghana?

The food was very different. I usually ate rice or noodles for lunch and dinner. In the morning we got bread, but the kids ate something I still can’t identify, but it seemed to resemble porridge. My favourite dishes were jollof, fried yam and rice with a sauce of which I still don’t know the name. I will include pictures of all three (in the picture file). The only problem with the rice and sauce was that sometimes they hid peppers in it, this was not a very pleasant surprise…

Ghana is a very religious country, did you notice this a lot?

Yes, I did and not just a little bit. Every sack of water (from which you drank), every taxi and every advertisement referred to God in some way. Even the names of shops were religious, for example: God’s will, God’s presence, Jesus is Lord hair saloon etc. The little kids at the nursery were also taught religious songs, they even turned ‘head, shoulders, knees and toes’ into something religious (see below). The kids at the children’s home also sang ‘You Are Great’ by Steve Crown (EVERY SINGLE MOMENT OF THE DAY) causing me to have that song stuck in my head for days.

Besides these mostly innocent things, religion also influences their opinions on certain debatable topics. I accidently got involved in a conversation about gay rights. The kids asked me if gay people are allowed to marry in the Netherlands to which I happily responded that they are indeed allowed to marry. In Ghana instead of being able to marry, people can get in jail for 25 years if they are gay. Eventually they instructed me to befriend every gay person I ever come across. After this I should inform them on the fact that they will certainly go to hell if they continue ‘participating in being gay’. I decided not to comment as they didn’t want to listen to any other possible opinion.

Head, shoulders, knees and toes:

My head, my shoulders, my knees, my toes

My head, my shoulders, my knees, my toes

My head, my shoulders, my knees, my toes

They all belong to Jesus!

Did you ever feel unsafe?

No, never. Even when we had to wait for the ‘trotro’ (public transport) and it was getting dark I felt safe. Someone even offered to wait with us to make us feel a little more comfortable, although we were already pretty comfortable.

Did anything bother you?

There was only one thing that actually bothered me a lot. This was the fact that no one arrived on time, even when we had to bring the sick volunteer to a hospital in the capital city. The organisation who came to pick her up knew what was going on, but they still arrived three hours late.

What will you remember the best?

I think that’s going to be the overall atmosphere of the country and the friendliness of the people. This is also one of the main differences with the Netherlands where everyone minds his/her own business. This is also something that I can’t properly describe, so I suggest you should go and find out about it yourself by visiting the country!

What do you long for the most now that you’re back?

I long for a more laid-back attitude. Now that I’m back everyone continuously focuses on your accomplishments rather than your personality and attitude. I think a lot of people in the Netherlands, including me, can learn from the fact that at times it is okay to sit down, relax and enjoy.

I hope you enjoyed all my long updates as this was the very last one! I hope that one day I'll travel somewhere awesome once more so I can inform all of you again!

A typical day in Ghana

Last Sunday I arrived in the Netherlands again. I absolutely loved Ghana! There are a lot of differences between Ghana and the Netherlands. To inform you a little more about these differences I am going to post my last two updates. In this update I will tell you what a typical day in Ghana was like for me.

05:00-06:00 to 08:00-09:00 Most of the kids woke up somewhere around this time. This is because sunrise in Ghana starts around 5 am and the kids' dorms don't have curtains. After this they started their daily chores.

07:00-07:30 to 08:30-09:00 I usually woke up around this time. I started my morning by taking a bucket shower. This actually takes pretty long compared to taking a normal shower.

08:00-08:30 to 09:00 After having breakfast my day started around this time. I either helped the kids finish off their chores or I played with the kids who were already finished. The kids' daily chores varied from cooking, doing the laundry and sweeping the whole house and garden. They literally swept the whole garden including the gravel drive-way, I also helped doing this, but it felt absolutely useless. Although it might seem a little odd to sweep the whole garden, Ghanaian people are very proud people. One of their ways to show their pride is by making sure that their house/garden looks neat and clean.

9:00 to 11:00 I usually spent this time playing with the kids or helping them with some schoolwork.

11:00 to 12:00 By now most of the kids were vast asleep, they often took a nap as the don't sleep very long at night and the weather is very hot. I either relaxed a bit, played with the kids who were still awake or I did some groceries at the market in town.

12:00 to 18:00 The rest of the afternoon was spent playing with all the kids. Somewhere in between I had lunch, but this was sometimes at 11 am and sometimes at 2 pm.

18:00 to 20:00 I often used this time to chat with the other volunteers, have dinner and put on long sleeves against the mosquitoes.

20:00 to 22:00 Depending on the amount of energy the kids and I had left, I either played with the kids or read a little. I usually went to sleep around 11 pm after taking another long bucket shower. I often fell asleep immediately, dreaming about yet another lovely day.

Although all of this actually seems quite ordered and structured this was absolutely not the case. Ghanaian people live day by day and don't really care about structure. Although at times this is not incredibly handy, I did get used to it pretty quickly!

More hospitals, adventures and chaos

Hi everyone!

Sorry for not writing any new posts, but the internet connection was horrible in Kpando.

I am currently back in Accra driving to the airport. A lot has happened since my last post and I'll give a summary of every day. My last post ended on Tuesday, the second of May.

Wednesday:

At 2am I woke up to the sound of one of the other volunteers talking in het sleep. At first I thought she was having fever dreams as she already felt bad the day before (which is why we went to the hospital, see my last post). After listening for a couple of minutes I said her name, hoping to wake her up. I thought that if she woke up her odd dreams would be over and she would be quiet. When I called her name she responded and happily asking me if I was awake. I had a slight heart attack. I saw her head hanging over the side of the top bunk bed and she was smiling at me. I quickly woke up the other volunteer and together with the owner of the children's home and her husband we rushed to the hospital. Upon arrival she had lost all strength in her muscles and she kept on hallucinating. We brought her into the emergency room where the nurse first asked for her medical file. During the forty minutes it took to retrieve her file at the administration desk the nurse refused to even look at her. When we finally got the file he checked her blood sugar, blood pressure, saturation and her heartbeat. He decided to just give her an infusion and went back to sleep with the message that the doctor would come in somewhere after 8 in the morning.

This shocked me. In the Netherlands if you rush into a hospital in the middle of the night with someone who is in a critical state you will have a whole team of doctors standing beside you within minutes. The doctor decided to finally visit her somewhat after 10 o'clock. She couldn't really figure out what had caused it, but decided it was probably a side-effect of the extra anti-malaria tablets. Looking back on this the doctor never even checked anything besides asking two or three questions, welcome in Ghanaian hospitals.

After we returned to the house I spent the day playing with the kids. I went to bed early, it had been a crazy day.

Thursday:

On Wednesday we'd booked an airplane ticket home for the other volunteer. The organisation was going to pick her up at 11am, but again she started feeling really bad. When we found out the organisation was going to be 3 hours late, we got a taxi. Halfway the organisation picked the other two volunteers up and brought her to a good hospital in Ghana. I returned to the home as my help was no longer needed. The doctors in the hospital in Accra took better care of her and on Friday she flew home. She is feeling a lot better now.

Once more I spent the rest of the day playing with the kids.

Friday:

I picked up my African shirt on Friday and spent the rest of the day playing with the kids.

Saturday:

Saturday wasn't very special either, I played with the kids and did some shopping for our game day on Sunday.

Sunday:

On Sunday morning the kids always go to church, meaning that we were supposed to have some time to set things up. This didn't go as planned, as this was the first morning since my arrival during which it rained. Luckily the weather dried up and after lunch we were able to start. We divided the group in four teams and we played six (mostly Dutch) games spread out over three rounds. The first round consisted of 'spijkerpoepen' and 'touwtrekken'. During the second round we played 'teambal' and we held a relay race. Last but not least we played 'pionnenroof' and a relay race during which they had to carry cups with water on their heads. Obviously the last one wasn't very difficult for them as they are used to carrying things on their head. The winning group received a new football and the rest of the day was spent playing with the new football.

Monday:
This was my day off. The other volunteer and I took the trotro (terrible public transport) to New Senchie. We visited an amazing beach club with a swimming pool. From there we took a boat tour on Lake Volta. We swam and had lunch (a hamburger and fries, this was absolutely amazing). After that we wanted to visit the African arts and culture market. Sadly enough it was closed, so we visited another nice market. Our way back took about 4 hours although even in Ghana you could drive back in 2 hours. Once more: welcome in Ghana.

Tuesday:
I was supposed to go to the school, but I was given another day off. The school was supposed to start again, but there were no teachers and the older kids were going to clean the school. I spent the day doing my laundry, which actually takes incredibly long if you do it by hand. In the afternoon I visited a pottery and bought some nice souvenirs.

Wednesday:
This time I did actually go to the school. The headmaster introduced me to the kids and I was placed at the nursery with the 3 to 4 year olds. They were very cute, but the teachers walked off or fell asleep at every possible moment. This was a bit disappointing to me.

Thursday:
At the school I once more noticed how there is absolutely no structure in the kids' days. I played with the kids and walked around the school. Right before I left I found out that one of the teachers didn't show up that day, how typical. I left a little early to pack my bag. In the evening I played with the kids for one last time.

Friday:
On Friday not a lot happened. I said goodbye to the kids and I took the trotro back to Accra. The organisation picked me up at the station. The ride took 8 hours although it's about 250km, I love Ghanaian public transport.

Saturday:
Today I didn't do much, I packed my last things and read a book. I'll fly home at 10 o'clock tonight (local time). Tomorrow I'll arrive back home. I absolutely loved Ghana and in the next couple of days I hope to post some extra information about my trip.

Sorry for the long update and see you guys soon!

Swings, waterfalls and hospitals

N dinawo! (Ewe)

Good afternoon! (English)

First of all thank you for the lovely responses regarding my last blog! Sadly enough my internet is terrible, so I'm not able to respond to everyone personally.

The reason why my greeting was in Ewe instead of Twi is because I travelled to Missahoe Children's home in Kpando last Wednesday. This is east of Lake Volta. After a 6.5 hour drive I arrived in Kpando. During the ride I'd met one of the other volunteers and upon arrival I met the second other volunteer. Both of them are very nice and loving people and we quickly started having fun. I also had my first bucket shower that evening. This felt like a real accomplishment, but using one for the rest of my stay still doesn't really sound like a great thing...

Wednesday and Thursday I spent getting to know some of the children. Officially we have two days off per week, which is most often during the weekend, but as one of the volunteers met a local who wanted to show us around on Friday, we took Friday and Saturday off instead.

On Friday morning Bénee and his family picked the three of us up. We left over an hour later, so right on time here in Ghana. We reached the Wli waterfall after two hours of driving and walking. The waterfall was absolutely gorgeous! It was amazing to see that there were only a couple of people, although it is also a holiday here in Ghana. In Europe it is very common that such a beautiful sight turns into a tourist attraction. Here this was not the case and most people visiting were actually locals. After a couple of hours we left for a hotel in the mountains, which actually had a normal shower and toiletI! Then we had dinner with Bénee and his family. Our plan was to stay for the night and to walk to the highest point of Ghana which you can reach. From there you are able to see Togo, one of Ghana's neighbouring countries.

Sadly enough one of the other volunteers was feeling very sick, so we had to go back early. During the afternoon we went to the hospital. This was quite an interesting experience. It seemed as if she had/has malaria. We were first brought to the nearest hospital, which was actually a maternity hospital. She had to take a malaria test which came out positive. Because of this we were sent to Maraquat hospital. She was fainting and feeling very weak, so I had to register her quickly. Well, quickly is not something they get in Ghana. What they also didn't get was the fact that she is not a religous person. This is something very uncommon in Ghana and therefore hard to understand for most. According to the blood test taken at this hospital she does not have malaria. Nevertheless this is not 100% sure as she is taking anti-malaria pills which can cause inaccuracies in the test. She did get some antibiotics and vitamin supplements and she has improved a lot.

On Sunday and Monday I spent the whole day playing with the kids, whoes ages differ from 3 to 18 years old. This morning, Tuesday, we made two swings out of rope and old car tires. We hung them in the mango tree. It was really funny to see how the kids worked together to make the swings. The rest of the morning was spent playing with these. Right after lunch I left to go into town. I visited a seamstress who is making a shirt for me now. I hope that it is going to turn out great!

While writing this a little kid, who has probably never seen a white person, is staring at me. I'm currently in the hospital once more. This time for the other volunteer. She has been feeling sick for the past couple of days. Again a blood test was done, but once more it came out negative.

So we just came back from the doctor's consult and she is not pregnant. Yes they indeed checked that. The doctor was not so certain about the malaria results, so she will be treated for this just in case. I hope and think she will feel better soon.

This was everything for now and I hope I'll be able to tell you more if I again have proper internet. Thank you for reading!

Ps. Oh and if someone has a great suggestion on how to kill flees, please comment! Yesterday we found out that we have flees hiding in our beds. Although this wasn't a great discovery, this does explain the weird 'mosquito' bites we all have...

Pps. African pears are not pears

Ghana: a hot, but happy country

Maaha! Wo ho ten sen? Me ho eye!

Good afternoon! How are you? I'm fine! (In Twi)

On April 22nd at 20:05 I arrived in Accra, Ghana. I'd had a very interesting flight, sitting next to a woman who was almost blind and only spoke Spanish and a bit of French and on my other side a man who owns not one, but three masters and a PhD. The man told me a lot about his life. He is a law lecturer at the best university of Ghana, where he moved back to after studying in the UK for years. Besides telling me about his work, he also told me about all the places I should visit. This list included going to a Ghanaian church, which I did the next morning.

The moment the doors of the plane opened I felt the extreme heat Ghana is known for. 'Luckily', I had to go inside after that again. I had to wait over an hour to get through all the boarder controls. After that I found my bag very quickly and someone from the organisation picked me up at the airport. It took another hour and a half before I arrived at Tina's house (with whom I stayed for the past couple of days).

On Sunday morning I had to wake up early, because I was going to church with Tina. The service was very interesting as people dance and sing a lot. In the Netherlands people are mostly very quiet during service, while everyone was praying and chanting out loud. The service did take very long, about 3.5 hours during which it was 37 degrees Celsius. I struggled a bit with the extreme heat, but I am getting used to it. Sunday afternoon I was able to rest a bit.

On Monday my introduction day started. We started off with a lesson about the Ghanaian culture and health issues. After that, I went to the beach where I had lunch and some time to walk around. The beach was very beautiful.

On Tuesday, today, I started the day with some language lessons. I am trying to learn the basics of Twi, one of the local languages. It is very difficult, but luckily the children are helping me. After this we went to a huge market, it was very busy and chaotic. At the same time it was really awesome! There was music everywhere, in Ghana it is never quiet!

The food is also something that's very different. I mostly eat spicy rice, chicken, more spicy rice and guess what, more chicken! Although it sounds very boring, it actually tastes pretty good. My host family also gives me a piece of fruit every day, which is extremely nice!

I will tell some more about my journey when I return home, but for now I hope you enjoyed my stories! Tomorrow I'll go to the children's home in Kpando. I hope I can tell you more about it later this week.

Lots of love from Ghana!

Welcome to my travel journal!

Hi everyone!

Welcome to my travel journal. This is the place where I will post all my adventures and experiences during my internship in Ghana. I hope to be able to post a couple of updates including pictures and locations. So please take a look!

If you want to receive an email when/if I post a new story, then please sign up for my mailing list on the right.

Thank you for joining me on my journey!

Loves, Larissa