Renske and Julia in Ghana

My story

How long was your internship?
4 weeks

Our Story  

Thursday, 2 January the alarm went off at 6. Nicely on time (a good 3 hours early) we arrived at the airport in Brussels at 8 o’clock. Our adventure could begin. 45 min before the flight we got to the gate at the back. What seemed like ‘plenty of time’ turned out to be rather optimistic. At 11.05 it was finally our turn for passport control, after which we still had to run to the number of our own gate. Running, we made it just in time to be the last to take our seats on the plane at 11.10 (which was the departure time). At the airport we were picked up by James. He took us to the little flat, where we arrived at 19.30. Because it was the holidays, there was hardly anyone to be seen in the flat. It all took some getting used to, but we slept well the first night.

Friday, 3 January.

Our first day in Ghana had finally arrived. We’d slept wonderfully and woke up to the sound of birds singing. No, just kidding, it was one of our supervisors knocking to check we were still alive. To start with we got a lovely breakfast (9 o’clock). On the table there were rolls, jam and bananas, and there was a choice of instant coffee, tea or chocolate milk. What struck us straight away is that the bananas here are smaller than in Holland and taste much sweeter. We were told we can have breakfast every day between 6 and 10.

We’re really happy that we got lots of varied food.

Together with James (another James, a lad from the academy) we went into town. We thought we’d quickly get some cash out. Clever as we were, after five different cash machines and hundreds of metres further on, we found out that Julia’s bank card hadn’t been set up for worldwide use yet. As we didn’t have internet yet we couldn’t change that either, so Renske took out some extra cedis (Ghanaian money).

Now that we’d finally got that sorted, James wanted to take us to some special places in Accra. First we went to James Town. Here we were given a tour by one of the residents. We thought we were walking through a poor market on the beach and wondered where these people lived. To our great surprise, the few rickety wooden planks turned out to actually be their homes. We carried on to the second tour. We were given information about the history of the first president. For example, we were told about the beheaded statue. After it was beheaded, a kind woman took the head away to protect it from further damage. Years later she carefully brought the head back. The head was never put back on the statue, but is displayed next to it. That’s because they don’t want to forget their history. We also saw the grave of the first president and that of his wife. The president’s wife, who died later, wanted to be buried beside her husband.

James also wanted to take us to a little market. The market was completely covered and the stalls were really tiny. What struck us is that all the stalls sold exactly the same clothes, shoes, fans and bracelets.

Finally, James showed us a well-known statue/little bridge. After which we took an Uber back to the accommodation. Once back, we finally got something to eat (4 pm). Normally we can have lunch between 12 and 2. Because we’re not used to the temperature and had walked a lot that day, we went for a little lie-down… 2 hours later we woke up again.

In Ghana you rarely experience anything that isn’t prayed for. This time was no exception.

In the evening we were offered the chance to go to a football match. We went with James (supervisor) and James from the academy. We could choose our own seats and it was fun to see the crowd go wild when Kotoko scored. This is a well-known club in Africa. After the match we ended our day with a cocktail on the terrace.

Saturday, 4 January.

After a lovely breakfast with fresh pineapple, the plan was to visit the children’s orphanage. This time we were allowed to arrange our own Uber. That went really well until the Uber driver called Renske to ask where we were and Renske answered: ‘in the livingroom’. The embarrassment only came when Renske realised the call wasn’t from Frank (our supervisor). Once we got to the orphanage, it turned out that the person who was supposed to show us round wasn’t there. Luckily it wasn’t far to walk back to our flat afterwards… 20 min in the strongest sun of the day.

Once home, after lunch we got some unexpectedly good news: the tap that had apparently been broken had been fixed.

At 2 we got ready for our first trip to the beach. We’d barely set foot on the beach when a herd of horses came and surrounded us. Of course we couldn’t resist stroking the horses, not realising this would give the wrong impression. Before we could shake our heads “no”, we were thrown onto the horses by a group of riders and taken off… a walk along the beach on a horse, not a bad idea we thought… until after five min we were taken off and forced to pay 4 euros each.

After our kidnapping, we decided to sit on the terrace for a bit and take a dip in the sea. Once we’d cooled off we wanted to go back to our spot where the supervisors were sitting, but we were mobbed by a group of children who grabbed hold of us and wouldn’t let go. We had to show them how to swim (lots of people in Ghana can’t).

As our supervisor put it, this was the ultimate Africa experience…

After dinner we were taught the rules of ‘Oware’. After an evening of playing games we finally decided to have a nice shower with water from the tap! Unfortunately the flow was so weak that we had to rinse off with buckets of water after all.

Sunday, 5 January.

Today we’re going to church at 8 and on safari after lunch. After a lot of stress in the morning: ‘what shall I wear?’ ‘Are these shorts OK or does it have to come below your knee?’ ‘Is this top OK, because your shoulders are bare?’ and so on. But after a long discussion we finally had our outfits on. Once we were completely ready and had eaten breakfast, we still had 15 min to spare. When women have time to spare it always goes wrong, and sure enough Julia got her sewing kit out and set to work so she could change into different trousers at the last minute after all.

By now it was 8.10 and there was still no sign of our supervisors. At 8.15 we finally got the welcome message that we wouldn’t be going to church after all… so the ‘Brabant quarter of an hour’ of running late is apparently known in Ghana too :p

After a lovely lunch (egg roll with vegetables) we finally set off for the safari. To get there our supervisor drove us along the motorway, which was also meant for pedestrians and cyclists. Like Tetris for advanced players we drove along the motorway, when after 30 min our supervisor realised the mirrors weren’t adjusted properly. So we felt very safe XD.

A dance battle was organised, and yes… we had to take part too. All the children shouted:” Hollanders, Hollanders!” There was no getting out of it.

During the safari we admired various animals such as: an ostrich, zebras, antelopes and a little monkey. The safari itself was more tiring than we thought, as we also had to walk parts of it ourselves. We did lots of climbing up to viewpoints. We also visited the caves of the former inhabitants and got to admire the bats.

When we got home dinner was already waiting for us. Afterwards we went straight in the shower and then to bed in good time. The next day was our first day of the internship and we wanted to be fresh for it.

Monday, 6 January.

After lunch we went to the children at the after-school club. When we have time left over from helping the footballers, we can come and help at this after-school club with supervising homework and games. After the introduction we heard that it was one of the carers’ birthdays. We were asked to join in the celebrations.

The carer produced a microphone and the party could begin. In Ghana you rarely experience anything that isn’t prayed for. This time was no exception. The children sang songs (one song lasted a good 15 min) and showed off their special moves. After we’d finished praying (1 hour later) the birthday party could begin.

A dance battle was organised, and yes… we had to take part too. All the children shouted:” Hollanders, Hollanders!” There was no getting out of it.

Around dinnertime we went back to the flat. “Just lying on the bed for a bit” turned into 4 hours of deep sleep.

Tuesday, 7 January.

In the morning the moment had finally come: after Renske had been going on about a gym for five days, we were finally allowed to go to the best gym. And because our supervisor is friends with the owner, we could even go for free! Compared with other prices in Ghana this gym is extremely expensive (140 euros a month). It just proved once again the huge difference between rich and poor.

When we got back lunch was already ready. We had white beans with plantain. Plantain is a cooking banana; it looks like a banana but is much bigger and contains a lot more starch. That’s why you can only eat plantain cooked. We thought it was delicious and it was a perfect meal after a workout.

Our supervisor was going to take us to the Academy at 1 pm to meet the players. When he still wasn’t there at 2.30 and we couldn’t reach him, we went to the after-school club on our own. Here we played games with the children like clapping games and games with a ball. We also helped the children with their homework from school.

When we got back in the evening our food was ready again. This time a kind of spaghetti. We’re really happy that we got lots of varied food. After dinner we went over the busy schedule for the next day.

Wednesday to Friday, 8 to 10 January.

On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we went to a school in the mornings to help with teaching. We got to help the children with maths, reading, spelling and other subjects. We really enjoyed working with the children, but we did notice the huge cultural difference. We’re used to things being very modern, working with laptops, projectors etc. That wasn’t the case here. Children worked in exercise books in which the teacher wrote the sums. It also turns out to be normal here to give children quite a hard corrective smack, for example with the palm of the hand, pens or a ruler. At break the children had lunch at school. What struck us was that most children brought hot meals to school for lunch. Not much attention is paid to hygiene here, which ended with them eating the spilt rice off the floor with unwashed hands.

These were the street boys who were offered education and sports lessons through the organisation we’re working with

After our own lunch we got to work with a football team from Ghana’s premier league: Accra Great Olympics. We could soon start assessing and treating the injured players. In the first week we decided mainly to observe and help the sports massage therapists. It soon turned out that they both applied ice massage to every injury and simply called players who were in a lot of pain ‘lazy’. We were quickly put to work giving an ice massage for every injury.

On Friday we decided to stop observing the sports massage therapists early after all and started applying our own knowledge. We drew up a programme for one of the players with a bad hamstring injury.

Apart from helping at a primary school and giving ice massages, there was also time to learn our first salsa steps. Every Wednesday there’s a Salsa night. We grabbed a perfect spot next to the stage to discover the first steps of salsa. It’s not very smooth yet, but we can proudly say we know the basic steps!

Saturday and Sunday, 11 and 12 January.

Before we knew it, it was the weekend again. On Saturday morning we decided to start with a morning workout at the gym nearby. You didn’t need to do much to come home exhausted. The temperature in the gym was like a visit to the sauna. Unlike in the sauna, though, in the gym you weren’t supposed to lie on your towel and do nothing.

The first few days flew by, as we had to have a nap at every quiet moment of the day. Before you knew it, you were asleep again. Perfectly normal, of course. It was above 30 degrees 24/7, and you were keeping an eye on everything everywhere. On a main road you see cars driving criss-cross all over the place, and people, chickens and goats trying to cross the road. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any crazier, we were taken to the weekly market… You can’t describe how busy it was. There was no such thing as personal space. Calmly looking at things at a stall wasn’t the best idea either. You were swept along by the stream of people. If you wanted to stop, you got people barging into your back. And just try not to lose your group…

There was all sorts for sale at the market. From second-hand clothes, shoes and jewellery to chopped-off cows’ feet and piles of raw fish lying right in the sun, surrounded by a cloud of flies. Let’s just hope our cook buys the meat she cooks for us from the chilled shelves in a supermarket.

We made personal programmes for the injured players, but we also helped with exercises that could be used for prevention

On Saturday evening a new volunteer had arrived. She was a sports psychologist and will be working with the same teams as us. It’s really great to be able to work with other professionals and get to know each other’s way of thinking.

On Sunday morning we decided to find a little luxury hotel where we could use the pool for the day. It was a gorgeous pool with a view of the sea. What more could you want?

Monday to Friday, 13 to 17 January.

In terms of schedule, the weekdays were very similar. In the mornings we set off with the sports psychologist to the boys at the Academy. These were the street boys who were offered education and sports lessons through the organisation we’re working with. Our organisation now has 45 boys staying at the Academy. This week we got to help these boys with their injuries every morning after their training (6 to 9 in the morning). This week we treated lots of individual injuries and often did one-to-one assessments and treatments. At the end of the week we noticed a few things, such as common injuries (instability in the ankle and knee joints, increased tone in the calf and hamstring) and a common posture (lower crossed syndrome) within the group. We wrote this down. Our idea was to make programmes over the coming week to support these injuries and this posture.

After helping the boys at the Academy with their injuries, we went back to our flat for lunch. After lunch (every day except Thursday) we set off again with the sports psychologist to the Great Accra Olympics team. This was the Premier League team, where we helped with injuries during and after training. As well as the ice massages, this week we also tried to write down common injuries and work them out. We made personal programmes for the injured players, but we also helped with exercises that could be used for prevention. During our treatments we consulted the sports psychologist a lot. We tried to look at the injuries together and draw up treatments together. That way we could support both the physical and the mental side of the injured players.

Strange that details like this about the Dutch past are skipped in history lessons at secondary school.

On Thursday afternoon we got to help out at a Great Accra Olympics match for the first time. This match took place in the stadium. For the first time we were allowed in the changing rooms and out on the pitch with the team. I definitely wouldn’t have wanted to miss this experience! Final score 1-1!

Outside our internship hours we also went to the salsa night this week. We could calmly go over the steps we’d learnt in the first week again. Except that this time, instead of just practising with each other, we were asked to dance by a few locals. As they’re really good at the dance, they can lead you well and the dancing almost happens by itself. According to Julia, it’s almost impossible to make mistakes when dancing with the locals. Unless your name is Renske, in which case you still manage to step on their feet a few times… luckily she’d warned them beforehand ;p. Around 00:30 it gets very quiet at the salsa. Our supervisors decided to take us to the best-known bars in Accra. These really did look different from the bars back home where they only play hardstyle… Once home, it turned out the electricity and water weren’t working. Without being able to have a cooling shower, we had to try to sleep in an extremely hot room without a working fan.

Friday to Sunday, 17 to 19 January.

After a tough week of supporting the footballers, we set off towards Cape Coast on Friday evening. Halfway through the journey we were stopped by the police. After 15 min of shouting we found out that our supervisor didn’t have a fire extinguisher. We had 2 choices: pay 300 cedis (50 euros) cash in hand, or go and find a fire extinguisher and report back with it. Of course we chose the second option. Unfortunately, finding a fire extinguisher wasn’t as easy as we’re used to. After half an hour of searching we came across a strange hidden little shop. Sure enough, they had a fire extinguisher! Proud and in a hurry, we drove back to the police. Unfortunately the newly bought fire extinguisher turned out to be empty… we decided to drive back to the hidden little shop. We were allowed to swap our empty fire extinguisher for a full one that was past its date. The sellers helped us scratch off the date and sure enough, we finally got through the check. After a 6-hour car journey we had finally covered 140 km and arrived at the place where we’d be spending the night. A beautiful location on the beach with showers whose water pressure was comparable to what we’re used to back home. What more could you want? After a bite to eat we decided to go to bed in good time.

On Saturday morning we set off towards the castle. We heard an impressive story about the slave trade led by the Portuguese and then the Dutch. Every three months a ship left for Europe and South America with 1000 slaves tied together and stacked on planks. Strange that details like this about the Dutch past are skipped in history lessons at secondary school.

The football players are also very grateful for our help, and we get lots of lovely compliments!

After the castle we drove to Kakum National Park. After 20 minutes of climbing up the mountain we got to walk across a wobbly bridge 40 metres high. An experience you won’t want to miss!

After visiting Kakum National Park and eating, we had to spend another 5 hours in the car to get to the next accommodation. After walking all day in 30 degrees we were all ready for a good night’s sleep. Unfortunately we found out that our bedroom was right by the stage where a party was going on until 5 in the morning. So much for our beauty sleep!

On Sunday morning we set off for Bajo Beach. Sun, sea, sand… a wonderfully relaxing end to our weekend!

Monday to Friday, 20 to 24 January.

Every morning from Monday to Friday this week we went to the academy. Here we were able to assess and treat lots of injuries. Namely: ankle instability, lower crossed syndrome, injuries from physical contact, tone: calves, erector trunci (back muscles), groin, and a meniscus and cartilage injury. The treatments included: exercises (strength, mobility, stability, flexibility), joint traction and compression, massage, cream, kinesio tape. It was great to see every day what effects our treatments were having on the injuries. The football players are also very grateful for our help, and we get lots of lovely compliments! Chloe (sports psychologist) works with imagery training, among other things. This means, for example, practising the movement you find difficult in your head. We had this at school once too. It was really interesting that the lad Chloe gave a homework task on this at the start of the week came to thank her at the end of the week. The exercise had helped him perform better. We think it’s brilliant working with a sports psychologist, because we learn a lot from her and she learns from us too!

We think it’s brilliant working with a sports psychologist, because we learn a lot from her and she learns from us too!

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we went to the Accra Great Olympics in the afternoon. This week we mainly observed the team’s training. We noticed that the muscles were stretched a lot. This is good for preventing injuries. The only thing that struck us was that they did it far too briefly. It only works if you hold a stretch for at least 30 seconds. Apart from observing, we got to assess and treat the acute injuries caused during the practice matches. We also went through the exercises we’d given a lad with knee instability with him again. And we taped a lad with a chronic hamstring injury who’d had a recurrence. On Tuesday we told the coach what we’d noticed while observing and suggested making a prevention plan and PowerPoints for the team. The prevention plan is to help prevent the most common injuries in football. And the PowerPoints contain information about common football injuries and how to treat them. The coach gave us permission, so on Tuesday we started making the PowerPoints. Thursday and Friday afternoon were spent entirely working on the PowerPoints.

Outside the internship we got some really good news this week. The weights that were supposed to be available for free at the flat, which we’d been promised before the internship, were finally made available to us on Monday. So we were very happy with the peace and quiet in the house now we no longer had to listen to Renske going on about the gym ;p

As it turned out once again, news can’t always be good. We’d been without shower water for almost the whole week, which meant we had to shower with buckets all week. But as if that wasn’t enough… the power went off as well. There was a blackout on Wednesday evening. That meant no electricity, so no charging phones and, even worse, no working fans! As our supervisor put it, this was the ultimate Africa experience… as we put it, it was the ultimate hell XD. Well behaved as we were, and well briefed about not walking alone in the dark in Ghana, we went on an adventure with a few interns. It was too hot in the house, so we went outside looking for animals. Everywhere people were sitting outside because of the heat, and there was no power anywhere in the area. The animals we saw were: a toad, a hen with chicks, a cat, a dog, a goat, a lizard, ants, crickets, cockroaches, etc. After a successful adventure with plenty of screaming and laughing in the dark, we came back to the accommodation. The power was still off and the water still hadn’t been topped up. So we decided to look for some cooling off by going to the salsa night. It was already our third time, so by now we had the basic steps down well. Cooling off was definitely out of the question, though, because we didn’t get a moment’s rest. They were practically queuing up to teach us salsa one by one, because dancing with Europeans isn’t something they get the chance to do every day.

Saturday and Sunday, 25 and 26 January.

In the morning we’d made good use once again of the weights that were now available to us at the flat. After a lovely bucket shower, because yes, for a change the water had run out again, we got ready for the match. The football team (Accra Great Olympics) we always helped had another home match in the stadium. We cheered the team on and helped with the acute injuries.

The match was great fun, as we’d worked with both teams for a whole month

After the match we and Chloe (another intern) went to a hotel. We wanted, even if just for one evening, a hot shower, to sleep with air conditioning and a bit of peace by escaping the chaos. In the evening we had a lovely meal and took an evening dip in the pool. Then, after a hot shower, we fell asleep in a lovely big bed. All three of us were, so to speak, in a ‘coma’ thanks to the lovely temperature in our room. The next day we made the most of the pool and the breakfast that was included. After our ‘girls’ trip’, as we called it, we could go back to our accommodation fully recharged for the last week of the internship.

At the accommodation our dinner was ready again and we met the two new interns. After a fun evening of chatting we got to know them better. It was also funny explaining how they had to flush the loo with a bucket of water, as there was no water to flush normally. We decided to end the evening by going to bed in good time, so we’d be fresh for the last few days.

Monday, 27 January.

Our last week had now arrived. On Monday morning we got to go to the Academy to see how the injured players were doing and whether there might be any new injured players we could help. After we’d helped all the injured players we stayed a little longer to observe all the boys. We noticed that one of the boys’ shoulder blades stuck out much too far and we mentioned it to him. It was indeed bothering him, so we started assessing it. We told him what we’d found and gave him exercises for it.

The PowerPoints we’d made last week were supposed to be printed by this Monday at the latest. Of course, here in Ghana you shouldn’t count on that too much, so they hadn’t been printed yet. So in the afternoon we decided to add a few more slides to the PowerPoints and chase it up so they’d be printed as soon as possible. We try to allow for ‘Ghana time’ with this. We need the sheets printed and laminated on Thursday, so we’re building in a day’s slack by saying we need them on Wednesday. If we don’t have them on Wednesday, we’ll still have time to find a solution.

Tuesday, 28 January.

On Tuesday we went to the Academy boys’ training session together with Max and Tom (interns working as coaches). We observed the boys during their session and treated acute injuries. The boys play on a large area with two football goals and a fence around it. It’s not a football pitch with grass like we’re used to. They actually play on a layer of loose sand. The training has no structure and we don’t see the boys doing many strength exercises. And the strength exercises they do are often done incorrectly. They do stretch a lot, but not in the right way. They bounce and stretch far too briefly, which increases the risk of injury. We also noticed that many of the players have an incorrect running pattern and suffer from ‘lower crossed syndrome’. So at the end of the training we told the coaches what we’d noticed and asked whether we could run an injury prevention session at the next training. They agreed, and we’d be able to run the session on Thursday afternoon.

Wednesday, 29 January.

By now it was Wednesday morning and we were at the Academy boys again in the morning. Here came the unexpected news that we’d actually been expecting… of course the PowerPoints hadn’t been printed. So we decided to find out about the nearest print shop ourselves and took the job on. One of the Academy boys could take us to the shop, and an Uber wasn’t needed, because it was within walking distance. It’s still funny that we fall for that after a month, because the shop was a good half hour’s walk. Once there we could both print and laminate, and there was even air conditioning, what more could you want! The organisation also reimbursed the costs. Clever as we were, we hadn’t brought any money with us today of all days, as we didn’t know we’d be going to the print shop… so we got to enjoy a nice little walk back to our accommodation.

After lunch, in the afternoon we went to watch the friendly match between the Academy boys and the Accra Great Olympics. The match was great fun, as we’d worked with both teams for a whole month. After the match we congratulated the Accra Great Olympics lads on their win. As a goodbye, because this was the last time we’d be there, we took a photo with the whole team.

so the ‘Brabant quarter of an hour’ of running late is apparently known in Ghana too :p

As you know by now, Wednesday evening was our salsa night. Unfortunately, just before the evening we heard that our training session for the Academy boys on Thursday afternoon had been moved to Thursday morning at 7. Still, we weren’t going to let this spoil our last salsa night, so we decided to go anyway. We went with 6 interns and one of our supervisors. After a few fun drinks, of course there had to be dancing too. One of the lads said he’d love to learn the basic steps, because he’d never done it before. That was no problem at all for Julia, because after no fewer than 3 evenings she is (in her own opinion) a professional salsa dancer. So she was only too happy to teach the new interns, and even some Ghanaian people, the basic steps while stumbling along. As we had to run a training session at 7 the next day, we decided to go to bed early. It was certainly early: we were already tucked up in bed by 02:30.

Thursday, 30 January.

The alarm went off at 05:30 and we got up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. The last day had arrived and despite little sleep we were really excited to run the session! Unfortunately Max dropped out, but luckily the new intern Tom was only too happy to help us. No fewer than 32 players took part in the Academy boys’ training. We did a warm-up, stretching, strength training and a cool-down. Throughout, we gave clear instructions on the correct technique and corrected them where needed. At the end of the training we got lots of lovely compliments from both the coach and the players. Lots of players also wanted a photo with us, as this was our last time with the team.

That was no problem at all for Julia, because after no fewer than 3 evenings she is (in her own opinion) a professional salsa dancer

After the training we first went back to our accommodation for lunch. After lunch we went to the Academy house, where some of the boys live, and hung the laminated PowerPoint slides on the wall.

Before dinner we started packing our cases. For this trip we’d both brought, among other things, clothes we never wore any more or that were already old. So while packing we made a little pile of clothes we didn’t need any more. After packing we decided to give these clothes to Lucy (the cook). She came to thank us several times and showed off the clothes she liked. In Ghana all the clothes for sale are second-hand, and normally they have to pay for them. They were even really happy with Julia’s old flip-flops, and they were even going to share them, because two of the girls were interested in them. They were also grateful for products like washing powder and shower gel that we had left over and left behind.

After packing we decided to give these clothes to Lucy (the cook). She came to thank us several times and showed off the clothes she liked.

When evening came, the moment had finally arrived. We could hardly believe the month was already over and we had to say goodbye to everyone. After the goodbyes the organisation took us to the airport. At the airport we thought about the goals we’d set for the internship and discussed them. We were really pleased with the outcome of this internship and even learnt much more than we’d expected beforehand. The time literally flew by and before we knew it we were back in Holland. One thing we knew for sure: we certainly hadn’t missed the cold and rain we felt when we got off the plane. Still, it was nice to be home again and to be a whole experience richer.