Feline in Ghana

My story

For my course I had to go abroad to do an internship. I already knew I wanted to go to Africa. So I started searching online and came across The Power of Sports. I got in touch with Ruben and arranged a video call. 2 or 3 days later I bumped into Ruben by pure chance at my college, because it was “international student” week. What a coincidence! Ruben got me so excited about Ghana that I didn’t really want to go anywhere else. So on 21 June I left for Ghana for my internship abroad!

When I arrived I was picked up by one of the organisation’s supervisors. We didn’t go straight home from the airport. It was one of the coordinators’ birthday that day, so there was a party! I was taken straight to the place where everyone from the house was. I also met the rest of the volunteers straight away.

The next day I had my orientation. I was shown around the city and we went for an ice cream. In the first week I had some time to get used to the feeling of being in Ghana. After that I started giving hockey training. I quickly noticed that the children really appreciated me being there, which gave me a really lovely feeling too! Because the hockey pitch was often in use, I couldn’t give training every day. I felt really bad about this for the children, so when we could train again I made the session extra long. The children really appreciated this. It also gave me the feeling that the children were learning more and making progress. I soon discovered that time wasn’t very important in Ghana. If my supervisor said I had to be there at 8 o’clock, we’d start at 10.

At first it took a lot of getting used to. It’s as if you’re in a completely different world. Everything is different from Holland. Luckily I felt at home very quickly and the people in the house became like family to me.
I also went to the orphanage every day to play with the children. These children really stole my heart! They’re so incredibly happy and excited when they see you again, which always made me feel really good too. They didn’t have many toys in the home, so now and then we’d bring balloons and bubbles for them. We tried to come up with as many fun activities for them as possible. In the mornings I helped Maweena with school. They loved this! It did me so much good to arrive there every day and see the children again, running up to you with big smiles on their faces.

The nightlife in Accra was also very different from Holland. You go everywhere in a Bolt car, which you can book for just 2 euros. Tuesday was always Zen Garden and Wednesday Salsa Night! Through going out I got to know loads of people and quickly built my own little life there.
And I still talk to the people I met there. Friends and family for life. I’ll never forget the memories I have from this wonderful adventure, and I’ll always think of it as home. I left with a big tear in my eye, but I look back with a big smile!

What advice would you like to give future interns and volunteers?

Enjoy it, be yourself and make yourself at home! It’ll be over before you know it.