Mondo's volunteers in Ghana

 A messy amazing evening.  Driven from my friends' requests, I decided to organize a pizza workshop to teach my local friend how to cook pizza. Since we organized on a sunday, the plan was to meet at 2pm to have the time to get everything ready without finishing too late. But here is something you have to know about ghanians, they are always late. So what happened in reality?  We started very late, we were 15 and we only had a small gas oven. To be honest, I can still feel the stress I felt when I realized what was happening, but as soon as people came, having them there, and being all together calmed me down. I realized that everything would have worked out even if the original plan changed.  I settled ingredients for everybody, each of us was having it is own bowls and it is own instruction sheet. I was so happy to see all my friends very interesting in getting to know my culture. Baking pizza is a main thing in my family, we use to bake every saturday night and be...

  Yes, he survived! I mean the rooster... Nevertheless, I broke my vegetarian diet for my last dinner in Kongo. Everybody told me I should try guinea fowl before I leave as it is local and special. It was tasty. But it tasted very similar to chicken... So I could also have eaten the rooster instead, as revenge :) However, living in cities for my whole life I'm not used to see an animal alive before eating it. Hiding in the house while the animal was being prepared for cooking I felt a little bit like a coward. I think it's good I stick with my vegetarian diet. As I'm leaving Kongo I feel excited to see my family and friends but I'm also feeling sad because I'm leaving those people behind who welcomed me heartily in Kongo and who made me feel comfortable during my stay. I'm finishing my deployment earlier than planned because my body is not able to cope with the heat in Northern Ghana. I didn't expect it to be that challenging for me but unfortunately I felt ...

Since I am a kid I have always loved drawing. It is my go to activity when I need time by myself, when I need to break from reality. It is something I have always preserved with care and attention, knowing that wherever I was, whatever happened, drawing would realign everything.  However, one thing I realised over the years was that while drawing fascinated me, painting scared me. I still do not know why, maybe I just love the idea that people can imagine the colors they want when looking at my drawings, or maybe I am just scared to ruin something I care so much about.  Tamale has been life changing in this regard. I love to think that is something that was planned for me. Next to my place, just beside the forest, a guy is providing free paiting sessions during the whole week. After a full month in the city I had the courage to step there and join one of these sessions, already knowing that It would have leave my confort zone and face my "colour fear".  I found it a ...

    Nearly 4 months have passed… the bad news are, the confused rooster is still alive! And also all the other roosters which are roaming around the neighbourhood at night and keeping me from sleeping peacefully. The good news are, I’m still vegetarian... Other good news are, that I was able to start three interesting and hopefully useful projects after my month-long needs assessment period. The puzzle I was trying to solve to get a better picture of the community is still not complete, even after my time of observation, needs assessment meetings and months of working. It is natural, because it takes more time to solve such a complex puzzle completely. However, at least the puzzle pieces I was able to put together give a hint of the beauty as well as the challenges of this unique place and its’ inhabitants.   The tree and his shade are functioning as a school staff room and assembly hall     Project no. 1: During the needs assessment meetings teenage pr...

  It’s not the first time I’m doing such an experience but the reality is that you’ll never be 100% ready. The first few days you’ll always miss your home, your people and you will feel lonely. I guess it is important to realise the normality of the process to avoid being overwhelmed by it. Here is the thing I’ll try to do in the next few days: I will try to find small things that make me smile, things that make me feel better and that remind me why I am here and why it is worthy to be here.   As soon as I entered the meeting room for my welcoming meeting, I read this write on the board. It was meant to be for me but coincidentally it was exactly what I needed at that moment. “Nothing last forever!!”, I think that is something we should all remember when we begin a new path: with time everything gets smoother and easier. The sense of loneliness had fastly faded and for how much I miss my family and my home, I know I will find home here also. Yesterday when I came back fro...

  It wasn’t my plan to write so much so frequently, but the fact is – a lot is going on, despite Kongo being in a predominantly rural setting. I think it’s appropriate to start by listing my observations from the professional perspective.                   First and foremost, there is plastic and waste everywhere. I saw a trash can only once in Kongo, in front or the District Education Office. Plastic bags are heavily overused. If you simply buy a bottle of water, they’ll put it in a small, black plastic bag. Just another day I saw a street dog tearing off pieces of a plastic bag with sauce leftovers inside! (The most shocking discovery is that dog meat is eaten here) ☹ As for the people, they just discard their trash as they go along. The locals drink their water from 500ml plastic bags which can be seen lying everywhere.   There is a company, ZUUM LION, whose workers come early in the morning and collect the...

  September / October 2023 As I publish this blog post, the first month in Kongo community at the Upper East region has passed. It feels like it was longer than that. I didn’t have that proper dive into the new culture as I met with the Mondo delegation in Accra and we flew to Tamale together, where I accompanied them as they attended meetings with Ghana Development Community Association, their other Ghanian partner. One of the things that struck me was their School for Life affiliated organisation, which has over the decades taught over 400 000 children how to read and write so they could enrol in formal education system! Even more, many of them end up overperforming! I also did a little bit of networking on my first day in Ghana and the press officer from GDCA has shared a short documentary “Bearing the Burden”, which portrays   farmers in Northern Ghana being affected by climate change. It would prove to be a source of very important information for me. But, for now, I’m ...