Clare Cooper September - December 2002
( Photographs will be uploaded soon )
The Decision to Go
During the May of my final year of a geography and African and Asian studies
degree I made the decision to have a gap year before getting a 'proper' job or
starting postgraduate study. In between manically writing up dissertations,
revising and applying for places on post graduate courses I received an email
from the Dean of my department recommending Africatrust Networks as a reputable
organization looking for graduate volunteers interested in getting some
vocational work experience in West Africa. Excited by the prospect of being in
Africa after my studies (and ignoring the fact that the volunteer program cost
£1950 plus £500 donation towards the projects, and that I was already over my
overdraft limit) I filled in the on-line application.
A couple of weeks later I received a letter inviting me to an interview in
London for a place as a volunteer in the Ghana team leaving in September 2002.
By now well-meaning friends and family had pointed out the financial realities
of the situation and had persuaded me that these things were for rich students
without large debts and rents to pay and that I should concentrate on saving
money for my masters fees. As the London interview date coincided with
collecting my degree results in Brighton, I decided that I would be in the area
and it made sense to go to the interview, for experience if nothing else. After
an informal discussion about Ghana, Africatrust Networks and my reasons for
volunteering I raised my concerns regarding the costs. I was assured that
volunteers received support in raising the money and so far no one who had
started fundraising had failed to meet the target.
Fundraising - an impossible task?
A week later I received a letter offering me a place as a volunteer in the
September Ghana team. I decided that actual first-hand experience of working in
a developing country was fundamental if I wanted to pursue a career in
international development, and it had been my dream to eventually work with
NGO's in Africa, so I couldn't bear to let this opportunity pass. I accepted the
offer (against the better judgment of some friends and family), and armed with
positivity, I began the mammoth task of raising £2500.
Already working as a care assistant to cover rent and living costs, I took on
two extra jobs in a bar and cinema to begin saving. I wrote literally hundreds
of letters to local shops, businesses, schools, charities and churches
explaining what I was doing and appealing for sponsorship. To raise awareness of
my fund-raising, the local newspaper ran a story on me explaining that I would
be working with orphans in West Africa and any help with my fund-raising would
be much appreciated. I followed up this article by visiting local businesses in
person asking them if they had received my letter and if not could I leave them
another one. I found that using the local paper and visiting people in person
really effective. Still a fair distance from my financial target I had exactly
six weeks left to raise the money or I couldn't go. As I worked in a cinema in a
thriving local arts centre I decided to organize a fund-raising art exhibition.
After a couple of weeks of manic organization and with the invaluable help of
friends, family and local artists we held an exhibition of local arts, craft and
textiles. The day was a real success, with lots of visitors and many of the
artists selling work.
With less than a month to go, I was closer to my financial target, but still not
there, and running out of time and ideas. With the priceless help and support
from the managers, staff and locals in the bar I worked in we organised an
African-themed fundraising day. We had a BBQ, bring-and-buy stall, face
painting, children's games, art and craft and traditional story telling followed
by an evening of music from a number of local bands, a raffle with great prizes
provided by local shops, restaurants and businesses and a fantastic African fire
sculpture and fireworks display. As well as raising the rest of the money, the
night was a great way of saying thank you and good-bye to all my friends and
people who had been fundamental to my fundraising.
Throughout the fundraising period I received regular lists from the UK director
of Africatrust detailing travel and health requirements, insurance, necessary
equipment and relevant literature as well as encouraging e-mails from the
Ghanaian director Before setting off to Ghana I attended a briefing meeting in
London where I met the other volunteers on the team and had a chance to talk to
past volunteers. This meeting made the whole thing seem real, I was going to
Africa, a prospect I'd barely had time to consider amidst all my work and
fundraising. I found it really useful talking to past volunteers and exciting
meeting the people I'd be spending the next three months with.
Arrival and Orientation
The flight was a great opportunity to get to know the other volunteers; all
three of us were scared, excited and totally unsure of what to expect. As soon
as we stepped off the plane in Accra we were greeted with huge smiles and a warm
welcome from Dr. Filson, the Ghanaian director of Africatrust Networks. We spent
the first two weeks in Ghana in Cape Coast, a beautiful fishing village with
paradise beaches, colorful, fragrant markets and very friendly children. The
costs of the trip included a two week orientation course which included lessons
in the local language twi as well as Ghanaian history, geography and culture
lessons. As part of the orientation we visited Cape Coast and Elmina slave
castles and the famous Kakum National Park where you walk along an ecologically
constructed rope bridge 40 meters above the rainforest - an unforgettable
experience. Dr. Filson arranged for us to visit local schools and orphanages and
we also had the honor of meeting an ohema roughly translated as Queen Mother, a
culturally powerful woman who acts as a guide and chief for women of the region.
I found this induction period really useful, the language lessons gave us a head
start in interacting with Ghanaians and proved invaluable in our work (although
English is the official language, social, informal and day to day affairs are
all conducted in local dialects, of which there are over 70). The history and
culture lessons gave insights into why things are like they are and helped us
gain a fuller understanding of social and cultural situations and an
introduction to the politics of the country. It was really useful to have a
couple of weeks to just relax and adjust to the different climate, culture and
food before starting work.
Host Families
After the induction in Cape Coast we traveled inland to Kumasi in Central Ghana
to meet our host families and begin working. My host family lived in a
developing urban area on the outskirts of Kumasi. I had my own room in their
house and was always surrounded by children from the house and from nearby
families. As a vegetarian I was worried about how I would survive in Ghana and
didn't want people to be offended that I didn't eat meat. Apart from my host
family thinking I was a bit strange, I had no problems and always managed to get
a vegetarian version of their meal. (Africatrust places all volunteers with host
families, and all accommodation, food and transport costs are covered in the
program costs). For me the host family experience was a real highlight of my
time in Ghana; I became close friends with the older daughters, learnt how to
cook the Ghanaian way, pounding fufu in the yard and grinding pepper and beans,
suffered the pain of hair extensions, learnt how to carry buckets of water on my
head and became the official homework and dissertation proof-reader. My family
leant me traditional funeral robes and took me to some family funeral
celebrations which were like huge colorful summer festivals complete with DJs
and dancing (funerals in Ghana are held every Saturday and are huge social
occasions; completely different to British funerals). Living with a host family
is a great way to really get to know people and gives you a greater insight into
what day-to-day life is really like. I feel that I got much more out of my
experiences in Ghana thanks to the kindness of my host family compared to if I
had been staying in a hostel and I recently met up with some members of the
family when they visited the UK.
Work Placements
Africatrust Networks places volunteers in struggling and under-privileged
state-run institutions. Myself and another volunteer were placed at Kumasi
Children's Home for abandoned and orphaned children and the other volunteer
worked as an English and IT teacher in local schools. I worked with the nursery
age and above children teaching simple lessons, singing songs and playing games.
I helped serve the children's meals, supervised play times and spent time with
the older orphans who went to school outside the children's home. Building on my
experiences with special needs children I devoted much of my spare time to the
severely disabled children in the orphanage. These children received little
positive attention from others due to Ghanaian taboos and superstitions
surrounding disabilities and handicaps. Although I loved being with all the
children in the orphanage, my heart lay with the special needs children. After
spending a number of weeks splitting my time between teaching and playing with
the children and interacting with the special needs children I realized that as
soon as I left the handicapped children would still receive the same treatment.
As a western volunteer in a government institution I could not (and ethically
should not?) attempt to challenge rigid socio-cultural and religious structures.
So after much debate and discussion with the NGO director and children's home
managers I began volunteering at a local special needs school with the view of
transferring the children from the orphanage at a later date.
The special school provided education and vocational training to a large number
of mentally and physically disabled children and young people, but suffered from
severe under-funding. As a volunteer I received an amazingly warm welcome from
the head teacher, class teachers and students alike. I worked alongside the
teachers helping the children to play, read, write, do art and vocational craft
and develop life skills. The school had a really positive attitude towards all
of its members regardless of their disability and these attitudes were reflected
in the smiles, happiness and behavior of the students. I definitely viewed my
placement as a two-way interaction and feel as though I learnt a great deal
about different attitudes towards disability as well as new insights and methods
of interacting with and teaching special needs children.
By far my happiest day in Ghana was the day we transferred the children from the
orphanage to the special school. Seeing these once shy and withdrawn boys in new
school uniforms, laughing and playing with other children and taking part in
lessons and sports was indescribable. It just goes to show that as a volunteer
you can change things and 'make a difference', but these changes must come from
working alongside members of your host community, in accordance with their
cultural methods for getting things done, not working against people trying to
impose your Western attitudes and values.
The Projects
Africatrust is unique in the fact that volunteers must each raise £500 to be
used as donations towards projects in the institutions in which they're each
working. Then the volunteers, Ghanaian teachers and managers and Africatrust
Director in Ghana discuss how best this money can be spent. I believe this
process of discussion is invaluable as it gives the volunteer freedom in seeing
how their project money will be spent, but involvement of Ghanaians ensures that
the projects are relevant, necessary and realistic and will make a real
difference to the lives of the children and communities benefiting from the
projects. All the volunteers' donations are used completely during their visit.
After discussions with my head teacher and other teaching staff I realized that
the school was not fulfilling its potential due to severe under funding.
Teachers were gravely limited in how much vocational and craft teaching they
could offer due to the scarce amount of equipment and materials available. I
realized that the best way in which my project money could benefit the largest
number of children was to buy craft, tie-dye, leather-work, wood-work and
jewelry making materials as well as a number of educational learning aids and
recreational toys. In this way the teachers could make the most of their
expertise, and many more children could take part, equipping them with
invaluable skills for independent and sustainable futures. With the remainder of
the project money after discussions with the head teacher we commissioned a
blacksmith to build some swings out of local materials and built a climbing
frame and some walk ways to help the children improve their balance and
coordination.
Other volunteer projects included re-painting and tiling children's play and
living areas in an orphanage, mending a school roof so lessons don't have to be
cancelled during the rainy season and buying wood and wood work tools to enable
school children to make their own tables and chairs. (School children in Ghana
have to provide their own desks and chairs and the cost of this can prevent many
children from coming to school).
Traveling
After emotional good byes at school and to the host families it was time to see
a bit more of Ghana. The initial costs included travel to the north of Ghana up
the Volta Lake (the largest man-made lake in the world), and entrance and
accommodation to Mole National Park. The boat journey lasted around 27 hours and
was a fantastic way to relax after working and see some more of Ghana. After
seeing the Akosombo dam we passed many tiny villages stopping off to allow
farmers and market sellers to load and unload huge crates of yam. Arriving half
way up the lake we spent a night in a tiny fishing village before crossing the
lake in small fishing boats and continuing the journey to Mole. Mole National
Park is a huge forest reserve preserving endangered forest and wildlife and
offering low-impact safaris and accommodation to tourists. A definite high point
of the visit was our early morning safari; walking in small groups with a guide
at sunrise we came across groups of deer and cobs, new-born baby warthogs and a
huge mud bath where some elephants had been sleeping. After passing through some
trees we entered a small clearing and found ourselves face to face with five
huge elephants - a breathtaking and unforgettable experience.
As our time in Ghana was nearly up myself and another volunteer found ourselves
reluctant to go home, and enthusiastic to see some more of West Africa. So we
said goodbye to the other volunteer returning to Accra (and after
pre-arrangement with the Africatrust Director) we continued traveling north
through Ghana into Burkina Faso. The contrast between countries both in terms of
culture and climate was remarkable; we now found ourselves speaking French and
drinking huge cups of sweet café latte and eating baguettes in tiny roadside
shacks, yet still receiving the same welcoming West African hospitality. We
continued traveling north into Mali and Dogon Country. Aside from all our
fantastic experiences in Ghana, Dogon Country can never be forgotten. After
arranging our 'package deal' with a local guide we found ourselves laden with
bottles of water on a horse and cart in the scorching sun trotting through the
sparse and sandy Shale.
The Dogon people inhabit the isolated Bandigara escarpment and have their own
traditional culture relating to astronomical cycles, some of which is portrayed
through intricate wooden door carvings, animal masks and ritual objects. Aside
from subsistence agriculture, the Dogon generate a little income from tourism by
running tourist huts and selling traditional indigo, mud cloth and replica
wooden souvenirs. A highlight of traveling in Dogon is watching the sun set on
top of the escarpment, sleeping, open air on the roofs of houses beneath the
expansive starry sky and waking up to the sunrise looking over the terracotta
plains of the Sahel region.
After an unforgettable and exhausting few days in Dogon we spent some time in
Mopti, rowing on the River Niger and exploring local craft markets before
traveling to Bamako and returning home.
Africatrust Networks - A recommendation
I would definitely recommend Africatrust Networks to students and young people
who are considering volunteering in West Africa. As the Ghanaian contingent of
this NGO is actually organized and run by Ghanaians, you can be sure that the
work you do will be relevant, useful and will 'make a difference' to the lives
of people you work with, opposed to being tailored to suit the expectations of
young westerners. Volunteering with Africatrust really gave me an insight into
Ghanaian culture, people and social institutions. I became able to see things
from a different cultural perspective, realizing the often limiting and rigid
nature of our purely western perspective. I honestly feel as though my work did
actually help people, although maybe not in the ways I first presumed, instead
of merely providing an 'exciting African adventure' for foreign volunteers.
Africatrust seeks to work alongside struggling Ghanaian institutions (social,
educational or environmental) placing volunteers in an area where their skills
and past experiences will be most useful and compatible. The dedication and
enthusiasm of Dr Filson to his country, the NGO and the volunteer's experience,
coupled with the warmth and open friendliness of Ghanaians, makes volunteering
in Ghana a rewarding, fun and totally unforgettable experience.
Clare Cooper, Taking A Gap Year: Ghana
[ e-mail available upon written request ]