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.
January 31, 2010
January 18, 2010
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.
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.
January 1, 2010
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.
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.
[/caption]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.
December 31, 2009
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
Thank you once again to everyone for reading, contributing and staying in touch.
And join us at our new blog G-lish.org.
December 30, 2009
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.
December 20, 2009
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.
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.
December 19, 2009
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
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.
December 18, 2009
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
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.
December 17, 2009
Bad Volunteer Programs: Warning Signs and Solutions
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.
Warning sign: You’re a woman and there are no local or foreign females involved in the management (not just other volunteers) of the project.
Solution: Find a project that has at least one female involved in managing you at your project site, foreign or Ghanaian. Ask to speak directly with that woman on the phone before you leave home. Ask about the project and the programme set up when you arrive.
Warning sign: You cannot get three positive referrals from other foreign volunteers (they must be foreign to avoid potentially corrupted local—
Solution: First, you’re spending your time and money in a foreign country where you may have no support network at all. If you asked for references and they said no, take that as the biggest warning of all. If they gave you references, contact those people for first-hand accounts so you can make an empowered decision. If they won’t give them to you, find another project. FIND ANOTHER PROJECT!
We have listed 8 more key warning signs and solutions to help you avoid signing up the wrong programme. Sign up by email in the top right hand corner (it takes 3 minutes) if you’d like to get the full PDF and be truly empowered before making a decision.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
