Making a Difference
So 3 weeks, in Ghana, next summer, working…and you thought we were going for a holiday? And don’t worry Amy, no trains involved, you won’t end up in Feltham again.
In the last session we split up into 3 groups to discuss each week we will be spending in Ghana and the agenda for it. We had to mark each day out of 10 in education, enjoyment factor, time factor, and objective. This was an interesting challenge for us as many could not refrain from talking about last week’s final of The X Factor. On the other hand some got a little too into it and started discussing expressing our opinion through the medium of dance.
Out of all the things on the agenda what struck us as the most poignant was volunteering to do some of the labour for children at a child labour camp after a day of learning about slavery’s history in the country of Ghana. Other places that involved us working were police stations, schools, hospitals and clinics; however it wasn’t all us volunteering. There was much for us to learn, from trips to a 500 year old slavery castle, presentations on native dancing, language and culture to day trips around Sogakope with the YCC and…shopping.
After going through our week in awe of the many opportunities available to us, we ranked them all on the factors above, for example the last day got 10 for time as it would not be time effective to leave on the 1st day, so is ideally placed. We also made notes on what we needed to know more about and what we thought should change days. Unsurprisingly many of the days we would spend out there got full marks.
As you may have guessed, the agenda presented to us really emphasised the reality of the trip and allowed us to express to the rest of the group what we hoped for and aimed to achieve from this experience. The thought of the difference that we could make to someone else’s life however miniscule, and the enormous difference we could make to our own was, in Gareth’s words, incredibly mind-blowing.
Much to the disappointment of the group in its entirety, the day about the safari appeared to be missing. We were later informed that it was not ‘cost-effective’ and this hit Obinna round the face with a wet fish. Out of respect to his grief, we feel that it is still too soon to mention a lion in his presence. The group is now considering petitioning to reinstate the safari into our agenda!
Next session, our priorities are set towards a party. The group is ecstatic with the promise of cake, a gingerbread house, curry and a rather tasty potato salad. But this is not the only thing occupying the group; Melissa and Michael are interviewing the group on a one to one basis, the results of which will be expressed in the next blog.