First few days in Ghana

Hi everyone, welcome to my blog!

It has been 3 days since I flew out and despite the short time period, there are so many new things that I've seen. I don't really know how to blog so I'll attempt a monologue of parts of my head?

First thing I'd like to address - passport control. Imagine you've just spent a couple of weeks relaxing on holiday and you're back at Heathrow in the passport control queue having landed. You can hear the general British public muttering about the length of the queue and what a waste of time it is. PLEASE, visit Ghana and tell me that the queue took a long time. They want your address when the Ghanian government willingly accept that there aren't real addresses!? Then they need to scan all of your fingers and ask you questions on your trip. Add a stuffy hall and mosquitoes and you have the right idea. Don't get me started on the queue pushers.

I flew to Accra and my accommodation is about a 3 hour drive from the airport. I landed very late so we were driving at about 11pm through to 2am. The roads are awful here - there is not one road map because nobody knows the exact location of all of the roads in Ghana. To slow you down they don't change the speed limit, they have these sets of bumps in the road that are like logs laid out in threes that have to be driven over. Try having a car snooze with them in the mix, I dare you

I'm staying in a small village at high altitude in the middle of the rainforest. The setting is amazing - imagine hilly rainforest with a small, horrifically bumpy and sandy road winding through the vegetation paired with clusters of houses either side. The house itself is a big hall with rooms of 4 on the edge. It can house over twenty people however at the moment there are only 8 of us despite there being 14 when I arrived. There are such a range of people here, it's refreshing although they're all 18-25. Everyone has been kind to me and most of us are on the same page which is comforting. Having said that I'm not the biggest fan of the cold bucket shower, not gonna lie. I can tell that will get to me this trip. Other than that I have no complaints.

Ghanaians are so friendly and kind. They just don't do racism here, everywhere you go people greet you properly, they're happy to welcome Obruni (foreigners) to their country. It's a stark change of tone from Mr Farrage and the Baltic States. Most people here aren't dirt poor. They do not have slums (or I haven't seen widespread ones) like Dharavi or Kibera in India and Kenya respectively. People aren't rich by any means but lots have their own small house. Having said that on the day I arrived we went to give a small, poorer village food and clothes. We walked for about half an hour, down into the rainforest. Unless you knew, you wouldn't have seen the path into the village and there were no signs of life from the track. After two minutes more walking we were greeted by a few huts and open spaces with goats and chickens doing their thing. All the children came running out armed with questions like 'sir, what is your name?' Or 'do you like football?' Slowly the rest of the village came out to see us while a boy climbed up a near by palm to get us coconuts. They gave us all a coconut to have and drink the water. Honestly it was the most refreshing thing ever after a long sweaty walk. I don't know what they put in those Vita Coco bottles we have at home but it is a long way from the real deal!

I have gone on without describing the village. There was a small, sandy open space with a few houses made of dark wood and corrugated iron behind it. Rising up and surrounding the village are palm trees and general green vegetation. My amateur words don't begin to do justice to this utopia. Bar their showers, I was jealous of the location, especially at sunset.

We tried to give out food, clothes and toys equally but the mums had to intervene as apparently we didn't do a fair job. There was quite a squabble with many heated words although it worked out okay in the end. I got the feeling that the villagers saw us as just a source of stuff. I guess they see different people every month while they all bring similar objects. I thought that the villagers would have had slightly different mannerisms although perhaps that was naïve on my part. Either way the kids were so happy with our toy cars - the best toys ever.

The following day we went to teach at a school near the lake. Official term has finished which means that teachers aren't there and as volunteers we are by ourselves. Teaching was so intense - the class were all different ages and the teaching supplies were locked away. They all wanted to do maths, science and English which play to my strengths. However teaching is just hard. In my head I know so much but I don't remember how it was taught to me! This weekend I'm going to try and collect my thoughts and get some paper so its not just me with chalk and the board.

It was odd teaching. The reason I wanted to come to Ghana was to teach and try and give some of the knowledge away to other people who deserve it. I have had a (fantastic) education set on a plate for me which doesn't seem fair compared to what the Ghanaians get. Going to the school in a way made me slightly sad. I didn't want to believe that it was really like this and we didn't even go to one of the worse schools. Over the next week I will try and teach as best as I can, although it doesn't take away from the sentiment that inequality is well, unequal.

Speaking of the weekend, I have come to the beach with my newfound mates to relax. I have paid £28 for two nights at this resort that is on the beach front. My room is amazing. It has AC, a fridge AND a hot shower. £28. I can't believe it. Although currently its 6am as my roommate is snoring so loudly I can't sleep. I'll try and have a kip on the beach later on today.

See you all soon,

Rohin