Mar Knox, Ghana
07 December 2010
AVI / VSO volunteer Mar Knox looks back on her volunteering
experience in Ghana, working with her partner Mark for a
media-based NGO, RUMNET.
Left: Mar Knox (L) and partner Mark Shircore (R) proudly
standing outside their Tamale workplace. Photo: courtesy Mar
Knox.
My partner Mark and I have recently returned from 12 months
volunteering in Northern Ghana. Our placement was done through
Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO), which works in collaboration
with AVI.
We were based in Tamale, the major metropolitan centre of
Ghana's disadvantaged north. Even though it has a population of
more than 300,000, it certainly seemed quite rural. Our bike rides
to work were punctuated with frequent stops for cows, sheep and
goats crossing the road.
We were lucky to have jobs at the same local organisation, a
media based NGO called the Rural Media Network (RUMNET). RUMNET
produces a monthly development focused newspaper addressing the
issues facing the three northern regions of Ghana where most of the
country's poverty exists.
We worked on a wide range of initiatives, including advocacy
campaigns, fundraising, strategic management and an organisational
assessment.
There were many wonderful experiences about living in West
Africa. One of the delightful things that comes to mind is the
absolute friendliness of the local people. On our daily cycle to
work, it was great to smile, wave and call out greetings to our
neighbours. Trying to learn a few basic phrases of Dagbani, was met
with a lot of joy from the locals, who appreciated our efforts to
speak in the local language.
Another part of day-to-day living which seemed strange at first,
but was something we got used to, was seeing everyone carrying
things on their heads. The market women would sometimes be managing
enormous loads in a precarious balance. I once tried to carry a can
of water on my head; it was much harder (and considerably heavier!)
than it looked.
The climate in Northern Ghana is one of extremes. During the
'Harmattan' season, the dry winds from the Sahara prevail. Heels
crack, lips bleed, elbows dry up, and your skin looks like a
lizard, while your hair feels like straw. You think it will never
end, and then the rains come... everything turns green, there can
be flooding, and there is so much humidity that clothes go mouldy.
Even our shoes turned green, and we had to 'demould' them.
One of the great things for us about volunteering was the
opportunity to meet with other volunteers from all walks of life
and from many different countries. I particularly enjoyed the
sector meetings, where all of the volunteers contributing towards
sustainable livelihood projects would get together to share
information and chat about issues coming up in our respective
placements. It was a wonderful opportunity to find out what others
were doing and get good ideas for our own VSO placements.
Now that we are back in Australia, we are acutely aware every
day of how extremely fortunate we are here. I hope that we never
lose sight of that fact. We will settle back into our life in
Perth, but are already talking about where we might volunteer
next.
Read more
Visit the
Rural Media Network (RUMNET) blog
Read
more about Mar and Mark's volunteer experience at their
blog