Mondo's volunteers in Ghana

  Hello again, Living in Ghana is not something you fully understand by reading about it. You feel it in the heat, in the colors, in the traffic, in the music, and in the way people smile at you for no reason. Every day brings a new surprise. Sometimes you learn something the easy way, sometimes the hard way. This guide is a small collection of things I learned while living and volunteering here. Some are practical, some are funny, some are confusing, and some changed the way I see life.  Welcome to Ghana. It will challenge you, surprise you and teach you. Here we go . . . 1. Water is everything here Water is not just water in Ghana. It keeps your energy up, protects you from the heat, and saves you from feeling dizzy. If you don’t carry a bottle with you, even the city gets tired before you do. Drinking water is not a choice here — it is basic survival. 2. People dress in bright colors and always smile Colors are part of daily life in Ghana. People smile at you even when th...

   Hello everyone, Everyone in my life said the same thing "Are you crazy?".This journey began with the questions.  Yes, I guess so. My assignment period is a bit short, 3 months. But it doesn't matter. Here I am in Ghana. On my first day, my volunteer friends Louis and Oceane picked me up from the airport. After a short tour around Tamale, we bought something to eat and went to the volunteer house.Since I arrived on Friday, I had three free days at the beginning. I spent the first day resting, and again my volunteer friends took me to do some grocery shopping. On the second day, I was just waiting for my soul to catch up with me. Whenever I take a long trip (especially by plane), I always feel like I travel too fast and leave my soul behind. When I arrive at my destination, I wait for a while until my soul arrives too. It’s actually a small ritual that helps me adjust to the new place emotionally.Maybe that’s why I love slow mornings and quiet moments ...

 Today I want to quickly share with you one of the most frightening experiences of my life (and I harda car accident already sooooo). I was going to the field on a motorbike with my mentor. In the beginning it was pretty funny and honestly I just loved it! It's a whole different vibe to get into the Savana with a motorbike rather than a car believe me! You feel so close to the nature and to the spirit of the place. At the same time, the risks are way higher. The roads are in very bad conditions and there is absolutely no traffic regulation. Anyway, I was enjoyining the ride when suddenly I spot a group of Zebus running in the Savana and I think "Oh wow amazing let me take a video of this!". As we procede I quickly realize that the Zebus are invading the road and they are running savagely. We don't stop. We go on trying to dodge them. I stop breathing as the Zebus are running a few centimetes away from me. I though "Please please please plaseeeee don't hit me...

  A Journey of Growth, Culture, and Connection It is hard to believe that nine weeks have already passed since I began my humanitarian mission in Ghana, in the small village of Kongo. My deployment as a volunteer gender advocate and women’s empowerment specialist is now drawing to a close, and as I look back on this experience, I am filled with gratitude, humility, and admiration for the people and culture that have surrounded me. Time has flown by remarkably quickly. These past weeks have been filled with a whirlwind of experiences — moments of discovery, challenges, culture shocks, and countless opportunities for personal and professional growth. I have witnessed both the joys and the hardships of daily life here, and each day has taught me something new about resilience, community, and humanity. From the very beginning, I made it my goal to truly integrate into the local community. I have worked to learn the language, built friendships with residents, visited schools, and collab...

It has been a couple of weeks since I first arrived in Tamale and I already feel like I've been here for over a month or two ahah. These past 15 days were very dense: new country, new culture, new poeple, new ways, new office, new food, new house, new habits, new everything. Sometimes I wonder if one day all of this will stop looking "new" and it will just be normal.  I have to say I feel very lucky, the others volunteers are kind and I already feel like we can count on each other, I can rely on them and they can rely on me, it's not to give for granted. I actually have already tested their good heart since I've been to the hospital and they decided to stay there with me the whole time. Nothing serious, I had some food poisoning i think (I exagerated with vegetables) and a tick bite that I had probably got by using the toilets on the field... I had my blood test done quickly and there was no immune response to any desease so everything should be fine, but I still ...

 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 ...