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...
Popular posts from this blog
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...
Same Same, but different
It's 2am and I'm in the international airport in Accra waiting to board into my first flight towards Italy. I can't even describe all the emotions that I'm feeling right now, I feel very sad of leaving my Ghanian family but also excited to meet my family and friends again. What I know for sure is that Ghana has a special place in my heart, and all the memories and all the people will always be with me wherever I'll be. Ghana leaves me with a lot of professional and personal skills, in this 9 months I explored a new culture, embracing any aspect of it, and I have pulled my self out of my confort zone, looking for opportunities to learn, especially at work. What I know for sure is that Ghana made me realize how strong my values are and how much I want to advocate for them and keep them as engine for my future choices. I think this collage represents my experience the best. Same pictures but a bit different, that's exactly how feel. The same Maria Andrea, but ...




Comments
Post a Comment