There's no denying it, these bloggers are bound to make you jealous. Whether it's their guts, their energy or their tan you admire, overseas volunteers have got plenty to share with you about their remarkable work in fascinating countries. Read on to find out what you could be missing.

All | Ashley | Natalie | David | Sheila | Jonathan | James | Abi | Fiona | Community_Action_International | Project Mongolia | Sarah | Emily | Dana | Selina | Lucy | Hannah | Sally | Lucille

Monday Nov 08, 2010

The time of our lives!

Wow...there's no other way to put it – this trip to Ghana was without doubt the best month of my life. Anyway I realise we've been a bit slack on the blog entries so here is a summary of what we got up to during our month-long trip.

 

Mama Viak's Orphanage and Preparatory School

 

In the mornings five of us (Marcey, Tom, Josh, Laura and Becca) would work with Mama Viak and what seemed like ALL of Ho's children! During the afternoon the remainder of us would do so (Katie, Ruth, Liz, Maisie and Amy). The orphanage/school provides a home and an education for a small number of children in Ho, although being the summer holidays Mama Viak's was open to all local children as a safe place to come and play. Run by Mama herself, alongside some teaching staff, the orphanage is a fantastic place for the children to be – the daily laughter, smiles and singing made this clear! We provided the children with activities – both fun and educational – to ensure that chaos was kept to a minimum! All the activities were planned by us to incorporate fun and learning for the children, and we were also able to bring our own personal expertise (including football and karate lessons!). We dabbled in:

 

Arts and crafts

 

 

Science lessons (the body)

 

 

 

Geography

 

 

Sports

 

 

... and this is just a taster!

 

The orphanage relies on donations and Mama Viak has set up a sewing centre to help raise funds by selling clothing to the local community. Several of us walked away from Mama Viak's looking much more African than before and knowing the money we paid was going to a fantastic place.

  

I think it's safe to say that we were all touched by Mama Viak's. We are certainly all keen to continue donating to Dave Squared to help them to help Mama Viak keep the orphanage running. The warmth we received from the staff and the children was incredible and I hope that returning one day is a certainty, not just a dream.

 

 

Painting

 

Painting St Cecilla's School had its challenges – the biggest actually getting there when no taxi drivers appeared to understand what we were saying! Painting in Ghana was hot work and the sweaty look is one that we simply had to embrace. Armed with an Ipod and speakers we had lots of fun painting, dancing and singing with two local painters and few helpers! We learnt that 'Love Shack' is enjoyed by Ghanaians as much as us and Sean Paul always went down a storm! We worked hard to finish in time but still had a panic at the end that it would not be done in time for school to start and before we had to leave. Fortunately we made it!

 

 

 

 

Reading

 

Between 4pm and 6pm (often 7.30pm... we enjoyed ourselves too much to want to stop!) was the time for reading classes with a number of local boys. Our house in Ho was transformed into a library for a short period every day when the boys would descend armed with a smile and eagerness to learn (something that pleasantly surprised us right the way through the project). We all assigned ourselves set children to work with to ensure consistency in their learning and the children chose books they were interested in... and simply read! Where comprehension was low the children were encouraged to take an active role in finding out the meanings of words they did not understand and we would take the time to discuss what they found challenging. Towards the end of the project we encouraged children to write their own stories and received some fantastic ones, covering themes of bank robbery, magic children and talking stones! The children's dedication to learning was evident and it was a pleasure to be able to assist them in reading and writing – hopefully having one-to-one help, even for just two weeks, will have helped in some small way and if anything, given at least one child a passion for reading and writing.

 

 

 

Football

 

The boys football teams had just returned from a successful tournament so their coach had given them time to rest instead of training so five of the volunteers (the other five ran the reading classes described above) were asked to help head coach Fosta with the coaching of the women's team, Ghatel Ladies Volta FC! The girls were preparing for a series of qualifying matches for a regional tournament at the end of the two week placement so our task was to get them to the tournament. Becca, our FA qualified coach, took the lead on this and as a team of five volunteers we set about organising the girls into daily training sessions focusing on all different aspects of their game including passing drills, counter-attacking football and in particular better communication between players on the pitch, something Ghanaian ladies teams in general weren't very good at! The squad of girls were very motivated to play and improve and came to training regardless of how much it was raining. This was very inspiring for us volunteers to see and we made sure to work just as hard in return, organising useful sessions for them. Despite setbacks of injuries to key players and a loss during the qualifying rounds, in the end Ghatel Ladies triumphed and successfully qualified for their regional tournament! The team gave us the warmest welcome imaginable during the two weeks and we were made to feel like an integral part of the team as well as becoming good friends with many of the players. During our ten days travelling we went on tour with the team to their tournament in Cape Coast, staying with them in the hotel and supporting them in their matches throughout the tournament. COME ON YOU REEEEEEEEEEEEDS!

 

When the two weeks of project were up we said a very sad goodbye to everybody in Ho and the ten of us volunteers plus Ol' Man Dave Coles commandeered a tro from Ho to Big Milly's backyard, via Accra which took approximately 9 million years (ok more like 9 hours...it felt longer at the time) in the heat of the Ghanaian sun with nothing to eat but sweet bread, plantain chips and FanYogo ice creams and warm bag water to keep us going! We spent two nights at the incredible Big Millie's, including my birthday 20^th celebration on Saturday night which is the best birthday part I've ever had by a long chalk! Thank you player! The food and drink is top quality and the setting amongst the palm trees and right next to the beach is great. The rastas from the nearby community spend most of their time hanging around and making friends with the visitors. The whole resort is eco-friendly with bucket showers and solar panels on all the rooms.

 

From there we travelled from town to town along the coast. Our next stop was Hans Cottage Botel famous for its crocodile sanctuary where you can feed the crocs from the walkways. Most of the group went to Kakum national park for the afternoon where you can walk on the walkways high up in the forest canopy offering some spectacular views over the area. A must see! From there we moved on to Cape Coast where Ghatel Ladies FC (the team we had been coaching on placement in Ho) was playing in their regional tournament. The team generously let us stay in one of the dorms they had rented for the tournament for free which was a massive bonus. On top of watching their matches, we found time to visit the Cape Coast Castle (a sobering reminder of the Colonial History of Ghana), play football against the local children on one of the cleaner beaches in Cape Coast and have supper overlooking the beach. The next day a small number of us had a go at Ghanaian drumming lessons (suffice to say we won't be forming a band anytime soon!).

 

From there, three of us made an overnight round trip to Kumasi to visit the second largest market in Africa and the gold mines in nearby Obuasi, before meeting up with the rest of the group in Green Turtle Lodge. There is no other way to talk about GTL then simply to say it is paradise on earth. Watch the Leo DiCaprio film 'The Beach' and you'll get a feel for the sort of place it is. The last four days of the trip was spent unwinding here and getting to meet all the other guests, including Big Phil, the most legendary 80 year old ever who had been living there in a tent for 6 months and the owners, Tom and Jo, who we found out were Exeter Alumni (Jiff and Lukie respectively...I think). Our final night in Ghana was a low key, four of us ended up getting taken to a random club and snooker bar in central Accra and dancing the night away by a guy who turned out to be a drug dealer. Why not!

 

Anyway this in a nutshell was our ten days travel in Ghana. I couldn't count how many little details and events I haven't included which made the trip the time of my life and how close friends everyone became who were involved on this trip. I can't recommend DaveSquared highly enough (www.davesquared.org). Everywhere we went our volunteering contribution was made to feel hugely important and we were treated as family by everyone we met. We could not have been made to feel more welcomed and this helped us all to deal with the feeling of uncertainty we had when we first arrived in Ghana. The Ghanaian way of life has stuck with all of the volunteers and we have all adopted a much more open and relaxed stance on life. Our motto of the trip became 'Why Not?' and this will live with me for many years to come. We still talk to one another using all the Ghanain catchphrases that we picked up and play some of the games that the Kids at Mama Viak's taught us including 'Bambambambalika'! As Daniel would say, THANK YOU PLAYER!

 

 

Akpe kakaka,

 

Tom and Katie (on behalf of everyone!)

 

Posted by Community Action International ( 4:34 PM )
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Sunday Sep 19, 2010

Time flies when you're having fun...

Wow..We've been in Ghana for over two weeks and already completed our volunteering project. The blog updates have clearly been few and far between (rather, non-existant..) despite many reminders from Dave, our Dave Squared Volunteering project leader (sorry! and we miss you!) and this first update comes whilst sitting in a place called Hans Cottage Botel on our third day of travelling. We've decided to do a full update when we get back to England, which shouldn't be difficult considering the many avid journal keepers in our group, but for now... Ghana's just a bit too fun to be sitting online :P

The project in Ho was absolutely incredible. In those two weeks we managed to lead a Women's football team to glory, paint an entire school block and build fantastic relationships with all the staff and children at Mama Viak's preparatory school/orphanage. Painting was a sweaty job and came with many panics of time-is-running-out! However we managed to complete all the painting on time and the sense of achievement for that was fantastic. Mama Viaks was, for me, the best part of the project and will always have a place in my heart, the children were absolutely adorable and Mama Viak was a great inspiration. I am sad to have left and definately hope that I will be able to return again soon. Whilst this is only a very brief overview I have way too much to say and so will definately update when I return to England with the many things Ghana has brought me and taught me.

For now..

Katie (Project Co-Leader)

Posted by Community Action International ( 6:01 PM )
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Saturday Sep 04, 2010

It's Ghana time...

 

 

Wayzo, encoyna Tom (Hello, my name is Tom - translated into the Ghanaian dialect Ewe)!

So here goes, after 9 months of preparation and fundraising, we are leaving for Ghana this afternoon! And what a 9 months it has been. I applied for this project as a last minute thought and my project was nearly over before it started when I realised I'd handed in my form two days late! Anyway out of nowhere I found myself sitting in front of my computer a few weeks later with a congratulatory email not quite sure what to make of it. Sitting here now with our imminent departure and I couldn't be more glad that to bea part of this International Project, it has been one of the most rewarding and enjoyable experiences of my life thanks to the friends I have made and the challenges that have been put in front of us.

 

I'll be honest that I'm feeling pretty nervous about getting out there, making a good impression and proving that I can offer something useful to the community that we are working in. I'm sure these little worries will dissolve as we get settled in but for now the nerves are still lingering! However I couldn't have asked for nine better friends to go with me to Ghana and I know we will have a fantastic three and a half weeks ahead of us and I'm sure that we'll be able to both teach, and learn from, the community in which we will be immersing ourselves for the duration. With any luck we will find a local internet cafe in Ho so watch this space for updates of how the project is going(and possibly of our 10 day travel adventure in Ghana once the project is done) : ]

Akpey (thank you),

GL! Tom

Posted by Community Action International ( 12:01 AM )
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Friday Sep 03, 2010

See you in Ghana!

It is 6am and I am awake. This is unusual... more than unusual... I rarely get up at this time even when I have to be up at this time. I'm pretty sure the reason is that I'M EXCITED! Have I packed everything? What do I still need to buy? Should I pack another tshirt? ... I can't switch off! We leave tomorrow morning, when I actually will have to be awake at this time, and I think the prospect of what we're going to be doing has only just sunk in.

I have been to Africa before - Zambia in 2008 - and it was (to date) the best experience of my life. The cultural 'shock' lasted just over a week for me but I quickly became immersed into the Zambian way of life - even once being asked "Are you Zambian?" after skillfully bartering with a taxi driver :P.. It sounds like such a cliche but there was something about Africa that captured my heart... can't describe it any other way. I absolutely loved relaxing into a way of life that was so different to my own and I anticipate that Ghana will be no different. Whilst I don't want to compare the experiences, I know that the initial cultural 'shock' is likely to be the same, and I know that it will make me feel apprehensive, however I also know that I will absolutely love every second of experiencing a culture so far removed from what would be the norm in my day-to-day life.

I can't wait to begin the projects... I work in childcare and feel so passionate about giving children the best start in life. The projects aim to bring education, but also friendship. It has been our team's responsibility to create 'lesson plans' and whilst these are not set in stone, we have considered them with education at the heart. However, I believe that friendship and mutual understanding are just as important - we don't aim to 'westernise' the children's education, or enter into the projects with any assumptions about the 'right' way to do things, I hope to learn just as much as I teach, and I'm sure I will...

It has been a long 9 months.. from my interview, to planning fundraising, to doing fundraising, to planning lessons, to packing... but I have loved every second (although much of this love is rediscovered after periods of incredible stress!). Being part of Community Action has been the best thing I have done at University so far and I would recommend joining to anyone! The support we have recieved from Dave Squared has been amazing... it has been great to get to know 'the Daves' before we embark upon our trip and the level personal correspondance and dedication from them us has been a comofort and a reassurance.

24 hours and counting... see you all in Ghana!

Katie (Project Co-leader)

Posted by Community Action International ( 6:48 AM )
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Monday Aug 30, 2010

Less than a week :)

I'm BUZZING for ghana in 5 days time :D I can't believe how quickly it has come about...I'd independently organised a trip to volunteer in South Africa for the summer or 2010 but had to cancel it due to unseen costs, so when the opportunity to go to Ghana arose I wasted no time in filling in the application. Being a first year student at Exeter, I was still very muchfinding my feet at uni and didn't think I had much of a shot of getting into the International Project team, but went along to the interview thinking I'd get some experience and apply again next year. Fortunately for me, I received the email a couple of days later saying I'd been successful and I was ECSTATIC! The fundraising period has been stressful at times but a brilliant way for the 10 of us going to Ghana to get to know one another. Everyone has put in so much effort and you know you're travelling with people who feel what we're doing is important. It's also a great excuse to put on crazy events and get local people interested in a good cause. I've loved it and am so pleased with how well we have done as a group. Now, with jabs completed and equipment bought, I can't wait to get out there and experience a culture so different to my own, meet wonderful people and get involved with the kids, all with a group of students that a year ago were strangers to me and now have become really good friends.

 

Ruth.

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Sunday Aug 15, 2010

3 weeks to go...

So we finally found out how much we have fundraised as a group since Feburary 2010... and we made it! We exceeded our target by over 700 pounds! This comes as a great relief and is a testament to the hard work the team has put in since the begining of the year. I am so greatful to given the opportunity by Community Action to work within a team of volunteers - meeting like-minded people all striving towards one shared goal is fantastic and I cannot wait to travel to Ghana with a group that started out as volunteers, and have quickly become fantastic friends

 

Katie (Project Co-leader)

 

 

Posted by Community Action International ( 6:39 PM )
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Thursday Jul 29, 2010

Ghana 2010

Hello! We're Katie, Marcey, Tom, Josh, Maisie, Ruth, Liz, Amy, Laura and Becca, and we make up the 'International Project' run by Exeter University's volunteering society, Community Action.

Community Action are a student-led volunteering society at the University of Exeter, offering students numerous volunteering opportunities in the local community. Last year the 'International Project' was born, bringing the success of Community Action's local projects to Ghana. Ten students travelled to Ho in Ghana's Volta region to work with the non-profit, grass-roots organisation Dave Squared Volunteering on a number of community projects and this year we're going back! Projects we will be working on in Ghana include: assisting in an orphanage, running a 'summer school' for children during their school holidays and coaching youth football.  

The entire team were selected by interview. Myself (Katie) and Marcey were appointed Project Leaders by the society and we then had to try our hand at interviewing! After a week of interviewing over 30 possible candidates we made our selection. It was incredibly difficult process and was always a worry for us that we would pick individuals who did not mix well - fortunately for us everyone has got along fantastically (thus far..!!).

The project is entirely fundraised for by the International Project team and since September we have done so extensively. We have thus far: mastered the art of speed-baking and all put on a few extra pounds hosting a number of bake sales, become packing pros through bag-packing sessions in local supermarkets, given a presentation about our project at a university-run 'Africa Nite', hosted two sponsored football tournaments, approached slightly-worse-for-wear-and-thus-very-generous student clubbers during night-club raiding and run our very own 'Take me Out' event – a one-off dating show for Exeter's students. We have also been fortunate enough to benefit from a number of donations from volunteers, enthusiastic lecturers and the Exeter University Alumni Foundation, of which we are extremely grateful. We also have a collection at London Victoria station coming up in the next week which will hopefully ensure we have met our target - we are yet to find out if we have done so, fingers crossed we will be able to update very soon with positive news!

Katie (Project Co-Leader)

 

Posted by Community Action International ( 3:41 PM )
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