I'm Back!

Project Ghana mission accomplished and now we are back. I was unable to blog from the Ve-Koloenu village as we had no connection but kept a diary of the events.

We maybe back in the comfort of our own lives, but can life continue to be exactly the same as before? After seeing what we did, the poverty, the hunger, combined with smiles and laughter, can anyone just carry on life as normal? One thing for sure, the way I look at life is not the same, it’s just not possible.

The entire time I was there I felt happy because the people around me felt happy, the children had smiles on their faces and were playful. In all honesty, that’s not what I was expecting. What I saw helped me realise how fortunate we in the west really are. If we don’t have our fancy smartphones, laptops and tablets we feel unhappy; but seeing the way life was lived by the locals, we soon realised that we maybe measuring happiness in a wrong way.

Something I learnt about life is that you need to make the most of it. You need to take every opportunity you get and do something with it because there are people out there that don’t get half the opportunities we do but would love to get them. We need to understand that there’s more to life than just TV and Xbox, instead of watching TV you should pick up a football because that’s what the children in Ghana do and they are just as happy as we are, if not happier.

Here in the UK we really do not realise how spoilt we really are… even when it comes to the very basic things like food. We want fancy foods that taste good, and if the takeaway is not liked, we refuse to eat and kick up a fuss. Food is not a luxury, it’s a need to survive and many of the kids we met out there are happy if there stomachs a filled to survive (unless you look at Prince or George who are the Chief’s sons). No one wastes any food because they can’t afford to, all food tastes good to them because their survival depends on it. We sometimes say that we don’t like the food that is in front of us and we don’t eat it so it goes to waste; that would never happen in Ghana, and I found myself thinking ‘I can’t eat this’ but forced it down me as I was grateful that I had food to eat.

Religion is very important to many Ghanaians. The main religion you would find is Christianity but there are also a lot of Muslims. We asked one of the Chiefs if there was ever any problems with racism and he replied by saying there was never any issues at all. I was surprised to hear this. People were not judged by their beliefs.

I now won’t take things for granted and will try to make the most of life. If only we could bring back some of the things we saw when we were there, then our society could learn a lot and become better.

The following posts will cover more of the time that we spent out there and the activities we covered. Keep reading!

From Sheffield to Ghana

Ghana has just over one million orphans, 170,000 of which lost parents to AIDS. There are many charities helping out in Ghana but the situation is still far from satisfactory. So our countdown begins! Within the next few hours, I along with a team from FirVale School, Sheffield are off to make a little difference to some children who are most vulnerable.

Just under a year ago, 15 students secured positions for Project Ghana 2014. Within the year, we have raised a whopping £35k which will go towards the Eugemot Orphanage in Ghana – that we will help build!

Project Ghana members of Fir Vale School, Sheffield.

Bags packed, vaccinated, briefings complete… I guess there’s nothing more to do but control my nerves as we head to Ghana’s Volta Region. Chris Power (Mr Power as we call him), a teacher at Fir Vale School, has been to Ghana several times before. Every time he visited he would stop at an orphanage to give stuff to the kids but on his last visit he was told that he could not go back because they didn't have enough money to keep the orphanage open. So a dream was born. Mr Power decided that something needed to be done because he didn't want the children to have no one to look after them but he couldn't do it all alone. He met with a man called Tom Tuckwood who owns a company called Venture Force. Venture Force takes groups out on expeditions around the world. Together they decided to take a group of 15 students to help build the an orphanage and keep it sustainable.

For the past year the people in Ghana have been building the Orphanage. They have managed to complete 1 building so far and when we go out there we aim to finish the second. On the bucket list of activities, not only will we get our hands dirty but also spend time with the orphans; hearing their stories and playing with them – letting them know there are good people who care!

Toys and stationary equipment packed (donated by local families), we get ready to say goodbye to our families tonight and leave at the break of dawn. Though we must rest up well tonight in our own beds, I think my anxieties have a different plan… lets see what the next 10 days have in store!

This is my first blog post from Sheffield, and the next will be in Ghana! (If the electricity and time allows!)

Goodbye Sheffield, see you on the other side!