A year in Ghana
on Emily Hopkins (Ghana), 07/Oct/2010 12:57, 34 days ago
As I come to write this blog I can hardly believe that in a few days I will have been living in Ghana a whole year! As I reflect on the past 12 months I feel it is appropriate to write with not only a reflective tone but also with celebration! I have had the most wonderful year full of new people and new experiences and been challenged in so many ways professionally, personally, relationally, spiritually, emotionally, physically the list goes on! I am amazed to see that so many of the things which were new and perhaps rather strange at the beginning now seem so normal, like buying grocery’s of ladies head, washing all my clothes by hand, travelling in transport that looks like it is about to die a rather nasty death and speaking in pidgin English on a regular basis.VSO’s slogan ‘Sharing Skills, Changing Lives’ is one I passionately believe in, but after a year in Ghana I can honestly say that I feel as if I am receiving far more than I am giving on so many levels and the skills that I am sharing are more often than not out of the office, such as informallyteaching a Ghanaian child to swim (the deaths from drowning are unbelievable) talking to disabled women about their self worth or simply encouraging a colleague or fellow VSO when they are feeling low or unmotivated. Hardly a day goes by when I do not feel that I have learnt something, questioned something or been challenged in some way. I think one of the reasons I love living in Ghana is these challenges and the constant opportunities to learn more about the world and ourselves. Another reason why I have had such a great year I believe is the constant change, people are always coming and going, new friends are made and then move on, new people come. It is impossible to keep a schedule here in Ghana, if you try you will drive yourself insane, scheduled meetings are seldom kept to, transport ALWAYS breaks down , people are more often than not late, you simply can’t plan a day in advance and this has really freed me from the concept of living by the diary something we in the west so often do and if we are not careful can find ourselves simply ‘ticking things off’ the list of things to do, rather than living life in the full and thinking about the beauty and challenges life andthis world has to offer.Although Ghana has its many challenges I can honestly say that I love life here, the Ghanaians are fantastic people, and they love life, whatever circumstances they find themselves in it is hard to find a Ghanaian with a negative opinion. The Ghanaians look on the brightside, I have lost count of the number of times local people (most notably taxi drivers) have said to me‘Ghana is a cool place, here you are free, you are really free’ for me there is such truth in this, in Ghana we are free (both internally and externally) to me this seems quite ironic given the fact that Ghana is situated in West Africa, not the beacon of freedom and liberation we might hope itwould be and many of Ghana’s neighboring countries still struggle with challenging political situations and civil unrest, but in Ghana ‘we are free’.Despite singing Ghana’s praises there have been many times I have become hugely disillusioned with the system, questioned what I am doing, and questioned the very nature of ‘development work’ and how we as humans from outside of the system and country can make a difference. But what do we do, throw in the towel and say ‘I no longer want to be part of this’? Or continue, learning day by day, trying to make some sort of difference, somehow to someone’s life.It has been a privilege to live and work in Ghana with an international community and I am learning and enjoying, which perhaps leads me to the question I am being asked a lot of the moment‘How long are you staying?’ Firstly I am a firm believer that if you want to see change in something then you have to make a commitment, the west so often promises us ‘quick fixes’ to our problems and if I am honest I LOVE a ‘quick fix, I love to get things moving and not hang around. Butif we are honest with ourselves it is a commitment that brings results, how much have we grown professionally when we have committed to our role and our team, how much do we grow personally when we commit to friendships through thick and thin, how much to people grow relationally and in love when they commit to marriage for better and for worse, how much do we see positive changes In our communities when we commit to working in and serving them, how much weight do we lose when we commit to a plan of healthy eating and exercise. So I think in this situation I should stick to my own advice and commit to Ghana, at least for a while yet. I want to see more change in my organization, I want to see more change in my global outlook, so perhaps it is time to batton down the hatches and stay put for a while, at least until I feel strongly that I need to move on. When people say ‘How long are you staying’ I tend to think, ‘why would I leave right now’, my time in Ghana is something to be relished, it is not merely a life experience to be ticked off some sort of mental list, I am enjoying, learning and growing so ‘why would I leave’.Sure there are things that I miss about my life in the UK, most notably friends and family, I also miss Victoria sponge cake, taking afternoon tea, going to the theatre, freedom with my finances, sometimes driving my car, Saturdays Guardian, aerobics classes, team spirit at work, standing by the radiator on a rainy day with a cup of tea looking out of the window having a long think. But there are things which I enjoy here which I would never get in the UK like reading and relishing a novel a week, having clothes specially tailored for me, feeling like I am using only as much electricity and water as I really need to and finding satisfaction in that, dancing under the stars to live music whenever I so desire, going to the beach at weekends.So I guess in conclusion it has been a great year, I’m learning a lot, I’m living a lot, I am happy, I don’t know how long I am staying but that is ok, I’ll wait until I feel it is time to move on, no need to plan, after all in Ghana planning is almost impossible ‘life is free’!!