Hear from our volunteers. Flavia

Flavia and 3 other European girls (an Italian, a Slovakian and a Pole) came to Ghana in 2014 with the 12-month EVS project (this was one of the last EVS projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, afterwards the priorities were changed), which concentrated on the environment and healthy lifestyles, but they were invited by UPCO/SASO to do what they were interested and talented at.

How did it happen? How did you choose this project and come to Ghana?

I knew that I want to go to Africa and this project was basically the first one I found. I wanted to volunteer for 12 months, because before I have been for 2 months in Guinea Bissau, which is a Portuguese speaking country. EVS was very cool opportunity, because they pay for everything and you can do basically what you want to do. Ghana was the first project I came across. And I was really lucky, because it was one of the last projects, now you can’t go to Ghana with EVS. Of course, I did not know much about Ghana, I had to go and check where it is on the map. I just came with other three girls from different countries, but we were all Europeans, so we were like sisters supporting each other.

But why Africa?

I have this problem. An African bug. I wanted to come to Africa for a longer time to see if I really can stay here and live here.

Flavia, what were you exactly doing during your volunteering year here in SASO/UPCO?

At first I was trying to manage SASO a little bit. At that time there were 2 people in the kitchen, 2 in the office, a social worker and 6 or 7 teachers. I was helping the staff with writing some projects, doing some administrative work (accounts, reports). Also I did some environmental education classes for kids. Either theoretical, like about recycling, degradable, not degradable materials, and also more practical: we made some trash bins for the classrooms, which I am sure they don’t have anymore, but it was fun. We also organized some community cleanings. At that time, they were starting with the national sanitation day. Every first Saturday of the month we went to Glefe to clean the streets and pick trash with assemblymen and some kids from SASO. We have received a donation of dust bins, shovels and things to carry the trash, gloves and masks. My colleague Kasia was teaching them first aid; she was a paramedic. We did a lot of these trainings in the community and for teachers or students. I also was teaching literacy to some ladies in the community.

Tell us more about how did you start teaching literacy and how did it go.

My friend Kasia and, Juliet (social worker), was doing the outreach programme to see people in vulnerable situations, so she was checking on their health, blood pressure etc. During this programme, one lady said: “I would like to know how to read and write, can you help us?”. We asked if there were more people who have this interest in learning and yes, there were more. That is how we created the group of women, who were coming to the classes with their babies. There we had a board, a table and their notebooks.

It was nice. We were doing it for 4 or 5 months. Of course, you cannot teach people to read and write in 4 months, because some of them didn’t even know English. The ones who didn’t know anything, ended up recognizing the letters and started to recognize words. Others who knew how to recognize letters, ended up with basic reading skills. I know, that the social worker continued the lessons for some time. I heard that one of the women from the group went to a school and another one continued with the classes in the church and she can read and write now. Others improved enough to be able to read some things. It was good.

I heard you also opened a library in UPCO, yes?

Radka (the Slovakian girl) organized all the books and then went to schools around to announce about it. Then we started opening it in the afternoons, from 3 to 5 pm twice a week. The kids would come, sit and read there. They would copy the texts. The first time we had a lot of kids, the place was full. There were four of us trying to manage the library, because other people were just looking at how everything works here. But then next time came less children came, around 20 each time. Of course, always someone had to be there, control everything. For instance, there was this Atlas book, which was so popular. One would open it and everybody would come to see. You have to control, that just two people can take a book at a time. When everything was a bit more calm, we also helped the kids with reading. They were really happy to see and read these books.

What kind of difficulties did you have here?

Cultural differences. The people in Ghana are more used to listening to a leader than working with a team with no leaders. We were 4 different individuals and no leader among us. Troubles with managing SASO… but then you overcome it. It’s a struggle when you come with this clear idea, how things should be, and then you realize that things cannot be like that right away.

What are the first things that come to your mind when you think about Ghanaian people?

They are very open. When you speak with them and ask how to get somewhere - they always help you. I had an experience in Lithuania, when nobody responded to my questions. In Portugal the people are more suspicious of strangers, they don’t invite to enter their privacy, but they are more open than Northern Europeans.

In addition to that, Ghanaian people are very peaceful. I am staying here now by myself and everybody calls me in the streets, but I never feel unsafe. In Guinea Bissau it was also nice, but it is not a peaceful country in terms of government. Every two years they overturn the government and the military goes there and puts another guy, but everyday life is normal.

What is your favourite place in Ghana?

That is a good question. I have some, but now when I am thinking… I have to say that my favourite place is the University of Ghana. I don’t work in the university ground, but across the road in another campus, but the campus of the university of Ghana is nice, it is so green. I really feel like in Africa there. Accra is very heavy and that place is calm, most of the people are walking, just some cars passing. There are big trees. When I went there for the first time, I really thought that I want to do a PhD there. It was just an idea. I don’t want to do it now, but I really like that place.

After the one year EVS project you came back to Ghana to work. How did you come up with the idea to stay here for a longer time and find a job?

After the EVS, I knew I wanted to continue my stay in Africa for longer, that is why I tried to find something in Ghana, since I was already here. Frankly speaking, I thought that I have more chances to find a place in Portuguese speaking countries: Angola, Mozambique, Guinea etc., but I decided to see what is around. I’ve studied international affairs and development studies, but I was also trying to search for opportunities to teach Portuguese. And then I found it in the Ghana institute of languages. It is not a part of the university, but we teach a bachelor that is certified by Ghana university. It’s a translation bachelor, English-French and then they have a third language, which can be Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, German... so I teach people who choose Portuguese. We have more and more people interested in Portuguese, because now you have African union and ECOWAS (Economic Community of Western African States) which consist of English, French, Portuguese speaking countries. Usually a lot of people choose Spanish, but you don’t have any more African Spanish speaking countries, so for any international organisation Portuguese is more needed. Also because of the power of Brazil and Angola. We have Brazilian companies here and relations, so I also give some private lessons now in the Brazilian embassy. They already have jobs, but their companies are taking them to Brazil or Angola, others have Brazilian wives.

The interest is growing. Now, I am going on my third year. Although I am paid like a local, it is enough for living in Ghana and I can manage to make my trip to Portugal for 4 months, but it is challenging. They gave me a house here, which is very far. It is very hard to find a place. You have to pay 2 years of rent, when you enter the house. If your rent is 100 EUR per month, you have to pay 2000 EUR when you enter the house. And you also need to furnish the house. I was looking for a place for a year and I couldn’t find it. Now just found a room and I am moving there for the meantime. It’s quite hard to live here, but it is fun.

Do you want to live here for a longer time?

No, I am thinking of finishing this year in the institute and I want to go to another African country.

Once again, why are you so crazy about Africa?

I like to be here. Now Portugal is a little bit depressing, not much going on. People are also leaving the country because of the economic crisis. Europe is getting older and here in Africa you have a younger vibe. Africa is coming up in terms of music, fashion, all art forms. It is really making a mark in the world, so it is really exciting to be a part of it.

I really enjoy the openness of African people and in general I like to be a foreigner. I like to see things from an outsider’s perspective. When it gets very tiring, I go to Portugal for 3 months and I am in heaven, but I wouldn’t like to stay there for a whole year. I have already lived 26 or 27 years in Portugal, so now I can live some time abroad.

I also feel that I can do more here than in Portugal. I have a friend, who also got this opportunity to teach Portuguese in Germany (we both are not Portuguese teachers by training). But I wouldn’t like to be in her position, because in Germany she just goes to the university, she teaches in a fixed department and here I have to come up with my own programme, I had to bring the materials from Portugal, I created internships in the summer for my students, I try to collect materials for the library… so there are a lot of things to do and you can leave a bigger impact here.

Of course, I am selfish like everybody else. I learn a lot here. Sometimes I look around and think that it’s so different from where I come from and this is my life now. When you go to Portugal and old people ask, if in Africa I am living with a lot of black people... what can I answer? Yeah, this is my life. It’s so normal. It‘s Africa. Of course, it is really harder here. You notice and appreciate more, how lucky people in Europe are. What social security and health care we have! About which we are always complaining, but actually it is a paradise. Here it is very stressful, if you get sick.

You’ve mentioned what do old people back in your country ask about your current life. Portugal had African colonies in the past, but what is the relationship between Portugal and nowadays Africa?

Yeah, we have a lot of people from ex-African colonies now in Portugal. We are still quite racist towards them. But actually, I would say regarding all the European countries, we are quite multicultural. Unfortunately, we were the last country to give independence to our colonies. In that time, we had this dictator who really wanted to keep the colonies, we had a lot of colonial wars. That is why we have a lot of people who came to live in the colonies or were born in the colonies in the 50‘ or 60‘s… and In 1974 we gave them independence and they came back to Portugal. We had a lot immigrants in the 90‘s.

Now it is the opposite, now Portuguese people are going to Angola, Mozambique to take qualified jobs. There is still a lot of tension, but we say that Lisbon is the most African city in Europe, because of a lot of African people, the weather and everything. We have a lot of cultural relations, and the ties are getting stronger in CPLP (Community of Portuguese speaking countries).

Of course, I see it that way, because I am involved in all of this. Maybe for somebody in Portugal Africa is still a very faraway place. And there are still a lot of stereotypes. The other day I was saying to my family that I cannot find a house here and I showed the place where I am at the moment and they were happy, that it was an actual house with walls and a roof, because they were thinking of me living in a bush or something. They still have this tribes-jungle-lions picture of Africa. When these things become normal to you, you don’t understand how people can still think like that.

Of course, years living here have had to change your perception of Africa. After a few years, how do you now assess your volunteering experience in SASO/UPCO? What did you learn during this year here?

I learned a lot about working in NGOs. How hard is to do things without funding. We started a lot of things, but after we went away it was really hard, for instance, to pay someone to work in the library etc. So it‘s important that volunteers do these kind of side projects, that don’t bring the NGO a lot of revenue, but has a lot of meaning.

I also tried to see the impact I could create, as little as it is, but a positive one. For instance, when I was teaching 20 women, and 2 or 3 of them were really taking it to the next level and using it and being able to read and write and improve their lives because of that, I was already happy. It is basically about being happy about small small things and not expecting to change the world.

I also gained a lot of personal skills: how to be abroad and relate to people that are very different from you. For example, I learned a lot about patience here. Just so much! In Europe we are more used to the idea that everything is possible, that you always can find a way to solve the problem. But here, sometimes because of bureaucracy, lack of resources you try so hard, but it doesn’t work. You expect that people will behave in a certain way and they behave in another way. You really have to be patient and take everything as a lesson. Sometimes you want to do something, but you just have to take in account that it is better if someone who understands how the things work, does it, because they know better how the game is and you just have to calm down and hope for the best. In Europe we are more hands-on, more independent.

I am everyday learning how to live in another way, which is sometimes really hard.

For what kind of people would you recommend volunteering in SASO?

People come here and either they adapt very well or they have a lot of shocks. Local NGOs don’t have someone to bridge the gap between cultures, so you have to do it yourself.

I would recommend it to somebody who knows what he/she can give. SASO keywords are children, education, environment issues, health. It is important to have an idea what you would like to do. Of course, you have to be prepared that your idea will be turned upside down and around, but in the end you will do something that is similar to what you wanted to do. Don’t come with an idea that you will save everybody, just hope that you are going to share and learn something.

If you speak Portuguese or just want to see more photos of Flavia’s life in Ghana, check her blog: https://realgana.wordpress.com/