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...

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...

4AM in the Tallinn Airport My preparation for Ghana lasted four months -- from the moment I applied for an EU Humanitarian Aid Volunteer position in January until the moment I stepped my foot on a plane to Accra in May.  The idea to apply came when I was scrolling a Facebook feed and an ad on Mondo's page caught my eye. They were looking for a person with communication and digital skills, who would work with a Ghanaian NGO Rays of Hope Centre, which educates street children and helps them to return to society. I'd always thought that professions such as a doctor, engineer, teacher, handicrafter, etc are mostly the ones asked for volunteering. But this project was looking for a person with a background in communications, marketing, and project management. Exactly what I had done so far! Therefore I was happy to contribute since I saw it as a way to do something meaningful with my skillset.  Equally attractive was an opportunity to travel to Ghana to Africa. To a country and a c...