Mondo's volunteers in Ghana

 It has now been more than a month since I arrived in Tamale, Ghana. The first two weeks were more about acclimatation with the living conditions and the culture, especially food. Even now, the adaptation process is still ongoing, but I am gradually starting to find my feet in daily life.   First meeting with GDCA  I have been warmly welcome by the GDCA staff and other colleagues. As they say, "the doors are open", everyone is willing to help whenever needed.  The challenge was more on the work part as it started very slowly, sometimes leaving me with the feeling that my days were empty. However, these past weeks have been much busier. I’ve had the opportunity to join field visits and attend workshops, even if not directly connected to my mission’s focus.         First meeting with Moya community  for a new VSLA project School4Life workshop with district's heads                 ...

It has been just over three weeks since I began my humanitarian mission in Kongo, Ghana, as an advocate for gender equality and women’s empowerment. This is something I had been considering for a long time, and finally being here feels both meaningful and challenging. Friends and family often ask me: “How are you doing?” and “What is the hardest part?” The truth is, the most difficult part has been starting a new life from scratch — learning how to live and work in a community where everything feels unfamiliar. From transportation and food to cultural norms, nothing resembles what I was used to before. But with time, people adapt. Almost every day I learn a few new words in the local language, ask countless questions, and slowly realize that my life is changing in ways I hadn’t imagined. This experience has made me appreciate even more the things I often took for granted at home in Latvia: reliable electricity, safety, access to different needs and services, the ability to plan my time...

  A little more than a month to go. I think it’s time to start reflecting on my journey so far and assess what I have achieved. I focused my micro finance activity on waste management. The project team selected the Zugu community for the initiative. I began by meeting with elders of Zugu to introduce myself and gather their feedback on the type intervention I was planning. In the second meeting, we conducted an assessment using three main focus groups to identify their waste management practices, the types  of waste they dispose of, and their level of awareness of the impact of poor waste disposal on human and animal health, as well as the environment.  In our third visit, we carried out the main activity, which included a sensitisation campaign with images illustrating the impact of garbage, followed by a cleanup and the placement of dustbins and gallons. Dustbins are primarily intended for plastic, which will be collected by a plastic recycling company.  We plan to...

More than a month has passed since my first day here and I can now say that the initial culture shock has slowly faded away.   First, I somehow sorted out the transportation issue, or let’s say I got used. At the beginning, I was so determined to learn how to ride motorbike and get one for myself. The idea of not being able to move around independently, always relying on others or an unstructured taxi system, really bothered me. In the end, I figured out how to make the daily commute work. Every morning, I hail at some yellow yellow (a tricycle taxi)  for part of the way to the office and enjoy walking the rest. For longer trips I call my go-to yellow yellow driver, and sometimes I‘m lucky enough to get a lift from either my colleagues or friends. Plus, I realized that even though riding a motorbike is not that difficult, I’ll only be here for a short time, and navigating this chaotic traffic with a vehicle I’ve just broken in might not be the wisest choice.  Sp...

The travel day has been a roller coaster of emotions. In the morning, I was super excited to start this new adventure; I couldn’t wait to embark on this experience. But at the airport, when the moment came to say goodbye to my loved ones, I cried, letting out all my subconscious worries.  On the flight, paranoid thoughts and regrets briefly took over. But it was just a passing moment. Overall, the journey went smoothly—the real shock was yet to come. As soon as we drove into the city, I felt disoriented. I started stressing out about how I would buy basic necessities, as all the shops looked so unfamiliar. I quickly realized that for almost any activity, I’d need to take a taxi because the distances are huge, and there are only a few useful stores near my house. At the same time, I had the chance to meet almost all the HO members, and they were incredibly kind to me. My mentor was especially supportive and always available, driving me around the city to help me recognize landmarks ...

Parece ayer cuando escribía el blog sobre mis primeros cuatro meses... y ya van seis, y es momento de despedirse.  Mis dias en el centro de informática y en Konsec han terminado, ahora escribo este borrador desde una habitación de hotel mientras visito un poco el país antes de mi regreso a españa.  He podido disfrutar de un par de semanas visitando el pais, desde el norte donde vivía, ahora me encuentro en el sur y procedo a explicaros en unas palabras mis destinos para qué tengáis testimonios de primera mano. Empezamos por Busua, playas super naturales y bonitas. Se puede practicar surf y es bastante turistico, destacar qué yo viaje en temporada baja y todos mis destinos estaban bastante vacios. Cape Coast me dejó marcado por su historia y su belleza natural. Visitar el castillo fue una experiencia conmovedora, un recordatorio doloroso del pasado esclavista. Después, me perdí entre las copas de los árboles en el parque nacional de Kakum, donde la naturaleza se mostraba en tod...