Volunteering at Ryvanz-Mia

I wish I had more time to think before writing something but I guess there is no time like present. The past six weeks in Ghana have been an amazing period of my life. At the ripe old age of 35 (celebrated in Ghana!), I have been looking forward to traveling to West Africa since sometime in my early twenties. Although the plans for such a trip have been in my head for many years, I really tried to hard to go to Ghana with little preconceived notions. It’s difficult to put my experience into words right now but to summarize, I wish I had a lot more time in Ghana ahead of me instead of heading to the airport tomorrow (although of course I miss my family/friends/animals!)

I loved the vibe and the beauty of the Volta Region. With the exception of a few days visiting Cape Coast and Elmina, I spent my entire visit in the Volta Region. Initially, I planned to volunteer for 4-5 weeks and travel for 1-2 weeks at the end. After only a few days at the Ryvanz-Mia Orphanage with Mama Esi and the kids, I decided to volunteer for all six weeks. I am very sad right now about leaving the Ryvanz-Mia Orphanage Family so I’m not going to write too much. Suffice it to say that all ten kids at the orphanage are amazing and wonderful little people. Mama is a strict and caring Mama who took very good care of me and my fellow volunteers. I will miss the delicious fresh meals prepared by Mama and Naomi too. Although I have no knowledge of sewing, I enjoyed the experience of seeing the Dzidefo Women’s Coop in its early stages. I was also amazed by Mama’s skills as seamstress and pastry cook. I was fortunate to attend the graduation for her apprentices. I had wonderful fellow volunteers in the orphanage and the Kpando neighborhood as well and feel fortunate to have found so many new friends along the way here. Having very little experience with extended time with children, I was pleasantly surprised to find out how much I looked forward to spending time with the kids each day. They made me smile and laugh so much and surprised me again and again with their antics, strength and warmth. I am getting sad again so I will just end this part by saying I will miss each and every part of the Ryvanz-Mia Orphanage family.

I also “taught” lower primary classes at the Delta Prepatory School. I certainly learned a lot more from the kids and the experience than anyone learned from me! I would say I acted more as an entertaining (hopefully) teacher’s aide than a teacher. It was challenging to learn the rhythm of Delta’s schedule but eventually I got the hang of it and spent most of time with the P2 class. The class is large and energetic and both the kids and the teacher, Mr. Atsu, made me laugh a lot. I especially enjoyed P.E. I appreciate the gracious hospitality extended by the Director and Headmaster. I have no prior experience with teaching and thought I was going to be working on a Moringa farm so I was surprised to arrive in Ghana and find out that I was staying in an orphanage and teaching. The “teaching” and time with kids made me stretch outside of my comfort zone – always a healthy exercise!

I also enjoyed spending time at the Missahoe Charity Home. Baby and Mawusi are so welcoming and it is amazing to see the work they do with their large family of children at the Charity Home. I also had the opportunity to do a small amount of site planning for a new facility for Missahoe. As a landscape architect, I was excited that my training could be put to use in at least a small way here in Ghana. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the plants and landscapes of the region and I’m quite sure my traveling companions and hosts are still laughing at me for my many, many plant questions and pictures of leaves and plant parts!

Overall, I found myself extremely relaxed during my stay. I have very happy memories of my excursions around the region, particularly, the beautiful hike to the upper part of the Wli Falls. I loved the Cape Coast/Elmina area and wish I had more time to spend there! I appreciate Mr. Kojo’s patience and assistance (especially the plant information!) Kpando is like a second home to me now. I met wonderful people with huge hearts and I feel like I am taking away so much more that I can put in words! I hope to return before too long. The landscapes I have seen and the people I have met here will always be in my thoughts.

Jennifer Ward Souder
NYC, New York – USA
Ryvanz-Mia Orphanage
April, 2008

My Visits to Fesi women's Pottery

Very talented women potters in Fesi! Firstly I just spent as day just watching them making pots and burnishing and firing their works. I inspected their work, their gallery, their wood kiln and just watched those making pots.

The next visit I had made some sketches of new ideas, and designs, and talked to them about designs, proportion etc, and left them the sketches, and then when I returned next they had made every sketched piece, plus more with their own interpretation of the designs and it was amazing! They were remarkable! I was floored! They had even taken a image from my business card and made the quirky teapot off it!! I suggested they made local animals like anteaters, pigs, guinea fowl chicks buck etc, and their designs were truly delightful!

They are not interested in using their wood kiln supplied by Oxfam, because they do not want to fire longer than their open pit 25 minute bamboo and bark firings. I suggested that they did not blacken all their pots but left some with the rich colors of the flame on their deeply red earthen ware clay.

They need markets to sell their work in, they need flyers to been printed and posted at all the guest houses, and tourist bureaus in the area. And they need to answer emails that are sent to them! There is a possibility that Tim Dougherty the local Peace Corp man will reopened the art gallery for local artwork and they should certainly be part of that.

Great women, great potters and artists! Some 3 generations strong,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, incredible!

Peta Hall
Bloomfield, Ontario Canada
Kpandu Village
February 2008

Dzidefo Women's Coop, Kpando

Dzidefo (means "there is hope") (pronounced Jidefo) Women's Coop was established in February 2008, by Village Volunteers and by "Mama Ama Peta", a volunteer from Canada! The coop was founded to give the women a sustainable income, develop their business skills, and to develop their sewing techniques and skills to enable their work to be marketed in the US and Canada.

Five amazing women; Regina, Joan Mabel Aku and Rose were the founding members. In two and half weeks they made nearly 80 toddlers outfits, diaper bags, crib blankets and laundry bags! They were dedicated, (often arriving an hour early and leaving a hour late!) they worked as a team, they were creative, attentive, produced quality work, and were wonderful smart, funny laughing women, so keen to learn and it was such a reward to work with them.

Village Volunteers purchased the machines, fabric and sewing supplies, a cupboard, and opened a bank account. All the fabric used is GTP or ATL designs (pure Ghanaian fabrics) or woodblock batik prints. This is to promote Ghanaian fabrics and to give a really delightful ethnic flavour to all the items made.

The next steps are to buy 6 more machines, a large table, more fabrics, and sewing supplies, and expand their repertoire to include sunhats, new toddlers clothing designs, pinafores, maybe change mats, etc. Interesting designs, but not overly ornate as the fabric will tell the story. Sewing knowledge and skills is an asset here.

Kpando is a great friendly town with a terrific market, just make sure you have enough cedi's as the nearest place to change money is 40kms away.

Mama Esi Regina is an incredibly hardworking woman, she runs an orphanage, where I stayed, she is a woman of many smiles and infectious laughter, and has a huge heart. Edward Kojo the coordinator is a true gentleman, infinitely helpful, thoughtful, caring man of the old school.

I felt very privileged to have worked with both these people and my "wonderful women" from the coop.

Peta Hall
Bloomfield, Ontario Canada
Kpandu Village
February 2008

The Have Clinic

My experience with Village Volunteers began with a call home to the US from Ghana to try and figure out how I could extend my stay in Ghana and do some volunteering of some sort. Through a couple of calls I got hooked up with Village Volunteers and was able to practice some of my nursing skills in the small village of Have in the Volta Region of Ghana. I moved into a house in Have with another volunteer Sam where we had our home cooked meals cooked for us by Florence a great cook who always made sure we had enough food three times a day. We soon became friends with her son Richard who helped Florence out bring us our meals and made sure we got anything we needed. Another friend of ours was Jimmy a 15 year old boy who was full of energy all the time. On our first night in Have he took Sam and I around the village show us where everything was and he also brought us to meet Paul’s family who runs the show out in Have. We also met Felix who is a very important person in the village and made sure we were always comfortable and brought us anything he thought might help us be more comfortable. As for my work experience in Have, since I am a nursing student I helped out at the Have Health Clinic. In the mornings I arrived at the clinic at eight and joined the staff for worship until around eight thirty and then the work began in a much laid back sense. This meant that if you needed to go get a loaf of bread you could probably just leave and so do it. Some days when there were hardly any patients, this meant that the staff went to the road side to get a snack which sometimes lead a half an hour long snack break that was unplanned. The laid back sense of things kept everyone in good spirits but at the same time everyone was able to get down to work when it was needed. Since all of the staff is not always able to be there everyone has to be very flexible and shift around to different areas of the clinic when ever asked. This was great for me because I got to work with in PEDS, consulting, and in the maternity ward. The only difficulty with this was that since I do not speak Ewe which is the language of the people in Have it was hard for me to do the documenting, but I got to do a lot of hands on work. The hands-on work was taking vitals, giving vaccines, and other tastes. The thing that really made my entire experience so wonderful was how helpful the other nurses were and how understanding they were having me working with them in their clinic. I became especial good friends with one of the nurses and so when the weekend came and she was making a trip home to her village where they made (Kente) cloth she invited me to come with her to see how it was made. This was a wonderful cultural experience traveling to her village and meeting her family. It continues to amaze me how people with so little seem to be the most giving. I was true throughout my entire time in Have the hospitality was most amazing. I am sad to have to leave after only a short two week stay in Have, but I hope one day not to long from now I will be able to go back.

Krysta Frye – Norwich, VT – USA
Have, Ghana
January, 2008

My time in Ghana

I had wanted to do hands on volunteer work for several years and after researching many organizations decided to travel to Ghana through Village Volunteers. I’ve just returned from a 3 week stay in the Volta Region where 3 friends and I divided our time between an orphanage called Missahoe Charity Home in Kpando and helping in the renovation of a library in the village of Have.

We quickly became adjusted to life in Ghana… The burning fires on the side of the road, roosters waking us up at 2am, meals of fufu and banku, the very relaxed laid back attitude and locals wanting to shake our hands and greeting us with “You are welcome” wherever we went.

Working at the orphanage was incredibly rewarding. As we walked to the orphanage each morning, 27 adorable kids would run up to us to hold our hands and carry our bags. Since school was out for Christmas vacation our days were spent playing soccer and football, coloring, reading stories, teaching the kids American songs and dances, and helping to prepare meals.

Spending Christmas at the orphanage was truly special. We first accompanied the children to Church where we caused quite a stir as we were ushered to the front 4 pews. That afternoon we purchased and then served lunch to all of the kids which consisted of chicken, rice, Coca-Cola and cookies. The children were grateful and I will never forget their smiling faces on that afternoon when most of their friends were sitting at home with their own families enjoying Christmas lunch.

The orphanage is run by two of the kindest most sincere women, Mawusi and Baby. They care for the children like they are their own, and it shows because the children have nothing and yet are happy and playful and kind and well mannered. They have been through so much at such a young age and it shows in their maturity. Saying goodbye to 27 crying kids was difficult and I will never forget the time I got to spend with them.

In addition to the orphanage we spent 5 days in the village of Have helping to renovate a building which will now be used as a library for 10 local schools. Working in conjunction with the townsmen we chiseled, laid cement, painted, installed new doors, built bookshelves and purchased books to fill the library. Our donation went a long way and the village chief along with the local MP came to the ribbon cutting opening ceremony, which was covered on the radio the next day. Our work was greatly appreciated and although we were sad to leave Ghana, we were pleased to know that the library would benefit the village and be used by the schoolchildren immediately.

Joanna Kornfeld
New York, USA
Missahoe Children's Home Kpando &
Have Village, Ghana
Dec, 07 - Jan, 08

My Experiences in a Herbal Clinic in a village in Ghana

Antie Esi is back in Accra!

There are not enough words of beauty to describe my experience here in Ghana. I worked in a village called Owuram located in the Eastern Region. The village is small with no electricity. I was placed at a Herbal Clinic where I worked along side and witnessed the excellent work of Dr. Normesie. I saw amazing improvement in the stroke patients who live at the clinic and became close with them and their caretakers. The village life is full of nature, beauty and loving hospitable people. I’ve learned many things about herbal medicine and had a lot of hands on work with the plants themselves. I saw all the processes of herbal medicine from collecting the plants, to the manufacturing, packaging and sales. Owuram will always have a warm place in my heart. The 4:00am wake up call by the rooster, bathing outside as the sun rises with the occasional visits from the goats and chickens, the bushwacking hiking trails, fufu (a local meal), the children calling me “OBRONI OBRONI!! (whiteman!)” everywhere I go, the caretakers and their patience, doing my own laundry, the cocoa farms, the music, and so much more of the culture. And it’s true Ghanaians are really the nicest people you will ever meet!! When I first entered the village I was greeted by the elders of the village, they performed a prayer for me which was very powerful. The prayer was said to protect me from the evil sprits. I felt very honored to have this prayer.

The excursion with Gunadiish to the Ashanti Region was truly a treat. The bamboo forest was one of my favorite spots in Ghana. I also took the Batik and tye and dye class in Accra one weekend. I was able to make my own bayic and tie and dye local cloth which are going to make wonderful gifts for the family!

I’ve only stayed here for one month, but I’ve learned so much and made so many friends here in Ghana. It’s been the hardest thing I’ve done in a long time to leave this place. I will always remember the memories that Ghana has given me. Thank you Village Volunteers for allowing me to have this great opportunity here in Ghana. It’s truly been a trans-personal experience.

Shoshanna Rome
Sommerville, MA, USA
Health for all Clinic/Research Institute
Awuram, Asamankese, Ghana
Dec, 07 - Jan, 08

My Days in Ghana

I spent three months living at the Kumasi Institute for Tropical Agriculture (KITA) in a rural area near Kumasi. As an International Development Studies major in university, I wanted to gain some experience volunteering through both an international NGO and a local organization, and Village Volunteers fulfilled that experience for me. I found their support before, during and after the trip extremely comforting and was especially glad to have the in-country coordinator, Gunadiish there when I needed him!

I was blown away by the hospitality and kindness of Ghanaians, and after the three months was comfortable having some degree of conversation with them in the local language, Twi. KITA is an non-governmental agricultural college, and staying there I got the opportunity to learn much about tropical agriculture, grow my own vegetable garden, and also care for mushrooms and rabbits. However, my main project was a community development youth program in the surrounding two villages, Apromase and Domeabra. I facilitated a club where, with the help of the KITA students, we tried to encourage farming as a sustainable livelihood for the future of junior high school students, through the creation of school vegetable gardens, production of mushrooms and snails, and other lessons on sustainable, organic agricultural methods. The children I worked with showed amazing commitment and leadership throughout the program, and they always managed to make me smile. The students I met at KITA showed me that they are just the same, in so many ways, as my university-aged friends at home, and I made some great friendships with these amazing, hardworking people.

I was glad that I was able to be in Ghana long enough to experience both the challenges and benefits of working for an organization, of trying to immerse yourself into a whole new culture, and of facilitating a program in a completely different cultural context. I learned so much that I have taken back with me, which I can apply to my school, work and general outlook on my life. To any future Village Volunteers, I highly recommend trying to stay for a longer period of time, as the more time you spend in a place you gain real insight on how to become a part of that place. Ghana will always be a part of me, and I hope to return there someday.

Michelle Schram

Winnipeg, Canada

KITA Village Volunteer

October-December 2007

Apromase-Domeabra, Ghana

Teaching at Have village, Ghana

Akwaaba, I arrived in Have weary from long flights from New Zealand, however the hospitality of the local community was simple incredible. From Alex and Jimmy who were assigned to look after us volunteers, to Florence the cook, to everyone who was just walking down the street and happy to say “Hello” and “You are Welcome”. One moment that touched me was at the bus station in Accra on the 2^nd night in Ghana, we were waiting for the bus to depart and this local kid who we had not met before invited us to join him with his dinner, that is something that you just don’t see back home, but here where people have much less, people were much more willing to offer things like this. When I got Malaria, the doctors and technicians at the clinic were very sincere, but not only that, they were very fast and efficient, diagnosing me quickly, getting my bloods taken, getting the results, and providing me with the drugs to beat the parasite. They were much faster than hospitals back home, and I was very impressed with the care they provided.

My main purpose of my time in Ghana, and in Have in particular was to teach the kindergarten kids, this was something that was a huge challenge for me as I had never done any teaching before, but it was a great experience and really rewarding. Seeing the kids improvement over the 5 weeks was really special, and getting a “Thank You” from fathers of the kids meant a lot to me. At the start the kids were struggling with their colours but by the end they knew what colour Green, Blue, Red, Yellow, Brown, Purple, Orange, and Black were. They also improved dramatically in writing letters and numbers, and seeing a kid who kept making the same error in his writing, finally get it right and the smile on his face, is something that will stay with me.

The kids smiles were infectious, and they loved being able to colour in some drawings, something I don’t think many had experienced before. By the end, some of their drawings were very impressive, so I decided to make a mural of their drawings on the last day to brighten up their classroom, something I hope they will enjoy.

The sunsets in Ghana were absolutely stunning, pictures don’t do them justice as the redness in the sun is unique to Africa. The landscape when the sun was setting was brilliant with the haze of the Hamatan making the landscape somewhat of a blue, with the red sun burning in the background. I will miss the people I encountered a great deal, I will miss the kids smiles and them yelling out “Teacher” and “Sir” as I passed them in the street, I will miss the tro-tro rides, theres something about being squashed in a minivan that becomes really enjoyable.

Marc Byers,
New Zealand,
January 2008
Have, Ghana.

My experience in Have, Ghana and Gunadiish's Weekend trips

My experience in Have, Ghana, will never be forgotten. There is so much beauty and peace in the day-to-day lives of the people. From the start I was welcomed with open arms in my village and became very spoiled by the kindness of the people, their attention and appreciative present-tense way of living. It's just an entirely different mindset than what I am used to, and it was a breath of fresh air.

The impact of EDYM Village on the local Have community also truly amazes me. The organization aids their community in all ways possible: from sustainable agriculture methods to education to micro-finance. I was proud to get my hands dirty and to help in EDYM's growth.

Many fond memories continue to stick out in my mind: Trekking up Have's mountainside with local friends, introducing the game of frisbee, trying new local dishes like Banku for the first time, learning how to graft mango trees, manufacturing Moringa Tea, the peacefulness of just sitting on a family's porch, invitations to local football practices, late night drumming sessions, and the weekend excursions all over Ghana with Gunadiish and the other volunteers. I wish I had had the opportunity to stay longer than one month.

Rashelle Simpson

Have Village volunteer

Sustainable Agriculture

August, 2007