Basket Day in Bolgatanga, Ghana

I took these photos on market day in Bolgatanga. Every third day, in rotation, basket makers come into town from outlying villages and sell their baskets to middle-men traders. Sometimes they may have only 2 or 3 baskets to sell, but this is enough to buy food for a few more days.

In the Insider's Guide to Ghana we outline a workshop you can do with women basket makers in a village just 5 minutes outside of town. Half-day and full-day workshops will include weaving and taking home your own basket, a village tour and experiencing a taste of life in northern Ghana. The workshop will cost 20 GHC for a full day and 15 GHC for half day, inclusive of finished basket--your gift. Look out for this and hundreds of other insider tips and off-the-beaten track attractions in the guide--coming soon!

Ethiopia Clean Water Project

I'm anticipating a few questions over this post since I live in a nation equally in need of better access to water even in the capital city, Accra. I also know that the world is in donating to Haiti mode--unquestionably important.

Nevertheless, an excellent blogger (who spent 4 years volunteering for a medical charity in West Africa) at The Art of Non Comformity blog is campaigning to raise $500,000 by next year for clean water access in Ethiopia. I know much of this blog's readership understands the dire situation regarding lack of access to clean drinking (or any) water across much of the developing world so I thought you might be interested to get involved in this campaign knowing that any contribution will actually go where it's intended. Check out Clean Water for Ethiopia here to get the full story.

Top 5 posts of 2009

You might be interested to know what the most popular posts of 2009 were. Here they are in order.

1. How Dangerous is travel in Ghana?
This is not really a surprise as we did a mini survey about what visitors wanted to know and Danger came out top of the list.

2. 19 Day tour of Ghana
We received numerous emails asking about what's best to see and do. After almost 4 years in Ghana, we put together our insider experience and created two different 19 day tours which you can see here. This was part of a "Ghana Highlights" series of posts which the link will direct you to.

3. A-Z of Everything I wish I knew about Ghana before leaving home
Packing and preparing to leave are not easy when you don't know what to expect. This post gives you the heads up.

4. 10 Days tour of Ghana
Like the 19 day tour, this was also a hit with readers with less time on their hands to see the best of Ghana.

17 Ways to Start 2010: Ghana Style

Join us for a pictorial journey through Ghana and prepare yourself for the new year!

You can read the whole post over at our new site G-lish.org or click on the link to the post: 17 Ways to Welcome 2010: Ghana Style

Here is a sneak peak!

1. Take stock of history.

Welcoming 2010: Ghana Style

Join us for a pictorial journey through Ghana and prepare yourself for the new year!

1. Take stock of history.

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Viewing the courtyard of Elmina Castle, the oldest standing European building in sub-Saharan Africa.

2. Now, time for a fresh start.

A split fresh coconut at Green Turtle Lodge

3. Looking for a change of direction? What are you good at? Maybe you’re a great cook?

The holiday menu at Green Turtle Lodge

4. Ask: What do I want to do? Perhaps you’re creative.

Bead makers at T.K. Beads in the Eastern Region.

5. Define your goals: know what you’re aiming for

Team player kicking a goal at Bawku Peace One Day

6. Don’t be afraid to take risks, no matter how daunting

The ropeway above the jungle canopy at Kakum National Park in the Central Region

7. Don’t give up, no matter how ominous the signs

Paddling into a storm on the way to Nzulezo Stilt Village, Western Region

8. Teamwork makes everything easier

Fishermen pulling in the nets at Bakaano, Cape Coast

9. But have a little Fun

Elephants swimming in the lake at Mole National Park

10. Explore

Friends doing the Abbey Road thing at Lake Bosumtwi, Ashanti Region

11. Spice things up

Varieties of hot peppers for making the standard range of Ghanaian dishes

12. Hang out with your friends

Children hanging out in Bolgatanga

13. And your family

Godwin and his brothers celebrating together (in Global Mamas shirts!)

14. And don’t forget to stop and smell the roses

Or the perfumed lilies on the way to Nzulezo!

15. And appreciate beauty in simple things

Garden eggs for sale in a market in Cape Coast. They’re related to the aubergine or eggplant and essential to many Ghanaian soups and stews

16. Find a quiet place for inner reflection

Where better than Axim Beach Hotel at seven in the morning?

17. And, celebrate: Happy New Year!

A full circle: Elmina Dance Ensemble practicing in Elmina Castle.

Now it’s time for you to write your own history too.

It’s 2010. Happy New Year.

Goodbye 2009...and thank you

With the sun-setting on 2009, I couldn’t help but post this stunning photograph taken by a friend, Tina on the beach in front of Oasis Beach Resort in Cape Coast.

Thank you once again to everyone for reading, contributing and staying in touch.

Stay safe tonight wherever you may be. And “Afehyia pa”: May a Good Year Come to Meet Us.
And join us at our new blog G-lish.org.

Christmas in Bolgatanga, Ghana

I did a guest post over at Ever The Nomad about Christmas here, in Bolgatanga. And we just posted it to our new blog site G-lish.org here: Christmas in Ghana.

You can read the whole post at Ever the Nomad by clicking on this link Guest Post Ghana.

Here is a short excerpt:

There are no gifts. There is no roast turkey or goose. There are no chocolates or puddings or trees or tinsel. The aroma of mulled wine floating from the stove top is absent too. It seems like any other day.

I only notice that something is different when I cross the fallow maize fields to the highway to buy some eggs.

The sun is already high in the sky. I look along the highway. A faint haze blurs the baobabs in the distance. This is the Harmattan season, a two-month period during which dust from the Sahara Desert settles across West Africa producing foggy scenes and intense lava-red sunrises and sunsets.

More On Making A Difference in Ghana

We have a new site www.g-lish.org where you can read every article from This is Ghana--in a much more organised fashion--and download the free Insider's Guide to Volunteering.

In the Insider’s Guide to Volunteering we explain that you can’t make a difference in 2 weeks or 2 months (and even 2 years is pushing it—poverty is a complex problem), but we explain that what you can and will do is contribute your skills and experience to a group of people who collectively, over time, make a huge difference.

If you view your contribution in isolation, you may think it was negligible. But you’re not volunteering in isolation (in most cases), you’re part of a group and it’s the combined efforts of many hands that make a difference.

It’s like the proverbial first step in a journey. If you don’t take one, two or ten steps, you won’t take a thousand steps—you won’t go anywhere. Each volunteer is taking a few steps to advance the cause. Maybe you take 353 steps instead of the 790 you could have taken during the same time at home. But, as a group of people who come and go over time, you’re taking thousands of steps together, that otherwise could not have been taken. Together, you’re leaving a positive footprint for those whose lives will slowly change over time. That’s the difference you will make. And you may make some of the best friendships of your life too. They don’t tell you that about volunteering, but the people I met are now some of my best friends—that was an unexpected bonus.

These and many other tips—22 pages actually—are included in the Insider’s Guide to Volunteering. We’re releasing it next week—just in time for Christmas. Sign up by email in the top right hand corner (it takes 3 minutes) if you’d like to be informed the moment it’s available to download and be truly empowered before making a decision. In January, we’ll be starting a series of how you can make a difference in lives of people less fortunate, at home in your own country, or anywhere in the world, from home. Look out for the too.

Journalism volunteer projects in Ghana: A tip

We have a new site www.g-lish.org where you can read every article from This is Ghana--in a much more organised fashion--and download the free Insider's Guide to Volunteering.

We offer this tip in the Insider’s Guide to Volunteering: If you want to do something specific, like journalism (one of the most common emails we receive), you can almost guarantee finding an organisation on the ground in Ghana that would welcome your presence, informally, even if they don’t run a volunteer programme as such. The media is free and open and there are numerous small and large radio stations, newspapers, and television stations in Ghana. Try writing to them directly and see if you can set something up. GTV is part of GBC (Ghana Broadcasting Corporation). Joy FM is one of the most respected radio stations in the country. Keep in mind the reasonable fee scales above, if you are asked to contribute anything material. We recommend this as the formal volunteer programmes online relating to journalism often charge $3000 a month and the like.

These and many other tips—22 pages actually—are included in the Insider’s Guide to Volunteering. We’re releasing it next week, just in time for Christmas. Sign up by email in the top right hand corner (it takes 3 minutes) if you’d like to be informed the moment it’s available to download and be truly empowered before making a decision. In January, we’ll be starting a series of how you can make a difference in lives of people less fortunate, in your own country or anywhere in the world.

When to Volunteer in Ghana?

We have a new site www.g-lish.org where you can read every article from This is Ghana--in a much more organised fashion--and download the free Insider's Guide to Volunteering in Ghana.

Trustworthy Programmes

Writing this, I realised that the programmes I know as most trustworthy, with a few exceptions, are all run by women. Not saying that men are incapable of running a good volunteer programme, there are a few, but the real life ones from which our warnings are derived were all operated by men.

When to volunteer

Keeping in mind the climatic and weather conditions mentioned earlier in the guide, for a quieter experience, September—May, when most of the northern hemisphere is in school, is best. The months between June—August are the busiest and some programmes become crowded due to students from the northern hemisphere undertaking internships during their summer break.

These and many other—22 pages actually—of tips are included in the Insider’s Guide to Volunteering. Sign up by email in the top right hand corner (it takes 3 minutes) if you’d like to be truly empowered before making a decision.