Care & Community - GHANA Daily Life

Daily Life of a Care and Community Volunteer in Ghana

6.00am
I would wake up under my mosquito net with the sun shining in through the window and then turn to see if my room-mate was awake. Then I'd get up and have a warm bucket shower prepared by my host mother. My host mother was called Diana and was great during my stay in Ghana; she would prepare breakfast and give us a shout when it was ready - normally it was bread and butter but on occasions we'd have cereal with soya milk - there is very little cow's milk available in Ghana.

7.00am
A taxi would arrive to take me to my placement that was about a 20 minute journey away; we would pick up other volunteers on the way. This was a great time to just look out of the window and observe people going about their regular morning business or to chat to the other volunteers about their plans for later in the day.

7.30am
I would arrive at my placement and get ready to work; I was helping to build a library in Kwamoso but there was a housing project going on across the road so on some days I would go and help there. Work would consist of either making mud bricks, which I really enjoyed doing, or painting houses that had already been finished. About a week and a half into my placement all the bricks had been made so we started plastering them together with cement to make a house; you get nice and mucky doing this! During work hours I could take breaks if I felt myself getting tired, but generally everyone worked straight through - when you are chatting to other volunteers and sharing your stories, time seems to fly by. It was a relaxed working atmosphere but at the end you do feel tired out, especially if you are not used to manual labour at home. The most rewarding thing was seeing what you were all working on coming together. By the time I left, the library had been fully built and painted and was awaiting the arrival of the donated books from England. Because of this you can see that your time and effort is a small part of a big effort to make a difference and it is very rewarding being a part of that.

12pm
A taxi would arrive to take me back home for lunch. Lunch varied but was always yummy: jollof rice, omelette, pasta, plantain and 'red red' (my favourite). We ate a mixture of familiar food and classic Ghanaian food. After lunch I would relax for an hour or so before heading out again.

2pm+
Practically everyday we (me and fellow volunteers) would go out somewhere in the afternoon; the wood market, to buy some excellent presents to take home or to admire the craft work of the Ghanaians; the national park called Boti Falls which has amazing views; waterfalls where we swam at the bottom. One afternoon we went to a bead market in the next village and brought some amazing necklaces for a tenth of the price they would be here. I would spend some afternoons reading a book in the sun, or visiting an internet café to get in touch with home.

6pm
Dinner time back at home and time to rest and chat with your host family or play cards etc.

8pm+
We didn't go out every night but we often arranged to meet other volunteers at the local café/spot bar or go to other volunteers' houses. Every Wednesday Projects Abroad would hold a quiz night where some volunteers would make up a quiz for all the volunteers in the area. I did this with some fellow volunteers one Wednesday and it was really fun although possibly our questions were a little too hard. Then we would get a taxi or 'tro tro' back home to get ready for bed.

10pm or so
Chatting, reading, bed.

Weekends
During the weekends a group of us would arrange a trip - sometimes an overnight one - which was easy, safe, cheap, and that gave us an opportunity to see different areas of Ghana. During my last weekend 8 of us travelled 6 hours away from where we had spent our placement to one of Ghana's breathtaking beaches and the spent the night in a hut on the beach that had nothing but a bed in it; the sand surrounding the bed was the flooring, so when I woke up I was literally on the beach!!! What a great way to spend my last night!