Katies report:

Ghana – 31.07.09 – 19.08.09.
Spending three weeks in Ghana during my University summer holidays was honestly one of the best things I’ve ever done. I went with my father Neil, and I know he would agree. I’ve volunteered abroad before but knew that this would be different: after a couple of meetings and chats with Philip I had no worries or doubts that the work I did would be needed and worthwhile, rather than just activities organised to give you a sense of contribution.
I kept a diary whilst I was away, and I wrote the first page sat on the plane on the way to Accra wondering what on earth I was doing and feeling a huge range of emotions that I hadn’t necessarily prepared for – fear, excitement, nerves, anticipation, and curiosity and so on. After an overnight stop in Accra, Josh and Joe started the drive to Butre, the remote fishing village I would spend my time in. The journey was such an eye-opener. I saw the absolute madness of Accra disappear suddenly into the stunning scenery of Central Region, where we saw no-one except people selling “grass cutter” and fruit. Passing through Central Region to Western Region where Butre is saw the scenery getting greener and more lush, and we occasionally glimpsed the coast. We stopped for Josh and Joe to pick up some fruit, at which point a crowd of children made for the truck and I was instantly struck with how gorgeous they are! It was heart-warming and heartbreaking at the same time – again it was this mix of emotions that I wasn’t aware I would experience and which took me by surprise. When we got nearer to Butre we did some serious off-roading through tiny villages and I couldn’t help but smile when the children started running behind the truck waving. We got settled into the Centre where we stayed with Philip, and Josh and his wife Nana.
We were introduced around Butre, to Tess and her family at the Hideout, and Fanta up at Fanta’s Folly. We met and spoke to Nana Butre and Nana Abura (the chiefs of their villages) which felt like an honour, and chatted with them about what we wanted to do in our time in Ghana. At times walking through Butre village felt like something you might see on Children in Need, it was so surreal and I had to keep telling myself I was actually there and it wasn’t a parallel universe I had dreamt up. The scenery around Butre is amazing – the rainforest meets the coast and boulders of volcanic rock are dotted along the beach, each with their own history. Their customs and traditions whilst so completely different to ours are beautiful, and their culture is one we could learn from. When we were there the primary school was almost in disrepair, it was so sad to see, and the medical clinic which was being built had stopped due to a lack of funds. What jumped out at me though is that this community is really trying to move forward and progress and not become one of the desolate African villages that pop into your mind.
The people in Butre have a real desire to take the village forward and encourage tourists to the area; to help this we did some weeding and general tidying around the clinic, school and hill-top fort which is beautiful and gives amazing views. Philip had shipped across a number of bin bags full of donated clothes and toys so we helped sort these and distributed them among the villagers. The handing out part of this didn’t go as well as planned – everyone seemed so desperate to get something that there was a lot of pushing and shoving and it got very difficult to watch. But that really is the only memory I have that I don’t like. We cleaned and painted a couple of the classrooms at the village school as well as a new toilet block at a school in Abura. I think I ended up in as much blue paint as the walls but seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces made it worth covering myself! I also got to be part of a village meeting about turtle conservation – not the sort of meetings we have over here with tables and chairs; the goats and ducks wandering around throughout the meeting as though they were participating made it hard to keep a straight face sometimes! All of these activities were interspersed with dinners at Fanta’s Folly (one in particular, where we had to abandon the truck in a pool of mud, sticks in mind) and the odd beer at The Hideout with Tess and her family.
I’ve got so many great memories of working hard and playing too! But by far the best, most wonderful memory I have which will stick with me forever came about half way through our time in Butre. I had taken some childhood videos with the intention of showing the village’s children a bit about English upbringings and when 90 children arrived at the school I was completely thrown! It didn’t help that there was a surge in the generator which put the TV and video machine out of use! I was left with 90 pairs of eyes looking at me wondering what I was going to do now – they weren’t the only ones! I started singing ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’ and after a bit of coaxing got the children to join in, complete with actions! A respected village member and a good friend of FoG, Yankee, helped me to explain a few party games to the children which went down well. Dad was in the corner of the room furiously blowing up enough balloons so that each child could leave with one, and was resident photographer for the afternoon. The afternoon was magical – I had a fantastic time teaching the children ‘Round & Round the Mulberry Bush’, the alphabet song and ‘Incy Wincy Spider’ and their faces said it all. Nana Butre even popped in for a rendition of ‘Heads, Shoulders’. I have never given so many high 5’s – the children were so excited by the afternoon, their balloons and sweets. I’m grinning from ear to ear remembering the afternoon! It wouldn’t have been possible without Yankee and a couple of other young lads from the village who were absolute gems and it was so good to feel like part of a team giving the children such a good time. For the rest of our time out there, whenever we walked past the children they sang ‘Heads, Shoulders’ at us – it was brilliant!
My time in Butre was exhilarating, exhausting, fun, draining, intense and unforgettable. The people, the place and the experiences changed a lot for me and really put things into perspective. I came back a different person and if I had the chance to go back and do it all again I absolutely would – and I would push anyone into going. It wasn’t always easy and it’s a long way from home and everything I’m familiar with but it was hands up the best way I could have spent my summer.




















Emma Cowlard's Report December 2009


Emma Cowlard who spent two weeks working in Butre, Ghana in November reflects on her experiences, and explains why volunteering is one of the best ways to spend your holiday.


As a twenty something, full-time PR professional from London, I don’t fit the usual volunteer mould, yet last November I spent two weeks holiday working in the remote fishing village of Butre on the coast of Ghana.
When I first decided to get involved with Friends of Ghana, most of my friends and colleagues couldn’t understand the appeal - with just five weeks holiday a year, why spend two of them volunteering when you could be lying on a beach in Thailand? I even questioned my decision myself for a while, but thank goodness I didn’t - although short, the time I spent in Ghana were two of the best weeks of my life.
Initial reactions
The most striking thing about Accra, the capital of Ghana is the people, they are everywhere , weaving, undeterred, in and out of traffic selling everything from fried plaintan and cabbages to razors and shoe polish, all of which is masterfully carried on top of their heads. I knew as watched with fascination out of the window of Josh’s 4x4 that the next two weeks were going to be an extraordinary experience.
Josh and his wife Nana, two of the kindest people I have met would be looking after me during my stay. As well as organising my volunteering schedule, Josh cooked for me every morning and every night. Ghana isn’t known for its cuisine, and the food does take a bit of getting used to, but it is nice enough. Most evening’ s I had either a piece of fried fish or chicken with a spicy tomatoes sauce. This was also often also served with fried yam and plantain. In the mornings I had toast, and at the weekends pancakes, with freshly made fruit smoothies.
One evening I was invited to eat in the village at Nana’s mother’s house, where I was served foo-foo, an extremely popular local dish. Foo-foo is made by pounding plantain and cassava together to form a sort of dough. The dough is then put into a spicy tomato sauce – a bit like a soup with meat. You break of part of the dough and meat and dip into the sauce. If you want to avoid strange looks, always use your right hand –the left is for ‘other things’.
Butre
In stark contrast to Accra, the village of Butre is one the most peaceful and tranquil places I have ever been. People speak of picture post card beaches, but until I went to Butre I didn’t believe that that they actually existed. For two weeks, I was usually the only tourist on the beach, accompanied only by a few of he local fisherman, and perhaps the occasional vulture snacking on the washed up jellyfish that sometimes lined the shore.
My first two days in Butre, were spent relaxing and learning Twi, the main language spoken in the western region of Ghana. Learning languages has never been my forte, but I managed to embed ‘Meda ase’ thank you, ‘Wo ho te sen’- how are you? and ‘Me ho ye’ I am doing well’ into my brain.

Of course there was one other word in twi that was going to prove impossible to forget - ‘Bruni’ - which literally it means white person, and I was to hear it time and time again during my two week stay. Tourism in Ghana and even Butre is on the increase, but it is still very much a novelty to see a white face, especially for the children.
Teaching
Shockingly, almost half the population of Africa is under the age of 15, so it was no surprise that there were large numbers of children living in Butre. My first task as a Friends of Ghana volunteer was to teach in the nursery school. I had never taught before, and hadn't expected to do it on this project. When I asked Josh what I should teach them, he laughed and said a ‘few phrases’.
I had decided that I would speak to the teacher about the students had been leaning, but I hadn’t realised both the children and the teacher could barely speak a word of English. It was time for a bit of improvisation – as I looked into the eyes of almost 40 small expectant faces, I forced my mind back to my first school and came up with ‘head shoulders knees and toes’. Luckily for me it went down a storm - not only was it a really visual way of teaching a few English words, it was really interactive – the kids loved it.
I was asked to come back and teach for the next couple of days, and I loved every minute of it. We drew pictures, and I taught the children a revised version of ‘the wheels of the bus’. Losing all my inhibitions, I quite happily jumped around the classroom making croaking noises –just like the ‘frogs in the village.’
By day three I was starting to run out of ideas. I was singing ’10 green bottles’ and by the time there were ‘no green bottles standing on the wall’, I was relieved when Josh intervened and said it was time to have a party.
The party was basic, and mainly consisted of handing out balloons and sweets. The main thing is the children enjoyed themselves, and for me it was a great high to end on.
Other volunteer work
Over the coming days, I spent my time helping to give polio vaccines to all the children, an exhausting and emotional, but extremely rewarding experience. I also painted the interior of the school and did some weeding at the fort- a run down building, which once sadly was used during the slave trade. The locals want to preserve it, not only because it is part of their history, however gruesome, but because it is of interest to tourists, who are just starting to come to Butre.
The last few days
One of my final tasks as a volunteer was to present a generator to the local high school on behalf of Friends of Ghana. I was to present a generator, which would provide enough electricity to run the school’s computers, with the chief of the village - Nana. I will never forget travelling in the chiefs four by four, sandwiched between two members of his entourage. They and the chief were dressed in what I can only describe as brightly coloured togas, accessorised with gold coloured jewellery and elaborately designed shoes. The majority of Ghana is still run by local chiefdoms and felt extremely privileged to be accompanying the chief to deliver a resource, which would make such a huge difference to the pupils at the school.
Turtles
On my last night, I had dinner with Fanta, an extremely friendly Nigerian lady who set up a backpackers place with her husband called ‘Fanta’s Folly’. Fanta is supporting a local project to protect endangered turtles in the area. Unfortunately, many of the local villagers kill them for food, and although illegal, the law is almost impossible to enforce.
While I was there eating dinner, there was a quick flash from a torch light on the beach. It could only mean one thing – there was a turtle laying her eggs. We all rushed down to the beach, and sure enough there was huge leatherback turtle. So, on my last night in Ghana, I spent the evening on a beautiful tropical beach, sitting under the stars watching a giant leatherhead laying over 80 eggs. It was unbelievable – I have never been a huge fan of animal documentaries, but this was some thing else -it literally took my breath away. I was extremely lucky.
For two weeks, I had been living in paradise, I had taught over 30 4-5 year olds how to sing ‘head shoulders, knees and toes’, I had worked in an old slave trade fort and had come face to face with one of the most beautiful sea creates on the planet - find me a package holiday that can do all that!
When I decided to do a volunteer project in Ghana, I had wanted to immerse myself in a different culture and a completely different way of life. Most of all, I didn’t want experience Africa through the glass window of a tourist truck.
In the two weeks I spent in Ghana, I got all that and more. Philip who was always just a phone call away, was amazing before and while I was there. Unlike some the bigger organisations out there, you know where your money is going, and you get all the support and help you need. If you are reading this because you are thinking about volunteering with Friends of Ghana- just do it. There is no way you will regret it. I really hope I’m back there some day!
Emma Cowlard (27)
















Girls Going to Ghana


5/3/9 – Thursday

Louise and I arrived in Accra late and checked into the Crystal Hostel which was a welcome place to rest our aching bodies. It was a friendly place that was busy with other travellers of all ages that we were yet to meet.

6/3/9 - Friday

It was early when we woke to the sounds of Josh and the guys tinkering with the truck. I thought well, might as well get up and get ready. Breakfast, omelette, bread and coffee was served on a disused ping-pong table and how appropriate, to cater for the masses of travellers, some from Israel, America and even York. How bizarre!!! We ate breakfast whilst Josh and the boys went back into Accra to get something for the truck, we are still not sure what it was as we hadn’t quite got the hang of Josh’s English but we agreed that we would start the long part of the journey to Butre at around 9.10 am, a strange time but at least we would be soon there.

It was hard to stay awake but I wanted to see as much of the sights and to get a feel for the place as I could. It was hot in the truck and I had only just had a shower!!! There were shanty looking buildings, none of them more than one storey and mostly made of clay, mud, wood with corrugated or wood roofs. So different to what I had imagined and they were all very much the same, there wasn’t much difference, not like here where there are all different types of houses, sizes, shapes, colours. Also no distinction in wealthy looking houses they were all poor run down looking abodes. We stopped at the roadside to buy pineapples from the sellers that dotted the road, a common sight, as we were to see regularly.

It was late when we arrived at the Volunteer Centre in Butre, we were met by Liam, Philip’s nephew and his friend Bradley who were to help with the building/digging of the toilets at Abura. The centre was a long, white single storey building built by Philip, surrounded by a wall and colourful bushes and plants scattered in its grounds. A beautiful tree with yellow flowers stood majestically in the backyard surrounded by white stones. We unpacked in our spacious room and headed off to the Hide Out, a short walk along the beach from the Centre.

7/3/9 – Saturday

After a good nights sleep we were greeted with a breakfast of fantastic pancakes and coffee. What a way to start the weekend.!! We chilled out on the porch that ran the length of the front of the Centre, chatting, reading and eating coconut that Liam and Bradley had cut from the tree in the garden.

We headed to Takoradi, the nearest large town to change our money in to Cedi’s the currency of Ghana. Only the main roads were tarmac ked so the road leading from the Centre to the main road was a dirt track, uneven with gullies where the rain had cut into the road. Bumpy wasn’t the word but we found it amusing. We got to Takoradi and parked up in a busy street. Shops sold allsorts of things from watches to cloth and shoes but not many of the shops sold more than one thing, if it sold shoes then it was all shoes in the shop. We went down a series of streets and side streets, to a strange place, a room with an old fashioned counter, this was a Bureau de Change, one that we may never see again. It was a bizarre and interesting experience.

8/3/9 – Sunday

We went to Dixcove along the bumpy road past coconut and palm trees to be part of a Methodist Convention. We arrived in the village and saw a mass of canopies, on what looked like a football pitch. They were arranged in a large square with an open space in the middle and a PA system and huge speakers, it was bizarre to see this kind of technology out there in Ghana – perhaps another preconception we have in the western world of what we expect to be out there in Africa. We sat down under a canopy amongst the congregation and it was amazing, to be part of this Sunday service on such a grand scale. Everyone was dressed so elegantly, the women were so beautiful in their refinement and jewellery and makeup and the men, some in suits and others in traditional dress. They all looked amazing.

9/3/9 – Monday

We met the Chief of Butre at the Palace, a bungalow in the middle of the village. The Chief was referred to as “Nana Butre” and was a softly spoken man. We sat and chatted about what we hoped to do whilst we were there and asked him various questions about the village and what was required, the bridge needs fixing before the rainy season comes, a generator to power the computers at the school in the village. We left Nana Butre and continued our journey through the village to sign the visitor’s book at the Tourist Information “shed” saying we had visited Nana and left him a bottle of Schnapps!!! We went to see the clinic that is half finished. The doctors surgery is completed but cannot be opened and used until the nurses quarters are complete and until then they remain closed and of no use to the villagers of Butre. Another funding raising project perhaps.

10/3/9 – Tuesday

We started our Chi language lessons today with Francis. Louise and I were not perhaps the best students but we had fun learning and Francis was funny. We studied for a couple of hours and then broke for lunch but had to return to class, Francis was a hard taskmaster and pushed us, without our notes we answered a series of questions and I felt like I was never going to get the hang of it!!! After the language lessons we rested like Philip said we should, the heat, the change in culture and food can be exhausting, something I didn’t give much credit to before we left the UK. We headed out to the Hide Out, again to chill and chat with Ghali, the local entrepreneur!!!

11/3/9 – Wednesday

We went to see the Chief of Abura today, we hadn’t been up long and we were off again down the bumpy track, it took about an hour to get there through the rubber plantations and the smelly rubber factory!! On the way there we travelled through a town called Agona. Josh did his usual disappearing act with very little explanation only to arrive back to the truck 10-15 minutes later with a bottle of Schnapps twice the cost of one bought in Takoradi, but still very cheap at 17cedis which is approx £8.50!!! The truck was loaded up with other stuff in black

We arrived in Abura and turned off the lovely tarmac road onto the belly breaking dirt track, through the streets lined with shanty houses to arrive at the Chiefs “Palace”, just like Nana Butre’s Palace, however, it still commanded the respect due for an important person in the community. We sat in the meeting room on plastic chairs awaiting an audience with the Nana. Hung upon the walls were pictures of various predecessors in traditional Chiefs robes and one of Philip also in Chiefs robes looking regal, made me smile, not his usual attire back in Harrogate!!! Sorry Phil!!! Another thing that amused us was the music blaring out from a modern stereo with massive floor standing speakers, something you would expect to see somewhere back home, expectations… they can get you unaware sometimes…The music was a mixture of Hip Hop, Gangsta Rap and Reggae, such a contrast. Nana Abura appeared through the door in front of us in a T Shirt and shorts and greeted us with a handshake, thankfully, I remembered to use my right hand, the left hand is used for toileting!!

A difficult thing for me to remember as I am left-handed so I practiced the handshake with my left hand for a while before leaving England!!! We sat and chatted about what we wanted to do during our stay and got permission to continue on the Training Institute where Philip worked as a VSO volunteer, Nana Abura escorted us back to the truck and wished us well, not sure if that was for our work out there or for another bumpy ride along a dirt track!!!

The Training Institute was a series of single storey long buildings set around to form a court yard, the gates manned by a member of staff, stood on their own without walls or boundary fencing on either side and provided very little security, a bit pointless really but amusing. After parking up we headed for the main office where we met Mercy, the Principal of the Institute and she showed us around, we saw the dormitories where the boys and girls stayed, the computer labs, wood workshop, masonry room. The boys studied woodwork, computer studies, masonry amongst other things and the girls learnt about catering, dressmaking, and hairdressing. The girls stayed in a block along with Mercy, funded by World Vision. After leaving Mercy we walked down the hill to the Clinic to meet the Madame that ran it, a lovely bubbly lady with bright red lipstick and a wonderful sense of humour, perhaps that was because our attempts at speaking Twe was so bad!!! On hearing that we were here to help she asked if we were prepared to do anything at the clinic and we said Yes with great enthusiasm so she said what about weeding pointing to the large expanse of grass at the front of the Clinic, we laughed as we had been so gullible.!!!

We arranged to return to the clinic the following day, not to do the weeding but to help with the maternity clinic, which we were really excited about. Time to get back in the truck and yes, you guessed it, down the dirt track to the school in Abura. We pulled up and the kids were out playing, some came closer to see us, waving and smiling with such excitement, it was a wonderful sight to see these kids, happy, dressed in their uniforms even if they were dirty and in need of some repair. We could see Bradley and Liam were hard at it, digging the 10-foot hole in the baking sun. We met Oscar, the head teacher and Madame Susie, a petite lady of mature years. We were shown round the classrooms and explained that we would return to do some teaching and help Liam and Bradley with the toilets. We headed back to the Chiefs palace to inform him of what we intended to do on our return to the village.


12/3/9 – Thursday

An early start this morning, up dressed, in the truck and peeling boiled eggs with bread – so I guess that was breakfast!!! We were on our way to the clinic in Abura. As we approached the clinic we could see a crowd of the most beautifully dressed women with babies on their backs and holding the most elaborate parasols I have ever seen – it was like a scene out of My Fair Lady!!! I don’t ever remember having that much time in getting ready to take my son to the baby clinic nor the energy!!! The clinic was another World Vision project and it was a basic but functional building providing antenatal and postnatal healthcare for the mothers of the surrounding villages. The mothers had to register their pregnancy at the clinic and attend regular check ups prior to the birth, the same process as in the UK. Part of their culture is to have home births and the nurses were saying that they are trying to educate the mothers to have their babies in the clinic or the hospital in order to reduce the chance of any complications occurring and it also helps with the breast feeding as the baby needs to be on the breast in the first 30 minutes of being born otherwise there will be difficulties getting the baby to latch on and take the mothers milk which will help its immune system, some of the mothers were experiencing problems with breast feeding and this was evident when plotting the babies weight on the birth chart. We shared our experiences as mothers with the nurses in the hope that it would help the mothers there. Once the babies are born they attend the clinic once a week to have them weighed and when necessary have their vaccinations for Diphtheria, Tetanus, Polio, Hepatitis B, Small Pox and Typhoid. Its very much a social thing and takes a few hours to see to everyone. We arrived at 10.30am and didn’t leave until around 2.30pm with all but a few mothers there, the rest had returned home. We said our goodbyes and returned to the centre in Butre, the boys, Liam and Bradley, were already there as it had been too hot at the school to continue digging so we had a quick kip and then headed out to the Hide Out.


13/3/9 – Friday

Today was our teaching day. Liam, Bradley, Louise and I were back in the truck and heading down the bumpy road towards Abura. It was another hot day and I didn’t envy anyone doing the digging, the hole was quite 10 foot deep, but not far off. Soon it would be time to shift the huge concrete slab that had been sat drying at the top of the playground. It had to be shifted down a small incline to the hole, simple in principle. First of all Josh, Liam, Bradley, Frances (our language teacher), Benjamin our driver and John all took their places around the edges of the slab and tried to lift it. No success!!! Then 5 guys appeared from no-where, Louise said they looked like the local mafia!!! However, they had come to help, so, they too took their places and with another attempt tried to lift the slab, still it wasn’t budging. Then the teachers came and merged in with the other guys and they altogether tried, still no success. This was all very amusing as the kids and we stood and watched, by this time there was no one to teach the kids and perhaps in watching what was going on in the playing field they would learn something!!! Louise and I came up with the idea that they should try placing some bamboo shoots under the slab, when they finally lift it, and roll it down the hill to the hole. Result!!! Madame Susie called us to do some teaching so we left the guys with our pearl of wisdom and each took a class. We told the kids about life in the UK, general information about London the Capital, the weather, animals and our families and how we lived. I asked all the children in each class I taught to write their names on a piece of paper and place it in front of them on their desks, this helped me remember their names. Louise used to be a teacher and so was better equipped at the job than I was but I still found it enjoyable. There was a lot of noise coming from outside so we ventured out to where the guys were, concrete slab only feet from where it needed to be and it was exciting seeing that there have been some movement, literally!!! We stood and watched with the kids, as the guys heaved and hoed and argued in between each push and pull. It was entertaining to say the least and we came up with yet another good idea as the slab had got wedged on a tree root. We suggested that the ground was dug from underneath the slap thus lowering it enabling it to bypass the root. After this amazing brainwave Louise and I decided we should go into project management!!!! The slab eventually made it to its destination and there was great joy and rapture amongst adults and kids alike. It was a great sense of achievement for everyone and wonderful to see our project beginning to take shape.

14/3/9 – Saturday

Today was our day of rest but with the day of departure getting closer it still felt like we had so much still left to do. We went to Takoradi to get some more schoolbooks and pens for the school Abura. It was so hot and everything seemed to take so long in the heat, trekking backwards and forwards to the truck to drop off our purchases. We had 3 large bin liners full of school equipment and Josh would not let us help him carry any of it, he was such a gentleman. I said to Louise that we could do with him back home to help us with the shopping; he never uttered a word of complaint!!! It felt great spending our hard earned cash but it took some doing, the school books only cost something like 20p each and yet the kids were issued with only one at term which seemed a bit mean but who are we to judge. However it did mean we had money left to donate for future use.


15/3/09 – Sunday

We had intended to go to church in Butre but we were so tired and washed out from the heat and the emotional ups and downs so we rested and read for a while. A lazy day.


16/3/9 – Monday

There wasn’t much time now to do a lot. We went to the school in Butre to meet the head teacher who explained how each class was set out and we visited each class in turn counting how many children there were. It transpired that we didn’t have enough books for the school in Abura AND Butre so it meant another trip to Takoradi and that had to be done now as we were going home soon so we begged Josh to ask Benjamin to take us, which he did. We got the stuff we needed and on the way back to Butre we headed to Abura, it wasn’t a journey we had done before we normally went straight to Abura from Butre so it took ages but we did get to see how the toilets were getting on and they were looking pretty good.

17/3/9 – Tuesday

Our departure was even closer and it felt like we had so much to cram into today, we had to go and hand out the school equipment at the Abura School, put the roof on the toilets which Louise and I did, that was our token physical effort but it was fun, if you can call hammering a nail through some corrugated steel!!! It was something at least and with photographic evidence no one can deny we didn’t do our bit!!! After the grand opening we went back to Butre to disperse the books with the kids there and somehow there were more kids than there was the day before!!! Thankfully we had enough books but some of the text books we couldn’t get many off and they don’t have a great understanding of sharing so that nearly caused an diplomatic incident, we did have some funds spare that we shared between the schools and left Josh in charge of buying what was needed. All that was left was to pack our gear up and go and say our goodbyes to all our friends at the Hide Out, it was such a mixed bag of feelings, longing for a shower back at Heathrow and wondering when we would be back again, trying not to make any promises but wanting to give them some sense of hope.

18/3/9 – Wednesday

It was a sad start to the day, I promised I would at least wait til I was on the plane before I cried. Well, I broke that promise as soon as we got in the truck outside the compound, we had had photos taken of everyone and it was all very weird not knowing when we would see everyone again. We got in the truck and headed down the dirt track for one last time, even that made me blub!!! Benjamin put on his cassette, the one we had listened to constantly, the one that had made us laugh at some of the lyrics. I sat there crying and contemplating pinching it but then I thought, I will return to listen to it once again.





Report added 7/5/09

My name is Bradley Holme, I went to school with Liam and I’m also in my gap year. Friends of Ghana was my first experience of Africa, in fact, it was my first time out of Europe and it was not what I was expecting, it was better! The first Ghanaian I met was Joshua, a quiet, but friendly man and the person that would look after us for the next three months. He was so trust worthy; there couldn’t be a better person in charge of introducing you to the chiefs, the villagers, the work, the amazing house and the culture. Josh was very understanding and was happy to let us experience any aspect of his foreign life whilst also letting us have time to ourselves, or ask for bland, English food if we wanted a rest. Joshua was not the only great person, everybody in the village was so friendly, welcoming and warm, I have been back in England for just over a week and already miss many of the friends I have made in Ghana (Nana- Josh’s wife, Papa- a man that helped with our work, Samuel- a boy that befriended us and Yankee- a good friend of Josh’s to name a few).

The village is not rich, it is poor enough to make you think, and to make the work you are doing feel necessary and rewarding, but the village, at the same time, is beautiful. I’m happy that I keep repeating myself about how friendly everybody is because that is the one thing that made my trip unmissable. Walking through the middle of the village you are greeted only by smiling faces, many of the people will become your friends, laugh (in a good way) when you attempt speaking their language and be incredibly generous. At the risk of sounding like a complete cliché, staying around Butre (the village) proves that money is not what you need to be happy. That said, Butre could use more money to improve basic standards of living and health, and other bits of work we did (such as building toilets for a school) are unarguably important. Construction work, in my opinion, is the most rewarding volunteer work you can do and I was happy that the majority of my three months in Ghana was based around that. We did do a small amount of teaching in schools, the children are brilliant and it was also a great experience.

I would recommend working with Friends of Ghana to anybody willing to pull their weight and try hard at putting something into the communities that they would visit in Ghana. The work I enjoyed the most was the hardest physical work, it was the most rewarding, the best for me and a superb way of bonding with Papa and Joshua. During one bit of hard work (trying to move a huge concrete slab for the toilets at the school in Abura) one teacher said “see how we suffer in Ghana?” Liam and I really enjoyed this work but that teachers question made me think- for three months, this life is great, but if you live your whole life like that you would appreciate the enthusiastic help of people like us a huge amount. It wasn’t three months of solid hard work though, there was plenty of time to relax, explore the resorts scattered along the beach, read, listen to music and just take in the beauty surrounding you. Joshua is not a robot, so the work wasn’t 9 ‘til 5 everyday, it was flexible, with the only constant being the weekends that we had off, this suited me perfectly and made us want to work when we were working, and rest when we needed to rest.

I want to thank Phillip for the hard work he did behind the scenes in England, he got me out of problems that were entirely my own fault and made everything run so smoothly. Phillip made a brilliant choice in the people that help us out in Ghana and show us the ropes. I’m not exaggerating when I say I can’t think of a single person that would be better than Joshua at keeping the centre (where we lived) running and helping us with all of our work. (sent 07/05/09)












Friends of Ghana

Volunteer Report - 18th April 2009

Liam Harvey

I am a student currently in my gap year and have been volunteering here in Ghana for three moths now. I am set to leave in the next couple of days to travel West Africa.

My time in Ghana has been amazing and incredibly rewarding. The NGO, Friends of Ghana, is a fairly new organisation and my friend Bradley and me were the first volunteers to sign up and take part in the projects.

The team members here in Ghana are amazing and so friendly. Joshua, the project manager here Ghana is one of the trustworthiest men that I have ever met. He has looked after us with a care that I did not expect. As a Ghanaian, he was also able to integrate us into the culture and way of life. We were given lessons in Twi, the most widely spoken language in Ghana, and within a week we were in a position to have basic conversations and greet people without using English. This is something that is much appreciated by the Ghanaians that we have met here and though we were often laughed at for our pronunciation, I can see that it has dramatically aided us in integrating ourselves here. This is something that very few other volunteer organisations offer but it is invaluable. Joshua has helped us through malaria and watched out for us at all times. He is one of the few people that I would, without hesitation, trust with my life. His wife Nanna is fantastic. She showed us how to hand wash our clothes and was in fits of laughter at our first few attempts. She speaks little English but somehow I have gotten to know her well and will miss her when I leave.

Philip, the Organiser and founder of Friends of Ghana has given us a huge amount of support from England where he has managed the projects that we have been working on. He has also helped us with some visa issues for which I am very grateful. At no point in the three months that I have been here did I feel like I was not supported by the organisation. A common problem with Volunteer organisations here in Ghana is that they will drop you off after charging an extortionate amount of money and then leave you in the middle of nowhere without any support. This has certainly not been the case with FOG. In fact, I can’t help but think that I have been incredibly lucky in landing a placement here.

The house that we are staying in is solely for the volunteers and is amazing. It is right on one of the most beautiful and isolated beaches in West Africa. The house itself has a hi-fi (something that you will come to really appreciate after a few months), computers (no internet unless you go to Takoradi, the main town of Western Region) and a good book collection.

The Work that we have been doing here has been mainly construction with some teaching too. We have been working in the small fishing village of Butre – a beautiful and isolated village of around 800 people. I preferred the construction as it was more physically rewarding but you can choose to focus on the teaching if you ask. The kids in the local primary and secondary schools are brilliant fun and eager to learn.
We spent the first couple of months building steps up to Fort Battenstein which sits on a hill overlooking Butre. The aim is to encourage tourism in the area and so generate some income for the villagers. It was hard, manual labour and by the first week my hands were raw and my muscles ached. It was brilliant! We worked with Josh and a man called Pappa who is a great friend now. He sings whilst we work and force-feeds us coconut on our breaks to make us stronger. At the end of a days work we will sit up on the hill drinking coconuts, looking at the beautiful view.
We also spent a month building latrines in a school built by Philip in the local village of Abura (in which Philip has been made a chief). This was seriously hard work but seeing the finished result was an amazing feeling.

Our evenings were spent at one of the local beach hostels where you can buy a cold beer and talk with the countless volunteers that pass through. You meet such amazing people who come to Butre for breaks from their voluntary work or travels. There is a great deal of flexibility if you need some time off to relax or explore different parts of Ghana. I spent a week in Accra, the capital, as I needed to sort my visas out for West Africa.

The Butre people and the Ghanaian people in General are some of the most friendly and welcoming people that I have met and I guarantee that it will make you feel ashamed of how the English public treats foreigners. It now takes us half an hour to walk through Butre village as so many people greet us – it is one of the most beautiful feelings and is by far the greatest reward for our three months of work here. I have made some brilliant friends who I will miss – to the extent that I have promised them (and myself) that I will return when I finish my degree.

I have very few criticisms of the organisation. One thing I did notice is that our time here occasionally lacked structure. I personally enjoyed the lack of structure as it made everything more flexible but I can see that some volunteers might want a structured itinerary for their time here. I’m sure this could be arranged with Philip (the project manager and founder) before departure if this is the case. This being said, we rarely found ourselves with time on our hands unless we had requested holiday.

As far as my ideas for further projects go, the wooden bridge that connects Butre to the beach and the villages dotted down the coastline is near collapse and could do with being repaired or rebuilt, though this would be an ambitious project. The chief of Butre as well as many of the villagers have suggested that the rebuilding of the bridge should be a priority. There is teaching to be done in the local schools and the football pitch is only three quarter size as the bulldozer hire ran out. This could be completed. One major problem that I have encountered in Butre has been how waste is disposed of. Future volunteers could create some sort of system of waste disposal as currently everything is thrown into the sea or the bush. There are an endless number of things to be done.

It has been a pleasure working with everyone involved with Friends of Ghana. I have had a truly brilliant time for which I am very graateful. I will miss this country and the people that I have met.

Liam Harvey