Zus in Ghana

My Story

At the beginning of January, I went to Ghana to give goalkeeper training. The first few days were mostly about getting to know everyone, the culture, and the warmth.

After a few days of settling in, I started coaching. I worked with two local football clubs, with training sessions on weekdays from 4 pm to 6 pm. So, I had the rest of the day free to do whatever I wanted.

Other volunteers from different organizations also stayed at our house. During my time there, we were never a very large group of volunteers. But I actually liked that because you get to know each other much better when you’re part of a small, close-knit group.

There’s a lot to do in Accra, so if you want to go out in the evening, there are plenty of nice places. While going out, we often ran into other volunteers.

I decided to help out at the school a few mornings a week by assisting in math class. Sometimes it was hard to get up early after a night out, but it was all worth it because the children were always very happy to see me.

At first, the training was a bit challenging because I didn’t know the goalkeepers very well yet. But after a few sessions, you get to know everyone better. For me, it was always fun to come to training; it’s just so nice to see how much fun everyone has during the sessions. I could also see progress in many of the goalkeepers, and that’s when you really notice that you’re making a difference.

On weekends, we often went to the beach or took trips to Cape Coast and Volta. On Tuesday or Thursday evenings, we usually had volunteer matches. In these games, you play football together with other volunteers and some friends of the coordinator against a local team. These matches are always a lot of fun.

All in all, I had an amazing time in Ghana and would recommend it to everyone.