Hi everyone!

My name is Jody Nozetz and I am in my fourth year at the University of Ottawa, studying International Development and Globalization. I began my undergraduate degree in Business, recognizing my enthusiasm for management and entrepreneurship. However, after a year of studying, I came to the conclusion that the program was not creating any passion. This led me to the University of Ottawa’s International Development and Globalization program.

Development has always been a passion of mine. I grew up in an environment where development, at the local and international level, was part of my everyday life. My past experiences and opportunities with traveling and volunteering, have enabled me to experience development from different perspectives. I am confident that my posting in Ghana will give me the opportunity to understand development from a new dimension.
The position I will hold in Ghana is a Research Assistant with the Non Formal Education Division. The project is responsible for the provision of functional literacy and non-formal education for people of all ages, especially youth, women and the rural poor. The cycle of the project, which I will be a part of, aims to increase enrollment, retention and performance of girls and vulnerable populations by involving parents, especially women, in gender sensitive functional literacy classes.

I am so excited to partake in an international development project outside of the classroom; learning as much as I can from the experience, the culture and the people. I know that this opportunity will be one of great adventure as well as a guiding light towards my future career in the field of International Development.

I have met other volunteers/interns from various countries around the world who, at times of vulnerability or frustration, are comforting to talk to as we are all newly a part of a minority here in Ghana. It is reassuring to have others there for support who understand the difficulties of adjusting to a new culture and lifestyle. We have since formed lasting friendships that will also serve as networking for future international endeavours.

Fascinated by the vibrancy in many aspects of the culture, I find myself drawn to the fabric, the music, the friendly local atmosphere, and the marketplaces bustling with activity. It is a very welcoming culture, with a strong religious base as well as a solid social component. It contrasts with my Canadian lifestyle as I feel Canada represents an individualist society, whereas Ghana encompasses a very collective ideology. Not a day goes by that I am not greeted by almost every person I pass on my way to and from my accommodation walking to work. Back home, it is more accustom to keep to yourself while walking down the road unless you know someone you are passing. A polite hello or a smile may be exchanged, but not the extent of the greetings I have experienced here. Everyone is extremely friendly and very helpful with anything that you may need. Most locals genuinely want to get to know you and will stop what they are doing to have a discussion with you that surpasses initial greeting phrases. I am learning one of the local dialects as well, which enhances the interactions with the locals. They are greatly pleased by such an effort, as Twi is difficult to pick up. Ghanaians care deeply about family bonds and looking out for one’s neighbours. It is refreshing to see such a generous and hospitable nature within the culture!

I am working in Accra, the country’s capital city. My placement with AFRRI – Farm Radio International has already opened my eyes to more than I thought I would be privy to. The agricultural world in Ghana is vast, with many different factors contributing to its growth or detriment. Not only am I being exposed to farmers and agricultural practices in relation to radio programming, but also agricultural policies and how they influence everyone involved in the agric sector. There is a lot to learn about agriculture in Ghana – I am sure I will only experience the tip of the iceberg during my stay – but I am enjoying the opportunity to be a part of something I had previously only had little knowledge of. This internship is introducing me to practices that affect the livelihoods of more than half the population, and broadening my knowledge base of agriculture as a whole.

I have had the chance to do a fair bit of sightseeing, and I am happy I was able to attend the Charity Football Match – Africa vs. World XI. The football match represented the promotion of peace, and in contrast to stories of riots and potential violence breaking out at such events, everyone was in great spirits. Unfortunately, we did end up drenched as a sudden torrential downpour ensued before the end of the match. A downfall to visiting the country in the rainy season. During my second month here, I traveled to Cape Coast visiting Kakum National Park to experience the Canopy Walk and taking a tour of Cape Coast castle. Albeit a very hectic adventure, two other volunteers and I enjoyed learning historical aspects of the country, appreciative of the opportunity to see the sights even in a short period of time. My latest escapade was in Kumasi for the holiday weekend; July 1 is Republic Day in Ghana. Hiking, visiting the Cultural Centre and exploring the city markets were among the many activities over the weekend. It was a very memorable getaway, in which I was able to reunite with a few other volunteers I had to part with at the beginning of my stay due to their placements being in other areas of the country. There is still much more to discover! I am excited to explore more of this beautiful country and make the most of the time I have left. I am already planning to return in the future!

I am a Research Assistant with the African Farm Radio Research Initiative in Accra, Ghana. The objective of the project is to assess the effectiveness of farm radio on meeting the food security objectives of rural farm households in Africa. As radio is regarded as the best communication tool for reaching the rural poor in terms of accessibility and affordability, it is necessary to research and document the effectiveness of radio in improving food security based on the recognition of best practices.

On a personal level, I will go into this internship abroad with an open-mind, ready to learn about the culture, the people, and the efforts put forth by the project to improve food security in the area. I hope to contribute positively to the progress of the project and engage fully with its mandate. I hope to come away from this experience having learned a great deal with the feeling that I played a small part in making a difference and helped further the project’s intentions.

To be honest, my sole concern about the project and the location is simply a small fear of the unknown; however, I am also feeling excited and eager to venture outside my comfort zone facing new challenges as well as experiencing something beyond my current knowledge base. This internship will benefit my personal growth and allow me to gain international experience. I realize I am only involved with the project for a limited time, but I am prepared to give it my all. I greatly appreciate this opportunity and I am confident it will be an amazing experience!

Hello Again! Now that I have been in Sogakope for about 8 weeks, I have become very accustomed to life in this village. I have had quite a number of adventures since my last post and will continue in my final few weeks here. My volunteer work has picked up, and there is a lot to be finished. A side task that Matthew and I have been doing, is teaching class 2 and 3 on Monday and Tuesday mornings at a school near ToYACE. This has proved to be both a lot of fun and a challenge. The class is average size for a Ghanaian school, and the students keep me on my toes! Last week we attempted a class photo with them and well as you can tell, it did not go the way we expected.

The library has now been running for a number of weeks and many of the students from the neighboring schools come to read and visit in the afternoons. I have also been busy sorting and removing any old, and irrelevant books to make way for some new ones. Matthew and I are trying to make the library more for children, as they seem to visit the most.

As for Children’s Clubs, there have been a number of meetings with the communities, which have given me the chance to be out in the field and travel off-the-beaten path. Last Friday, at both the communities Agbobla and Bakpa Kebanu, I privilege to see the traditional dances performed by the children. It seemed as though the entire community was present at these celebrations and it was truly a wonderful experience. Each of the dances seemed to tell a story of some sort and our colleagues would help explain the meanings. These community visits, have also been a great way for me to practice my minimal Ewe skills and I was even surprised when I was asked to say a few words in Ewe to an entire community!

Outside of work, I have continued to explore Sogakope and now frequent the market, which is held every 5 days (Market Day rotates between a number of communities in the District). There I have found many of the local foods, including hot peppers, dried fish and okru. On weekends, I have managed to get to Cape Coast to visit the castles that were where the slave trade was based. This was a humbling experience and one that I am truly glad I had the chance to do. I am hoping that I will be able to make another trip into Accra before I leave and see a few more things.

Hello everyone!

I would just like to say that at this point that I would do anything to have internet at my hotel. You can’t really skype at internet cafes, and by the time Riley gets home from school I am usually in my bed. Long distance phone calls are pretty expensive to Ghana, and it has been hard to get a good connection. We just got cut off mid-conversation and my phone is out of credits so I couldn’t call back. In short I miss everyone in Canada and I am working on the contact thing. I really hope that wherever my accommodation is… it has internet but I think the chances of that happening are pretty slim. Lol

So things here have been picking up pace. Unfortunately this past weekend I was very ill and so unable to really go anywhere or do anything. Fortunately for me, however, it was not too serious and I have made a good recovery. I just have to go a bit slower on food and make sure I READ the labels on all my medication before I take them.

I did start work on Thursday (before the sickness hit) and there was a lot to do. So how many details I have disclosed regarding my job thus far, I don’t know, but I work in the WUSC office.

Although AFRRI radio is a program that is under the heading of GNECC, their office is located at WUSC which, conveniently enough is located really close to our hotel. AFRRI stands for African Farm Radio Research Initiative. It’s a project that  operates it many countries around Africa, however, our team is solely responsible for its implementation and operation in Ghana. Essentially, there are 5 radio stations that have agreed to play a 1 hour program (I think they are usually one hour), once a week (sometimes they repeat the program depending on the station). The program is an educational program that discusses farming practice and it is aired in a number of rural communities all over the country. The program is conducted in the local language and dialects of each community and aims at educating people on the growing, cultivation of certain crops and the keeping of farm animals as well as how to market their product and enhance the community’s overall income. Also, I should mention that the program differs depending on the needs of each community (i.e.: one community might be listening to a program on Animals housing while at the same time another community is learning about the cultivation of a specific crop). Many of these communitie members have a minimal education and so this initiative offers really great opportunities.
We have arrived at a time where they were in-putting and analyzing the data that has been collected in the field regarding the first “campaign” or round of programs. The data entry process has been pretty demanding considering this is our first week here but that seems to have come to an end and analysis and report writing is about to begin.

For the past two days we have had the privilege of attending a two-day meeting aimed at creating an outline for the next 5 year plan for Unitterra (the volunteer organisation that has sent us here). It has been really interesting! First we learned about the workings of Uniterra and what the organisation (through volunteer work) has accomplished over the past 5 years. Then we have been divided into groups in order to discuss the topics that may require emphasis in Uniterra’s mandate for the next 5 years. We have been talking about the quality of education, exclusion and accessibility of education and vocational training with a special focus on girls, gender sensitivity and equity. My team in particular has been trying to develop strategies and activities that can be implemented in order to enhance the quality of education for girls in Ghana. I have learned a lot about the education system here.

There is a lot of work to be done in teacher training on gender sensitive issues, the lack of teachers (especially female) in rural areas, and the overall quality of education (although it must be noted that a lot has been accomplished in the past couple of years). For example, in many areas, girls do not have women role models or teachers to look up too, they may be overburden with chores and therefore suffer lower grades, and many schools lack facilities that are gender friendly (such as girls washrooms and sports programs).

I know a lot of you may be wondering about my accommodation…so am I. I was told I will find out on Monday, then told Wednesday… now maybe Thursday? Anyways, don’t worry. For the time being I have a nice hotel room until I find suitable (and safe) accommodation.
I bought some phone credits so I should be able to text! (with my new Ghaniain phone)

Anyways I will write more soon!

Love and miss everyone!

Cassie

So last Friday, at around 5pm we were all feeling a little defeated and really wanted to get out of the city and see more of Ghana. Jess and Nelly had decided that they were going to take a weekend trip to a place called Ada Foah, about 2 hours outside of Accra. I jumped aboard, so did Jackie, Inka and Marilyn (another volunteer who recently arrived). Bridget, a long term volunteer who has been living here for a while decided to come too and was our guide seeing as she had done this trip some months before. So eventually the group grew to 7. We left early
Saturday morning (7am) and went to meet bridget at the Tros-Tros station. I don`t know If I have explain the tros-tros yet but they are basically the public transportation system here in Ghana. They are these big vans (that look like they are breaking down…the door doesn`t really work properly) and they shove as many people on a bench as possible. The plus side is it is pretty cheap transportation and so you get used it. We arrived at the tros-tros station which is kinda like Ghana`s version of a Greyhound station. I think it might be called Lories? Not sure. But basically it was the craziest thing I have ever witnessed. These vans were EVERYWHERE and so were people. Stalls everywhere, markets down streets and in between the tros-tros.
Everywhere you looked there was someone balancing tons of merchandise precariously on their heads while holding some in their hands, and trying to sell it to us “Obrunies” (which is what they shout at us; translated it means “white person”). I had so many people crowding me and asking me where I was going that I couldn’t even answer, I had to just walk on. We eventually found this really nice lady who took us to the tros-tros going to Ada Foah. Once there, we realized that Bridget was waiting for us at ANOTHER tros-tros station beside the one we were in. So the lady again led us to the right place, weaving through noise, hissing, snapping , music and exhaust smoke. Finally we found where we were meant to be and we thanked the lady (with a hug and a couple of cedis) and boarded the tros-tros. It was actually a lovely ride. The scenery was beautiful outside Accra; the fields and little villages that we passed along the way were exactly how pictured Africa. This ride, in a way, was my wakeup call.

So we arrived in Ada Foah at around 11 am. Where we met some locals who were happy to take us where we wanted to go. Estuary Beach was our final destination. Bridget described it as paradise, and I have to say she was not far from the truth. The local brought us weaving through a very calm very nice little market, full of wooden stalls, and to a river where a boatman awaited. We negotiated a price (3 cedis) and hoped on. Boating down this river was absolutely gorgeous. On either side of us there were communities surrounded by palm trees. Never in my life have I seen so many beautiful palm trees. There were simple communities living mostly out of mud and grass huts, and there were beautiful beach homes (most likely privately owned property). The water was so clear and inviting, that is before we heard about the crocodiles (I did not see any but just knowing they were there was enough to deter swimming-let a long the warnings from my doctor). We arrived on the beach and there were rows of grass huts, a drink booth, and grass umbrellas near the water with lounging chairs underneath. Amazing.

It was called estuary beach because it marks the place where the ocean meets the river (or sea? I heard it being called both). We were basically on a small strip of island, and on one side was the river by which we traveled and on the other side was the Ocean. Literally right there. I had never really been in the ocean before so that alone was amazing. The sky was so blue that if you stood on the hill it was hard to see where sky ended and ocean began. The waves crashed so ferociously yet somehow, it was calming…. ok, I am being a little romantic with my writing now but I have to say, having hardly been around oceans, this was amazing. We “swam”, if you can call it that. There are no life guards in Ghana and the tide looked very dangerous so we slowly edged into the water and let the waves push us onto the shore. As we got braver, it got more fun. Afterwards we napped in hammocks under some coconut trees (cliché but it had to be done) and I got a tan! YAY.

The food was really good, which was a bit surprising considering we were quite literally in the middle of nowhere. No washrooms except a grass outhouse, no shower, but good food.
As the day wore on crabs came out of their millions of homes on the Ocean beach and danced around our feet. They were so cute! I also spent half the day picking seashells.

When night fell a giant bonfire was prepared and to our surprise and pleasure chairs were placed around the fire and we were graced with traditional African music and dance! There were a group of very good drummers, lots of signing and some cowbell! The dancers were like nothing I have ever seen. They were so fast and agile (especially considering they were dancing on sand), and the crackled of the fire behind them made it all the more mystical. After about an hour of strait dancing (and in this heat!) they invited us to come and try our hand at it, or rather or hips lol. What a workout! I am definitely taking up African dance when I come back to Canada, 10 minutes and you have lost 20 pounds and your abs are screaming for a break. I loved it.

Afterwards I retired to my grass hut on the beach. I know, cool right? There was no light and it was my first mosquito net experience… there were 3 pounds of sand in my bed but aside from that I slept well.

The following day was just as good. I walked to beach when I awoke and there were around 15 men pulling at a giant rope from the Ocean. Curiosity pricked me so I went to check it out. They were fishing! This was not fishing like we are used to it. This is HARD work. I decided to help… 2 hours of constant pulling in the African heat and still they had not pulled in the net yet. Basically, there is a giant net that they (somehow… I think by boat) cast into the ocean. At each end of the net there is a long stretch of thick rope. There are two groups of about 15-20 people each who grab each end of the rope and stand about 50 feet or more away from each other to pull it in. It took me a while to realise that the two groups were pulling at the same net. I have never sweat that much in my entire life (and I can say that in complete honesty.) The fish was meant to feed the entire village. I was soon distracted, however, by a GIANT sea turtle which had washed up on the shore. It was one of the saddest things I have ever seen. The turtle was dead… belly up but still so big and beautiful. The feeling of seeing it there for some reason filled me with so much sadness. The turtle was easily half the length of me and probably twice as wide. One thing I should note is that the pollution on the beach is unbelievable. All of the garbage from Accra gets washed up on the shore in Ada, and pollutes the peoples land and animals. Apparently, a mile or so down river there are no washrooms for the people, and so the ocean it is. I am SO glad that I learned this after I swam. There are volunteers there who are currently in the process of building toilets.

So we made our way back around 3 pm and it was a wonderful weekend all in all. We caught a tros-tros all to our selves, and some of the people who were at the beach accompanied us back to Accra. It felt really good to shower.

So this afternoon I am supposed to be moving into my new Hostel with Jackie-looking forward to having a place to settle into.

Tata for now!

Bonjour, je m’appelle Nelly Desmarais et je participerai cet été au programme Étudiants sans frontières de l’EUMC. Durant mon stage, j’occuperai le poste d’enseignante de français à Awaso au Ghana.

J’ai complété au printemps 2009 un Baccalauréat en études littéraires à l’Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM) et je poursuis en ce moment des études dans un programme de création littéraire. C’est après avoir suivi un cours sur les littératures francophones (notamment africaines) en 2008 que le désir de voyager sur le continent africain a commencé à m’habiter davantage. Lorsque j’ai entendu parler du programme ÉSF, j’ai su qu’y participer serait une façon de satisfaire à la fois mon intérêt vis-à-vis de ces autres cultures et ma volonté de m’impliquer. Je suis très heureuse à l’idée de pouvoir compléter ma formation universitaire par une expérience de terrain et avoir l’occasion de mettre mes connaissances au service d’un projet concret. Très attachée au monde de l’enfance, je m’intéresse beaucoup à l’enseignement et à l’éducation. J’ai eu le plaisir de travailler à plusieurs reprises en lien direct avec les jeunes, notamment l’été dernier au camp de francisation de la Commission scolaire de Montréal et du Comité jeunesse Notre-Dame-de-grâce. J’espère sincèrement pouvoir contribuer, à petite échelle, à travers les tâches que j’aurai à accomplir, à une meilleure qualité de l’éducation pour les enfants de la région d’Awaso.

Je découvrirai ainsi le Ghana de l’intérieur, soit en travaillant et en vivant avec la population locale. Si j’ai déjà vécu auparavant une expérience de volontariat en Pologne avec Chantiers jeunesse, je sais que ce sera différent cette fois-ci, puisque je serai immergée dans une culture où le mode vie diffère considérablement de celui auquel je suis habituée. Je me prépare pour cette expérience en gardant en tête l’objectif de conserver en tout temps une ouverture d’esprit afin d’en retirer le plus possible. Je suis impatiente à l’idée de rencontrer les enfants d’Awaso ainsi que mes collègues du projet de l’école Kanaso! Plus qu’un mois avant le grand départ…