Mondo's volunteers in Ghana

The NGO Rays of Hope Centre (where I'm volunteering) has an Instagram and Facebook account, but they don't have a constant person to take care of these two.  For NGOs, the presence in Social Media can be profitable since these platforms help to share their message, engage with the community, raise awareness, and find new supporters for free. But Instagram and Facebook are like pets - they need constant care. Currently, I'm the person who's taking care of the accounts. But to keep the channels up to date in the future, we decided to train five staff members who would take over weekly posting after the end of my deployment. Let's get down to training! The training was a one-day event. First, we went over the statistics about different social media apps. Did you know that there's a new trending app called BeReal ?  Second, we discussed what to post on NGO pages and stopped more on ethics about sharing photos of children. The topic is complicated since Rays of Hope...

  At the beginning of the month, I was in an art gallery, the Artists Alliance Gallery, in Accra. I was there with some friends on a Saturday afternoon. The place is amazing; it has three floors full of African arts: painting, jewellery, fabrics, statues and so much more (unfortunately, I can’t show you pictures because since it is a gallery and every piece is original and for selling, they don’t allow photos). At some point, I was digging around some oil paintings on a random counter and I saw one that impressed me. It is a painting of three Ghanaian women. One is carrying a baby in the typical way (on the back, wrapped in a fabric) and all three have large trays full of stuff on the head. The background is light brown, like a sky full of sand. It reflects the women reality that I see every day around me in Ashaiman. It is very impressive how these women can carry heavy things on trays on their heads as if it is nothing, with grace and agility even in the traffic or in crowded p...

  It has been a long journey to get here, but here I am. I was accepted in April for the Junior Psychosocial Support and Organizational Development position in Ghana. Then I waited until June for the training, both on-line and in Bulgaria with a wonderful group of people (I feel very lucky for that), and then my vaccinations appointments and visa process took some sweet time (I am Italian, paperwork in my country is never a pleasure); so I waited even more. As “the cherry on top”, on the 1st of August after 5 hours of delay my flight from Brussels to Accra was cancelled and I needed to spend one night there and to take one the next morning … However, after this VERY LONG waiting and postponing I have made it! On the 2 nd  of August, I arrived in Ghana and I started my deployment! Therefore, I spent more months between the acceptance of the role and the actual deployment than the deployment itself, that will be for 3 months and 19 days exactly. I think that this particular timi...

It is common to fall ill during your deployment. Within the two months in Ghana, It has happened to me twice. First I received the symptoms of a cold. I  was celebrating my first week in Ashaiman with a constant runny nose and a symphony of coughing. The second was a stomach infection that took me straight to a hospital. First Symptoms It all started one evening when I was having dinner at home. Suddenly I didn't have any appetite. Even the simplest fried yam on my plate made me feel nauseous. I assumed I'm simply exhausted from previous days so called it for an early night. Before falling asleep I took my temperature, just out of interest. It was 37,2. "Okay, let's see what the morning brings," I said to myself and tried to fall asleep. Well, what the morning brought me was definitely not a rest. My night passed by giving multiple visits to the toilet (diarrhea - of course!), constantly adding layers to stop chills, and seeing strange dreams. Finally, around 4 AM...

They say that the first month of the deployment is usually the most chaotic. And coming from my experience - amen, it's true.   Culturally my month has been quite impressive and colorful. I've attended a funeral, a wedding, a church service, seen a local football match, visited a local school, and well.. taken into a hospital due to bad street food (the famous jollof). I'm glad that in a short time I've experienced so many different (and mostly fun) aspects of Ghanaian life, so this eases the slight pain I've had with getting used to local meals, constant attention on the streets, understanding the local English accent, and working on my tasks. Hello tasks my old friends Obviously, I knew my tasks before arriving in Ghana. But one thing is to have them on paper, the other is their accordance with reality. You may be hired as a Financial Officer in the EU volunteer program, but in reality, you travel to another country to be a secretary and buy stuff for the office....

I've been in Ghana now for two weeks. This is the length of a period that usually tourists like to spend in favored destinations.  Unfortunately, as a tourist, I would be a lousy one. So far I haven't visited any famous sightseeings or parks in Ghana, attended safaris, filled my wardrobe with colorful prints, or spent hundreds of cedis in markets. In fact, so far I've spent only 1 cedi to purchase ginger for my cold.  My "tourist period" - the two weeks - has passed by moving into my new home, and getting to know my workplace, my area, and Ghanaian culture. I've also made start with Twi classes (the most widely spoken local language) and already had a chance to attend a funeral and a Christian Sunday Service. And well, catch a cold. Because it is rainy season now. And every other day it pours cats and dogs in 30-degree heat. So who is this odd tourist you're reading here about?  Me, Saile! A European Union Aid Volunteer who next 6 months lives in Ghana, As...