Viimased kolm päeva olen Cape Coast'is. See ilus valge kindlus ookeani kaldal on kohutava ajalooga. Muide, ka Michelle Obama vana-vanaisa läks siit orjana Ameerikasse.
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...
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...
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 ...
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