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 2nd 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