Katharine Curren in Ghana - Summer 1999
From the summer of 1999 I started to plan my trip to Ghana after
acceptance on to the project after an interview in London. I had
always planned to do a year out in a country with an interesting
culture and to get more experience with children for my Paediatric
Nursing Degree. I researched university courses in the college library
but more importantly for me I was also researching year out opportunities
and going for interviews with different organisations. After investigating
several organisations, I was accepted on to the St. David's Africa
Trust. At that time the organisation had two projects but they have
since expanded into a project into Mali. One was in Morocco and
one in Ghana, both involving work in the care of children. As my
French is very poor I was immediately drawn to the Ghana project
and accepted onto it. The project was based around a leprosy rehabilitation
project run by two Roman Catholic nuns and a Ghanaian, Mark, who
had previously lived at Camp. There would be 6 volunteers going
out together and we would be living in a village in between our
main working centres. These were Ahotokurom, the centre of rehab,
where the Sisters lived and where the Childcare, Elderly home and
Nursery school are based. The second centre was Camp, where most
of the leprosy sufferers lived, rejected from their family villages.
Camp is now being rebuilt, thanks to a grant from the National Lottery.
The purpose of the project was to re-introduce sufferers of leprosy
into a society that has rejected the disease because of ignorance
and fear. The project has successfully integrated the nursery school
children, workers in Ahoto and the workers at camp so that gradually
the barriers are breaking down and these people who have already
suffered so much because of the disease are now being given a second
chance.
I worked hard at two jobs to raise the £2500 needed for the
project and also was fortunate to receive kind donations from the
Martley Church congregation, the Old Grammar School Trust and from
family friends. After several briefings in London, having a very
short time to get to know the other 5 girls I would be living and
working with, we all boarded the plane to Ghana on February 2nd
1999.
Gradually, although quickly, by comparison to how long it's taken
me to settle back here in Martley, we began to feel settled and
I quickly referred to our house as home. This was made so easy because
of the wonderful welcome from the people and the support of the
Sisters and Mark with his family.
In our first week we had introductory talks about leprosy, culture,
our role as women living in Ghana and we began to learn the local
language. We also met many chiefs, the Archbishop and the British
High Commissioner as part of learning about and respecting the culture
and its traditions. We were gradually introduced into the Ghanaian
traditional foods by Marks wife. She was a fabulous cook and I quickly
came to love all of the food. This included FuFu with very hot peppered
soups, kenke and yam balls.
In our second week we had work placements that introduced us into
the different areas in which we could work. We were given freedom
of choice here. We constructed our own timetables of six day weeks
to include two compulsory days at the Camp project. Here we helped,
as much as we could in the heat, to build the houses for the people,
so they no longer have to endure the floods that often completely
destroy their mud houses every time the rains come.
I had quite a flexible timetable over the six months but certainly
my consistent placement was at the childcare centre where I worked
alongside the Mamas caring for the 17 children abandoned or neglected
by their families. During my time at childcare I helped Sister Pat
take the childcare children on a break to their holiday home and
I helped do night shifts for the duration of the stay of a new born
baby, whose mother died in childbirth. This baby would not have
survived if the family had not brought her to Ahoto for help and
advice on how to care for her. I also helped cover for a sick teacher
at the nursery school for the special needs class. I covered for
my colleague when she had her day at camp and did dressings at the
elderly home, where the residents need continuous care for their
ulcers that may never heal. I enjoyed helping regularly at the after
school club at camp for the youngest class, which involved basic
teaching of English and play. In addition I was also very lucky
to have a two day experience at a nearby hospital where I followed
the rounds of the nurses and saw how different the conditions are
for the people in hospitals there.
The Sisters and Mark and his wife were of great support and friends
to us and although we did have some problems between us they helped
us overcome them on our own, giving us the perfect amount of support
and independence that we needed.
In my work I was able to gain so much experience both in nursing
and in the care of children. It helped me to grow as a person. The
environment and whole sense of security made me really blossom and
I was happy beyond belief during my time there. I think it made
me much stronger and more determined in what I wanted out of life
and who I had become and gave me independence and belief in myself.
I was given a huge amount of responsibility by the Sisters to whom
I am very grateful because without their trust and belief in me,
I never would have learnt and been able to see so much. I hope that
some of the Ghanaians way of living, their generosity, compassion
and constant happiness will have rubbed off on me. I will never
forget them. I was able to make so many friends, many with the children
but also with the workers with whom we worked every day and with
our neighbours.
One weekend a month and in our last month, July, we were able to
travel to see more of Ghana and managed to see the neighbouring
country, Burkina Faso. This was brilliant as we met many people
along the way and had some great fun during our trips. We saw a
lot more of the culture by visiting festivals, monuments, museums
and by chance meetings with funeral ceremonies and processions.
I always felt safe in Ghana and very well protected by everyone
who we met, which you take for granted very easily after living
there for so long.
I found leaving very hard which I didn't feel ready for. I knew I
would miss the country and it's people so much. It was a place where
I had really grown up and developed as a person, but now I had to
leave that all behind. I found it very difficult to settle back
at home into a culture that was so familiar and which I felt I should
belong to and feel proud of, like the Ghanaians do of their families
and traditions, but couldn't. I somehow now felt like an outsider
not knowing where I fitted into my hometown, not knowing much about
my roots and heritage and not knowing where I belonged. The person
I had become in Ghana could not be the same person here. Here is
not the compassion and freedom to be myself that I had come to love.
Here there are no genuine smiles from neighbours and children. Here
is no sincerity or generosity. Here, problems so small are made
so big and there seems so little joy. Here you can become so closed
and trapped in your own street, it seems nothing else matters.
One thing I found very hard in the beginning was the continuous
curiosity and attention we received just because we were white.
We were supposedly rich, intelligent and wonderful wives! All of
which to me was not true and very hard to live up to. I had gone
with an open mind and no preconceptions of how the people would
be, so I found this hard to accept at first. But as I got used to
it I began to realise that their curiosity is really a good thing.
Ghanaians were never hostile. They were always looking out for us
and, understandably for some who had never before seen white skin,
they were just curious. This was often quite a responsibility for
us in order not to give the wrong impressions of white people as
these impressions will last a long time with people who may not
see white skin again for a long time.
The people were genuinely generous to each other, as well as to
us, in everyday life. At first you question this because you are
so used to there being a "catch" to purely kind behaviour.
But we learned this is really just in their nature. They were even
more kind to us especially in our community where we were like their
children, in their care. We were young visitors separated from our
families, which are so important to them. So they cared for us deeply
to make us feel part of their families. And we did. Even when we
travelled away from our home we encountered a lot of this concern.
We were constantly amazed at the kindness we experienced time and
time again. People would even go to so much trouble because they
thought we were accustomed to materialism and the best seats in
the bus. I often found this difficult because I was always trying
to live with as little as they did. But by the end I knew that was
impossible. They wouldn't allow it.
The sharing of what little they had always struck me. It is incredible
how many children can enjoy the only sweet you had to offer them.
Whenever anyone was eating you were always offered to join them,
one of those things you quickly snap out of when back in the UK.
The children's play was amazing too. They made up games with nothing
to play with, or with scraps often found from our rubbish. I quickly
fell in love with being with the children and I will remember those
times as one of my happiest in Ghana. I spent a lot of time with
the children both at my work and at home and made many friends with
them. I was really surprised at how stable the children at childcare
were especially as they all had such sad backgrounds. What a wonderful
feeling of family there was at the childcare centre. By the end
of the 6 months the children in the village were always in our house
and were great fun to have around. We were really privileged to
be able to see the progress of one of our nearest local girls from
our village who, at the age of 12, had never been to school. From
our constant encouragement she slowly learnt English and her ABC.
We are now supporting her to go to school in Ahoto so she will get
the extra help that she needs to catch up with pupils of her own
age.
The housing project is now nearly finished. As we left, the road
was being laid and the last houses built. It was wonderful to be
part of such a worthwhile and dreamt of project for the people living
at camp. But new projects and donations for them are constantly
needed and there are always more ways to support the Sisters and
Mark in their mission. As a group, including donations from the
Martley congregation, we have put money towards a new kitchen that
is to be built at St. Clares, the Home for the Elderly. Here the
cooks have no overhead cover for their cooking at the moment. This
is both unhygienic and makes extra work for them. A purpose built
kitchen will provide them with proper facilities for cooking and
will be more efficient and hygienic.
As a group we all enjoyed our time at St. Clares, making great
friends with the residents and staff. We had many memorable games
of bingo and draughts. We attended Mass regularly in the communal
area. Our farewell play involving both children at childcare and
from camp was performed for the residents. I found it very relaxing
at St. Clares. I would often just go and sit with the residents
after doing dressings or after being in Ahoto with the children
from childcare.
At Camp, new projects were always being planned involving new water
pumps. At present, they only have one, which is a long walk for
the children from some corners of the camp. New funds are needed
for a proposed shrubbery with plants that will encourage residents
to take care of their houses and gardens. Funds for the proposed
market area for the women at camp and for new projects for the youngsters
of Camp, including English and Math's tuition for the workers and
help for the young single mothers at Camp, are needed. Maintenance
costs of the whole project are always high, including repairs for
the school bus that I can tell you from experience, is a real hazard
for the many young children who travel to Nursery on it every day.
I will never forget our times together as a group. We were such
a support to each other and I learnt so much from living in such
an intense situation, which inevitably involved some stressful times.
I am so grateful for the Group's wonderful friendship. I know the
experience would not have been the same without them. We were always
there for each other and our house really did become like a family,
even with children and babies too!
To anyone considering a year out please go for it and make the
opportunity for yourself. The money raising was hard work but I
would raise every penny again for the experience it has given me
and for the reward of knowing how your money and time has helped
people who you personally come to love and care deeply for. There
is so much to see beyond the safety of your garden wall and if I
had the opportunity to do what I've done again I'd take it time
and time again. So much can be learnt from other people who you
meet, from different cultures, backgrounds and religions. The people
I met in Ghana have certainly changed how I want to live my life.
I really hope their values are not lost in the commercial trappings
of western society as I'm sure much of ours has been. There are
so many advantages to their lifestyle, if only there wasn't the
suffering that goes with it.
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