Monday, November 19, 2007

Accra Final days

Its hard to believe the program is almost over. Our last day of teaching will be this Friday. We have been working with the boys on business plans, its been fun. Some of the businesses they have chosen are draughting companies, construction companies, pharmacy, nite club, boutique, and many more. We start their presentations this week we are all looking forward to seeing them.

Carla has also been giving a few seminars to the YWCA girls. They have been going well and Beatrice has been assisting her.

We are all sad to be leaving, the boys have really touched our lives, many of us have had the time to get to know them outside of the class room and we will miss them so much. This experience has been a great one and we are all grateful to have had the opportunity to come to Ghana.

Ochina

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Hello from Takoradi!

Hello Everyone!

Greetings from Takoradi. Hope everyone is doing well and that you are all enjoying reading about our adventures. It is hard to believe that we are already in our fourth week in Ghana. It has been endless learning and growth for everyone here. We are learning so much from our students and they are learning a lot from us as well.

We are really enjoying our workshops with the girls. They are very comfortable around us and have lots of questions and enthusiasm. Over the last week we delivered workshops on creating resumes and cover letters. They did extremely well and picked up the concepts quite quickly. They have totally surprised us with how much they know and how smart they truly are. We are enjoying them so much that we are now in the process of developing after school workshops on various subjects. The volunteers have different skills that they would like to put to good use here so we are hoping to have activities such as an after school choir, ESL classes and health workshops. We have also found ways to have fun with them outside of the school work which has been great. Last Friday, we had a games day with them where we played sports with them all afternoon. We taught them how to play capture the flag and they taught us Ghanaian games such as 'Ampeh'. Don't worry we will share these games with you once we are back!

Over the weekend we went to Butre which is a small village on the west coast of Ghana. It is a beautiful place with a remote beach. We stayed at an amazing place called the Ellis Hideout. We had a nice time relaxing with one another and ate some delicious food. We spent an evening on the the beach in a blackout with an African man that sang us songs about Africa while playing the drums. It has been really nice connecting with the Ghanaians as they are truly some of the friendliest people on Earth.

We would like to thank all of you that are reading our posts and sending us your comments. We appreciate your kind words and look forward to sharing more with you. A special thanks to Barb Williams from Beatrice and Doug.

Peace and Happiness

Monday, October 29, 2007

Accra week 3

The Accra group headed to Takoradi this past weekend, we had an awesome time even though we didn't get to meet up with the Takoradi group. We did get to see Nona as she came with us on Saturday to visit the village built on the water. We also had fun diving into waves in the ocean.

We began seminars on communication this week Carla and Mohamed have been giving great lectures. Below are a few quotes from Carla's lecture.

"Today is the tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday!"

"To be a champion you have to believe in yourself when no one else will"

those are just a few quotes I really enjoyed and I hope the students did to. Our next set of seminars is on starting your own business and writing business plans. Many of the students have asked about how to start a business because they want to run their own business. I believe they will really enjoy the next set of lecture and hope we can provide them the information they need to be successful.

Ochina

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Goal Setting in Accra

We have just finished our workshops on goal setting with the students and they went well. Garrett led the lectures and took control of these workshops, he did an excellent job. Christian also assisted in the lecture with Garrett he to did a great job.

As one of the exercises in the workshop Garrett asked the students who they admire and why? Below are a few of the students responses.

"My Uncle, Because he is a good caretaker, good natured and he helped me pay for school"

"My Father, because he overcame a lot to become a great leader"

"President Kuffour because he is a good work and controls the nation well"

"Dr. Kweme Nkowema, because he fought for Ghana and was a great leader"

"My Mother, because she is hardworking and does what she can to provide for her family"

"My friend, because he is loyal and gives good advice"

The students are responding well to the workshops and are really working hard to accomplish the goals they are setting. One student said "that the info we are teaching them will help them in the future especially their CV's".

We are truly enjoying teaching the students and have a great time in the classroom. We also enjoy ourselves outside of the classroom as well. 7 of us live together in the second guest house which we call the "dude ranch" its the place we like to hang out, chat and listen to music. We also visit the main guest house often when Miss Carla has provided us all with nicknames, we have also given her a nickname they are:

LaLa - Carla
Miss Jessie- Jessica
Miss Rara- caitlin
Globe trotter- Crystal
Mr. G- Garrett
General Schmooze- Mohamed
21 slices- Christian
Miss Eyes- Katie
Miss B. - Beatrice

Ochina

Monday, October 22, 2007

Greeting from the Takoradi Group

Hello All,

We are excited to update all of you on our journey thus far as we have been having difficulty with logging on to the blog. We are in our second week at the YMCA Girls Vocational School. The girls are extremly bright, enthusastic and excited to learn from us, although, they have taught us just as much about Ghana as we have about Canada.

From the students and teachers, we have learned how to eat traditional Ghanaian dishes, speak their language (Fanti and Twi) and how to have fun without electronics!!! We look forward to learning how to play netball (cross between rugby and basketball). They are extremely interested and ask questions about Canadian lifestyles, sports and especially the snow.

This past weekend the group travelled to Cape Coast where we learned about Africa's tragic past. In addition we ventured to Kakum National Park where we were guided through the African rainforest. We braved the wooden canopy walk suspended 150 m above the forest floor, built by two Canadians. On Saturday night we enjoyed live drumming and traditional dance while relaxing next to the ocean beach.

This week we look forward to expanding our program and continuing our cultural learning.

Untill next time......but in Ghanaian time that could be awhile :)

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Week 2 in Accra the teaching has begun

We've finished our first week of school, and everyone is really enjoying working with the students. The boys in Accra are eager to learn from us, they come and meet us after school on their free time to learn more. We look forward to teaching over the next 6 weeks

The students have been beneficial to our learning as we are learning alot about Ghana and the Ghanian way from them.

This weekend some of the group from Accra went to visit the botanical gardens and some small villages along the way. We are learning how to shop the true Ghanian way--bargaining with a smile--

Next weekend we plan to reunite the Takoradi and the Accra group in Cape Coast.

Ochina (see you tomorrow in twi)

Monday, October 8, 2007

We've Arrived

We are all in Accra now, we've gotten unpacked and had a good nite of rest. Today the group has decided to walk around Accra and explore their shops.

Samuel our host at the YMCA has been very kind and plans to help us get aquainted with the town and customs. We need the most help with the money its a little confusing, because they are in the process of changing their currency and the exchange takes some getting used to. We will figure it out with time.

The people are friendly and we look forward to our time here.

Friday, October 5, 2007

Pre-Departure Training in T.O.

We have just finished 8 days of training at the YMCA, and tomorrow we leave for Ghana. This past week all team members have been getting to know each other and the workshops we will be running. Seven of us have spent our nights in the Canadiana Backpackers Inn. I have posted some pictures of the nights out and the team building activities we've enjoyed such as karaoke night at the fox and fiddle and group dinners. Tonight everyone is getting packed and ready to go. The first group leaves at 11am on a delta flight and the second group later that day on the KLM flight. We will all meet up again in Accra on Sunday evening and begin our work with the youths in Ghana.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007


Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Ghana One- Employment and Entrepreneurship

Club 2/3, Youth Challenge International (YCI) and the YMCA of Greater Toronto have achieved results and promoted best practices in youth-led responses to HIV/AIDS in Ghana and Benin. It is clear that there is the potential to extend the peer-to-peer and training methodologies beyond HIV/AIDS to relevant areas of youth development. One area that has been identified is youth business skills training in employability and entrepreneurship or small business practices.

Hence- GHANA ONE- EMPLOYMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP will begin this new initiative on October 6/07. Our team of volunteers, from across Canada, are engaged in pre-departure training and preparation for an exciting 8 weeks of workshops at the YMCA Technical Training Centre in Accra and the YMCA Girls' Vocational School in Takoradi
Please join us in our adventure. Updates (based on internet accessibility) will be provided on a weekly basis.

Let the work and fun begin !