David Leone Ganado's blog

Last Ghana update for 2010

2010-09-05T17:45:00.000+02:00

So here I am... back in Malta, and I have to add, 'sadly' back in Malta. It's not that I don't want to be with my family and all my great Malta-based friends and colleagues. Rather, it's that I simply didn't want to leave Ghana. Can you blame me?

So anyway, in the last update I let you know more or less what happened in the second week of my trip to Ghana. That second week also coincided with the end of the Summer camp for the children. You may therefore be wondering what I was doing in the remaining two weeks.

Children playing in the oratory

In the first week I continued going to Tema New Town on a daily basis in the afternoons. During these days there was the oratory where the children could play with puzzles, games and footballs. They could also, as some of them did, think I was a human tree and climb all over me, or alternatively sit me down and sit around me and on me. Again it is clear that these children want to be loved. The only downside is that sitting next to me or on me made them prone to getting tickled!

More games

Children waiting to come in to the oratory

Who said that puzzle pieces are for solving puzzles and not for building?

More learning opportunities

As for the mornings, I organised the few thousand photos and videos, and I also reinstalled the operating system on each of the computers in the computer room. Some of the computers were in a desperate need for the attention...

The following weekend, which was incidentally my last one in Ghana, saw me get my first bit of travelling. Together with the German and Croatian volunteers, we hopped onto the trotros and made our way to Cape Coast, where we visited the Cape Coast Castle, as well as Kakum national park. I already went to the park last year, but the 'walkways' (rope bridges) are worth it any time. The pity is that the only monkeys we saw were ourselves...

Cape Coast Castle... a sad place in the history of humanity

Kakum National Park walkways

The trip wouldn't have been complete without going into the rain forest to get up close and personal with nature, and of course get some good pictures in the process. Thankfully, after nearly two years I am finally getting used to my camera so I was able to snap some decent pics!

My friend the lizard

Jurassic Park IV

Great pics were however not the only thing I got out of the weekend. For the first time in three weeks I got a running stomach (and I'm saying this to avoid using the d-word). This also meant that I was unable to go to the oratory on Monday, and I spent the while day indoors. I did however get to have a traditional remedy, made by boiling some leaves. The result was a very bitter drink, but at least it worked.

On the other days I went to the artisan market, Akosombo dam (which provides clean energy annd accoints for 70% of Ghana's energy needs), the Shai Hills nature reserve, and once again, Ada Foah, which is the most wonderful beach I've ever been to.

At the Akosombo dam

Sadly, that brought me to Friday, the day of my departure. This was a very sad day indeed, as I really didn't want to leave so soon. To be honest I didn't enjoy packing one bit. Knowing that I'll be spending 11 hours transiting through Libya didn't help either. In fact, as I am writing, I am in the airport trying my best to stay awake, and furthermore to while away the time. I will however post the update once in am back in Malta.

I can't close off without thanking those who have helped to make the experience what it was, namely my friends at SPYS, the Salesians in Ghana, the German and Croation volunteers, all those who donated money or soft toys, and Air Malta for the excess baggage allowance I was given.

That's all for now. I hope you enjoyed the updates!!!

Blessed Mary

2010-08-22T16:29:00.000+02:00

So here I am, typing away at the keyboard. Another week has passed (well, actually it's more), and I have another week of memories and, of course, pictures and videos.

I left off with the Friday of last week being a day full of activities. I think it would be fair to say that it was quite full. It would also be fair to say that I lost a big chunk of my voice. Yes, you read correctly... I lost a big chunk of my voice. I know you're probably wishing that it happened a bit more often, or that you were at least present, but hey, if it's a consolation, you might like to know that it didn't really keep me quiet!!!

One of the great things about that Friday was that instead of teaching in the morning, I spent most of the time filling balloons with water (and shall we say, getting wet in the process). The great piece was not actually filling the balloons, but seeing the children burst them using toothpicks stuck to their heads on a cone. It was like seeing a number of unicorns run up to the suspended balloons, and then burst them and get very wet! I know you haven't yourselves seen it, but you can rest assured that the memory will remain with me for a long time. It is really a pity that this year I did not think of getting more balloons with me to Ghana, as they are a massive hit with the children.

Children running up to the balloons!

I want to talk a little bit about the daily journey to and from Tema New Town. The first thing to know is that you can either pass from the main roads (and get stuck in endless traffic chaos) or alternatively you could take the short cut. You may be wondering why not everyone takes the short cut. Well, the simple answer is that the roads are not of the same standard. First of all, they are dirt roads, not asphalt, and I think it would be fair to say that it makes for a bumpy ride. Even where there is asphalt, there are so many potholes, that in many places the soil path on the side of the road is better than the asphalted road. I guess this is why it is called 'offroad', because you spend quite some time off the road. Anyway, back to the dirt roads... driving through them sounds something like, "boom, boom, Boom, Boom, BOOM, vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv, boom, boom, Boom, Boom, BOOM"! However, believe it or not, it is all part of the experience and I always look forward to it!

The weekend came, and it was a fairly relaxing one. The highlights were probably the artisan market and the bargaining that comes with it, and then on Sunday, the Salesian sisters were welcomed to Ghana for the first time. Oh, and then to keep up with the inevitable, I had an upset stomach on Sunday evening. I'm not however complaining as this time round I didn't end up in hospital.

The second week at Tema New Town was more of the same... classes, then games or crafts. A big difference however was that on a couple of days we got rain, which ruined the plans for outdoor activities. Now when I say rain, I mean rain. And you know it's rained quite a bit when your playing field is drenched and partly flooded, and what's more, a frog comes out of hiding and into the field! But anyway, all's well that ends well.

Class time!

Our friend the frog!

There is however one other effect of the rain. I did say before that the roads are dirt roads, which are not exactly smooth when dry. I guess you can imagine what they become like after heavy rain. In places the roads just plain hold all the water, and it is like driving through a pond. There is no need to say what the vehicles end up looking like, but I will say that the tyres and wheels end up looking 'a bit' brown. You would be forgiven for thinking that brown is the new black.

You may recall that last year I mentioned what a breath of fresh air it is for some of the children to have different names to the ones we have at home. Well, this time I want to focus on shop names. There is an incredibly high number of shops that have a name related to a religious belief. For example, you can get, "God the Saviour Ent.", "By His Grace barber," or, "Divine Mercy chop shop." All that sounds fine. It however gets a bit messy when you have, "Trust in God auto electrician," or, "Jesus saves electric cables." This is not to say that there is a problem with them, but to be honest, if I'm getting the car electrics sorted out, I guess I would feel that much better if I wouldn't only have to rely on trust in God, but could rely on trust in the electrician as well. You get the point!

So anyway, back to the activities. This Friday we organised a day of only games and painting. As things go, this was overall a great day, but it was ruined (only partly) by the rain. Nevertheless, we painted the children to their hearts' content, and at the end of the day they each got a goodie bag, with sweets, pens, soft toys, etc. To all those who gave me any of these items to bring to Ghana with me, I once again say thank you! Your gesture may have been small, but the happiness it brought to the kids is certainly no small thing.

Some of the children after getting their face painted

Happy to have a soft toy

Need I say that she was happy?

You may be wondering why I've called this post, "Blessed Mary". The answer is a very simple one... they are the names of the two little angels that you see in the picture below. Just like the other children, these children are as adorable as they can possibly be, and it is immediately obvious that they crave love and attention. "Sir, me, lift me, lift me." Those are some famous words I'm going to miss a real lot when I'm back at home. You can lift these children a hundred times, or you can carry them around for hours, and they simply don't get tired of it (but my arms do). One? Two? Three? How many children do you want hanging onto you? Well often I had one on either side, as well as another clinging onto my back! It is of course tiring, especially when they jump onto your back and you're taken by surprise, but it is definitely all worth it, and I wouldn't ever swap it for a relaxed role!

Mary and Blessed!

Mary and Blessed again, but this time with someone on my back as well...

Well anyway, this time round I really don't have much of an intention of writing in too much depth, especially as it looks like it's going to rain again, and my clothes are out supposedly trying to get dry. So this, my dear friends, is where it will end for today.

David

When I 'lost' my sunglasses...

... and when I felt like I was a tree

Back with a bang

2010-08-13T02:32:00.001+02:00

Children waiting in line for some food

So here I am, with my sarcasm and my humour and all. One year has passed, and I somehow landed in Ghana once again. Perhaps ‘somehow’ is not quite the word I should be using… I guess that buying the Air Malta and Afriqiyah tickets had quite a bit to do with the fact that I am currently in Ghana. Afri-who? Afriqiyah. And to all the doubters, I am pleased to inform you that it ranks as one of the best airlines I’ve ever travelled with. In fact, I’d have to say it’s the second best in a list that includes, amongst others, Emirates, Lufthansa, British Airways, Alitalia, Czech Airlines, American Airlines and United Airlines, not to mention Air Malta and others.

Don't, however, for one moment think that my journey was uneventful. It started off as being the same old boring stuff. My luggage was not checked in directly to Ghana, which meant that I had to collect it from Libya, and check it back in for the flight to Ghana. Simple, isn't it? Dream on. My luggage tags were taken at the check-in desk, and I was asked to check back at the desk after 30 minutes to get the new tags from Libya to Ghana. 40 minutes later I was told... yes, you guessed it, I was asked to return after another 10 minutes. 20 minutes later I was told... yes, you guessed it, I was asked to return after another 30 minutes. Now you're wondering whether this is one of those never-ending circles? Well, let's get some basic facts right: all circles are never-ending, so it cannot be a circle. But it is a teardrop. I'll however spare you the need to read the same thing about 8 times over, and let you know that I was given the tags 5 minutes before boarding. It may be interesting to know that I had more than 4 hours between landing and boarding, which makes you wonder how your luggage is meant to arrive if you have a shorter connection time. Good thing I have 11 hours on my way back...

Well anyway, my luggage did arrive, so I guess I shouldn't complain. What's more, I'm approaching 150 hours in Ghana, and I haven't yet been to hospital. How's that for shattering a previous personal best, which I set last year, of being taken to hospital after about 50 hours? I think it's a fantastic achievement, and I'm still going strong. No side effects this year, the floor in my room hasn't seen any messes, and my toilet hasn't once wished it that it could kill me! All in all, I think everything and everyone is happy.

I hear you saying that you don't care about all this and you'd rather know about the children. Well, it's too late now, as you've already read the previous three paragraphs, and you cannot turn the clock back and skip them the second time round. If you do find a way of doing that, then please let me know. On the other hand, if you don't manage it, please do be aware that this is now the fourth paragraph and you haven't yet read a single thing about the children and the activities.

Annoying? Not to worry, I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Click that 'X' (or whatever it looks like if you are not using Windows XP) at the top of the page, or alternatively press CTRL + W, or alternatively go to File -> Close Tab, or File -> Exit. Simple isn't it? Now is your chance, and you'll be spared even finishing the fifth paragraph.

Children getting ready to play the mirror game

Children. Tall ones, short ones, boys, girls. It doesn't matter. They are all eligible to participate, learn something, have fun, and... be children. Oh, and do you remember Divine and Promise, who I mentioned in my last year's blog? They're once again here, not to mention a whole host of other children who have returned this year! Then of course there is yours truly who is also here again. This year there are about 60 children attending, and once again, we are giving them lessons in English and maths, apart from the games we play.

Children posing and playing

Did I mention that it's hot to be playing? Just to think that this is the rainy season, and it is much worse in December makes me wonder how it is possible to survive the Ghanaian Summer. Of course, you may very well know that the Meridian passes through Ghana, and that where I am is 5 degrees north of the equator, hence it can be unbearably hot, apart from humid. The humidity level hasn't dropped below 79% since I arrived, and reached 85% yesterday after the rain. Incidentally, we cross over from West to East of the Meridian (and back again) on a a daily basis when travelling from 'home' to Tema New Town.

You can probably imagine what it is like to play with the children in those conditions! I'll spare you some of the details, but I will however inform you that clothes don't exactly remain dry, and bodies don't quite smell so fresh at the end of the activities. That's not to mention the energy-sapping effects of the heat and the humidity. You really should try this out if you want to lose some weight... I mean, how can you not lose weight? Ok, perhaps in the same manner that I didn't put on weight when I was in America, and perhaps that weight is the one you don't want to lose, but hey, I don't profess to be a health expert.

Holding a picture of Don Bosco

ADHD. I suppose you know that it stands for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. If not, then I suppose you at least know that it is a disorder whereby your attention span is short because you are hyper. Do you realise that I've deviated from the topic once again? Tough luck. Like it, or else choose to lump it. Some people can't read, so you should be grateful that you can. The children here that we're reaching out to don't have all the opportunities that we have in Europe, so you should stop grumbling. Anyway, I've found myself going through what verbs are, and what nouns are. I've found myself going through additions, subtractions, and the multiplication tables. Thankfully, I still remember them!!!

For those who had made monetary contributions last year, my sincere thanks go to all of you. You might like to know that we had left some 'left-over' money with the Salesians for some needs that we identified. One of those was that there were remote villages which did not have access to clean water as the bore hole pumps (all manual) were out of order. Within a month of our departure, two of these villages once again had access to the water. Then today I had the privilege to meet a young boy, of secondary school age, who was in the past year integrated into a proper school. This, again, was made possible through the money we left last year. This boy may very well now have a future that would not otherwise have been open to him. Once again, and on behalf of the Ghanains, I thank you all. If you wish to donate anything this year, then please get in touch with me.

This is the point in time where I start wondering whether I've written enough to make this an authentic DLG blog. Is it long enough to be associated with me? I have a reputation to maintain, and as you all know, the hardest part is not getting a reputation, but maintaining it. I think that, considering that tomorrow (Friday) is a day full to the brim with outdoor activities for the children, I should ensure I give myself 6 hours of sleep, therefore I'll sadly have to keep it short. It does however give me another 1 hour to write down a few more thoughts, as well as add some pictures to the blog!

Mind you, the blog wouldn't be complete without mentioning the rest of the group from last year. The memories and experiences we shared together last year are, happily, being relived by the children this year, which is a great thing in itself. Would I have come to Ghana last year were it not for the rest of the group? Knowing me, probably yes, but the experience would have been a different one and there's no knowing whether I would have returned for another piece of the cake or not. So Ryan, Helene, Maria, Lorraine and Bianca, please rest assured that the activities are in good hands and are going strongly! Another mention also goes to the Ghanaian animators, as well as the other international volunteers (Nora, Igor and Krešo) who are here (and have just arrived) for a year, but are also contributing equally to the success of this year's activities.

Children posing for the photo

So anyways, I think I'll now stop writing, and look for a few decent photos to add to the blog... not a hard job, considering that I only have a few more than 300 photos!

Divine, Promise and Patience

2009-08-30T01:45:00.010+02:00

Yours truly at Tema New Town, feeling a bit like a camel!

It is just gone 3:00am between Friday and Saturday and here I am writing the next instalment of my blog. Why am I writing at this time? I've just been crying and I can't sleep, so I've started this blog entry and then I'll hopefully finish it tomorrow. At least by writing down a couple of paragraphs I should feel better. Why was I crying? Read on and you'll know. One thing is for certain: there will still be a little humour in this blog entry but there will certainly be a lot of very serious stuff.

First things first, I left off last time with having reached the conclusion of my first week's activities with the children in Ashaiman. The following week I was organising activities in Tema New Town, a fishing village which can be described, at best, as being in need of assistance. The husbands are mainly fishermen, while the wives smoke fish. I'm not referring to that smoking, but rather the process of cooking fish with smoke. The families here live in extremely poor and unhygienic conditions, with chickens and goats running all over the place, and open sewers as common as potholes are in Malta, and if you’re prepared to even consider it possible, there are actually more open sewers here in Ghana. Ok, it is now gone 3:30am, I've calmed down a bit (and so has my tummy) and it is now time to sleep. I'll continue tomorrow.

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You may be wondering why this blog's title is Divine, Promise and Patience. You may also have thought that it should be “Divine promise and patience.” If you did think this, then you ought to know better. Well, the title refers to three of the names of the children in my "class" in Tema New Town. If you think about it they are a breath of fresh air when compared to all the names we concoct (or repeat ad nauseum) in Malta. No Matthew, Mattea or Matthias over here. No Nicholas, Nicky, Nicola, etc. either. Instead you get, amongst others, Divine, Promise, Patience, Wonder, Innocencia, Prince, etc.

What's special about these children is that they have such special needs. These are children who have not had the fortune to have a basic school education. Just to put you in the picture, you can probably all imagine the intellectual capacity of a 9 year old, a 12 year old and a 15 year old. NOT HERE. Without access to proper education you cannot assume anything. I was first teaching these Tema New Town children, aged between 9 and 15 years of age, some basic additions, and later the months of the year, including the month number. In Malta we take everything for granted but these children don't even have access to those basics. Can you imagine a 15 year old in Malta not knowing these basics? Well, that’s the sad reality over here.

You might therefore be wondering what these children do during the day. For starters, they don’t all get to have breakfast. That may very well be a luxury that the family simply cannot afford. Secondly, these children have to work. It is, put simply, a case of survival of the fittest. If you want to survive, you have to be fit, and that means getting the children to help out in selling things on the streets, or walking long distances to take the items to their parents for them to sell from a shop or alternatively on the street. At times these children go straight to work after the activities we organise for them, and there are others who have to keep on working until the early hours of every morning. I ask you, how much more cruel could the world be to you? Did these children choose to be born in these conditions? Why was I lucky enough to be born to a Maltese family and not to an African family? Life can be so unfair to these individuals.

Two of the children with their gifts

Moving on to something lighter for a moment, I mentioned selling items on the road. Yes, you can buy anything you want from your car window. By ‘anything’, I mean anything. Chocolate anyone? What size and what flavour would you like? Drinks? Very good on the road. How about books? It would be interesting to read a book while driving, albeit not the safest thing you can do on the road! Paint brushes? Of course you can buy those too. I’m not quite sure why you’d want to buy a paint brush from the road… perhaps to dust away all the dust and soil that gets into your vehicle (and of course your lungs), and the next time I need some hardware I might choose to go out for a drive. Toys, pineapples, coconut, fried plantain, meat pies, yoghurt, ice cream, posters, bread, clocks, watches, sunglasses. These are all things you can buy from the road. There is then the classic of all classics. Toilet paper! How about a roll of toilet paper? Or perhaps a whole packet full of rolls? I suppose they come in handy if you’re driving along and you get a sudden bout of diarrhoea. And yes, if you need to relieve yourself while driving a long distance, all you need to do is park your car by the side of the road, and relieve yourself. That is what ‘public convenience’ is all about… relieving yourself in public!

The last, and colourful day, at Tema New Town

Back to the serious stuff, the children in Tema New Town are amazing. Like I said they have very special needs. Having said that, working with them gives you a special sense of satisfaction at being able to make a difference, even if just a tiny one, in their lives. It was truly special to see and sense their joy at the activities we organised for them. It’s incredible to think that they can be so happy with such simple lives, when the spoilt brats of the Western world aren’t happy with having the whole world at their big fat feet. Again I ask you, how cruel is this world?
Summer camp in Ashaiman and Tema New Town was followed by a visit to Sunyani, where there is the other Salesian community in Ghana. The trip up north was paused so that we visited the hospital being built in Kumasi by the ICPE Mission, a hospital that is due to open for the needy in 2010. Did you know that the ICPE Mission was founded in 1985 in Malta, and much of the funding for the hospital came from Maltese benefactors? For more information on the ICPE, please feel free to visit their website.

Although we got to see all the major Salesian projects in Sunyani, including the Zongo (a Muslim community where you can see children scavenging the rubbish dump), the highlight of all had to be the visit to Tainso on Monday afternoon, followed by a full day of activities with the children on Tuesday. It is really difficult to transmit to you the emotions of being in Tainso, but I’ll try my best. First of all, it is a remote village that is an hour’s drive away from Sunyani itself. The drive is not a nicely asphalted road; rather, it is a dirt road with many more bumps than the whole of the Maltese islands’ roads have. Impressive? I’d rather conclude that it is sad. That is however just the beginning. The village has two tribes, and a chief as well, just like other villages.

What is special about Tainso? Their dwellings are made of sticks and mud, with leaves for roofs. Again, there is the open sewer, however in Tainso there is no electricity or running water. To make matters worse, the village’s water pump is not working, and therefore the stream that passes by the village is their bathing spot, their toilet, and also their source of drinking water. If this sounds like a survival story, then just wait for the rest. Many of the children run around barefooted as they have no footwear of any sort. Their clothes are all tattered, and they are in them day in, day out. Their black skin is often white with dirt and dust, and flies seem to be particularly attracted to the children’s bodies. Children’s tummies are bloated because of malnutrition, and as if that was not bad enough, nearly nobody has access to proper education in a school.

Children at Tainso

Having said that, these children, as well as the village’s adults are highly appreciative of any contribution and assistance given to them, no matter how small it is. To put you further in the picture, we organised an activity for the children whereby each child was given a balloon to tie around their leg, and then they must burst each others’ balloons without letting their own balloon get burst. Can you believe that a number of children just took the balloon and went home with it, because it is something way too precious to waste in a single game? Here I’m talking about a balloon that costs maybe €0.04, and the amount of joy that such a simple and cheap thing gave them is amazing. Can you imagine a Maltese child being overjoyed because they were given something that costs €0.04? These kids were thrilled with a balloon each. Three sweets each at the end of the day just made it enough for them to travel to heaven and back, all for something that costs such a little to us Europeans. As if that wasn’t enough, we left them a leather football and a plastic ball. Again, the community was overjoyed at this gesture, because they don’t have access to such balls, and in any case, they could not afford a luxury such as spending hard earned money on a ball. All this for a ball that cost about €12.00. Once again, how many children are there in Malta that would be overjoyed with a gift that cost €0.04? And which Maltese village would be in ecstasy because they were given a ball that costs €12.00?

This is the simple life that these people live, and I hope that now you can at least start to appreciate why I was crying. Us Westerners live a life which, comparatively speaking, can best be described as synthetic, or fake. It was similar at Tema New Town, where the children were overjoyed to get a small soft toy on the last day… soft toys which, in Europe, were just going to be thrown away, and instead they brought about dozens of happy faces in Ghana. Is this fair? Is it fair that Western children are spoilt little brats, while these children, in their innocence and authenticity, can be happy with such a little? No? Well, now you might continue to understand why I couldn’t hold my emotions back. It’s not fair that we are such spoilt brats, living a life of waste, when these people go through so many hardships just to survive, and are happy with the little that they have.

Being in Tainso was, apart from being a wonderful day, also a very sad day for me as it marked the end of the activities with the children. The rest of the stay was left for us to get a bit of a break and relaxation after all the efforts of the past weeks. We in fact went to Cape Coast, where we got to visit Kakum National Park which has a wonderful walkway on suspension rope bridges, and we also visited the Elmina Slave Castle. Did you know that it is estimated that 12 million Africans were plucked out of Africa and sold as slaves to the Europeans and Americans? Once again, why did history have to take this course? Life is simply so unfair. Did these Africans and their forefathers do anything to deserve this? Isn’t their blood red just like mine?

Lastly, we got to visit Brenu beach for a relaxing evening, before heading off for the third long drive in the space of five days. Arriving back in Ashaiman means that our stay in Ghana has come to an end and I can honestly say that, in my case, I am really sad to leave it all behind. It has been a truly amazing experience which, although had to come to an end at some time or other, seemed to come way too quickly for my liking. I am truly grateful to those who donated funds for the project, and beg you to get in touch with me should you feel compelled to make a further donation in aid of the needy in Ghana. Finally I thank God for keeping us all in relatively good health, where the worst illness was my falling ill just 40 hours after reaching Ghana. Other than that, all went well and I thank the Salesians in Ghana for hosting us, as well as everyone else who contributed in any way to making this project a success, including of course the rest of the group who packed their bags in Europe to travel to Ghana for this experience. Thank you Ryan, Heeleen, Maria, Bianca and Lorraine. It wouldn’t have been the same without you.

All that is left now is to pack my luggage (no, my challenges are not yet over, and please feel free to wish me luck), and then head to the airport tomorrow for a long journey back home. I hope you found these updates interesting!

David

Sir... prize

2009-08-16T00:12:00.025+02:00

Some of the children in Ashaiman

I'm not sure where to start off from, so I'll probably take the easy way out and start from the middle. If you think about it, that makes perfect sense because when you start, you're about as close to the end as you are to the beginning. Nonsense, you say? Good. I'm glad you realised. However, before you complain about it, all you have to do is click on that letter "X" at the top right hand side of the screen. Alternatively, CTRL + W will also do the trick, and you'll be spared. If you voluntarily choose to read on, then you also acknowledge that you're waiving your rights to make any complaints.

Talking about rights, last Sunday we visited the nuns of Mother Teresa, just a few hundred metres away from the Salesians. These nuns, who come from as far away as India and other countries, deserve the biggest pat on the back and all the support they can get. They house abandoned kids, kids who are HIV positive, elderly people who cannot take care of themselves, and they even give medical assistance. Seeing the children there being given something to eat warms your heart. However, the heart warming was soon to turn to disgust, on learning that a perfectly healthy girl, 13 years old, was rejected by her family because they believe she is a witch. How much more cruel can life be? And why is there still so much ignorance in this world? I wish I knew. At least I know that there are these nuns, and others like them, who put to shame 99.99% of the world's population, and I cannot but admire them...

That, however, was the second highlight of Sunday. The first was Mass. I did tell you that I'm not starting from the beginning, didn't I? For the first time I experienced an African Mass, and my oh my, what can I say? Lots of wonderful singing, but more importantly, lots of dancing. It was something so different to what we're used to in the Western World, and yet it was so nice. Time just plain flew while we were there, in the open air of the Salesian parish... where we were also accompanied by the occasional bird! If you ever get the chance, make sure you attend. It's more than worth it.

End of the first week of the Ashaiman camp

What is not worth it is raising hopes of staying clean for too long. There is so much soily dust around the place. I can't even put into words how much there is. And being with the children just makes it that much harder to stay clean. Then again, did anyone ever say that getting dirty isn't fun? It's what we all did as kids, and in case you haven't yet realised, I have no problem with being a kid all over again. That's why I'm happy to have worn a brown t-shirt on the first day of the summer camp. No, I didn't choose brown because it is in fashion. In fact, I chose white, but by the time I took it off it was more brown than white :)

These past 5 days saw the beginning of the summer camp with the kids. I was in Ashaiman, where the children are generally speaking borderline between middle class and poor. While these children are not the worse off, I can't even count how many of them wear the same clothes day in, day out. At least we have been able to provide them with a daily meal, and I once again thank all those who have made a contribution towards our fundraising. What is the meal, I hear you ask? I think it was rice on Monday, rice on Tuesday, rice on Wednesday, rice on Thursday, and yes, rice on Friday. What went with it? Chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken and chicken. Oh, and very spicy sauce. I didn't have any of it, after my stomach so grandly rejected that sort of food simply because it is Ghanaian. Talk about injustice! Actually, one of the days it was fish instead of chicken, and on another I believe there was Banku, a local food.

You could say that the kids in Ashaiman all speak English (although I do know that in Twi, I am "obruni" (white person), and "bra" means "come"). The same cannot be said for Tema New Town, where I will be in the coming week. Communication with the Ashaiman children wasn't too hard, although even when you don't speak the same language, it is still easy to communicate with a smile like this one ---> :) It is a universal language, just like football is (and believe me, they like their football in Ghana). Talking of football, I can't believe I'm going to yet again miss the first few weeks of the English Premier League. However, as they say, life is full of challenges, sacrifices, and choices, and I have gladly chosen to do something for others, rather than go for a long vacation somewhere on earth, where I would also be able to watch the Premier League.

Lovely beach at Ada Foah

Vacation. This is the kids' vacation. The irony is that for the parents to accept to send them to the summer camp, classroom education (predominantly English and Maths) is a must, otherwise there is no trade off, and there is no point in sending your kids to a summer camp when they could be helping their mother do the chores, or their father work. So with this in mind, I found myself teaching English and Maths to 12 and 13 year olds. My best efforts to convince them to call me David failed miserably, and I remain "Sir" to them. I even tried to tell them that "Sir" is generally followed by "prize". While they saw the funny side of it, they still called me "Sir"... and thinking about it, I'm now so used to it, that I think you should all start to call me "His Honour, Sir David Leone Ganado."

What else can I tell you about the kids? They are a joy to be around, it was an entirely great experience this week, and they practically all have short hair, girls included. In my case, I always managed to recognise whether they were boys or girls, although the less detail I give on this point, the less blushes for someone else! Let's just say that more often than not, there are also boobs to help you determine whether it's a boy or a girl :)

Girls. Ghana. Music. Ghanaian girls. These people love their music. What would you say if I were to tell you that 12 year olds can put on a great big dance show, with moves and coordination that make them seem so much older? However it that is not enough, then how about a couple of 5 year olds dancing incredibly well for their age (probably better than I can, or will ever be able to do, myself)? It's just plain incredible, and you have to see it for yourself. I do have videos, but I suggest you hop onto a plane and head over to Africa. You'll love it (although please don't forget the vaccinations and the visas), I'm quite sure. Just like you'd love the weather here.

More of the lovely Ada Foah beach

The weather? Hmmmm... hot and humid, although at least not as bad as I expected. We're now heading into the end of the rainy season, and in fact we have seen a bit of rain, and certainly a lot of clouds and overcast days. It would probably be nicer to have the sun shine brightly, but then again things do happen at strange times here. For example, on Thursday I went to see a concert by the Gracias Choir from Korea. What is so special about the concert? It was a Christmas cantata. It was wonderful, to be honest, and certainly worth every penny (or rather, Ghanaian Cedi), but the timing was, at best, a bit suspect, seeing that we're still in mid-August.

Oh well, beggars cannot be choosers, so I didn't choose where we went to relax as a group today. The Ghanaians decided we should go to Ada Foah, and we left it to them. And you know what? It was paradise on earth. Sun, sand, river (or Atlantic ocean on the other side of the island), big coconut trees, hammocks, beautiful girls, blue sky, food, and... BEER of course! What more could you ask for? We even went to see the point where the river meets the Atlantic, which was cool. Battling the waves in the Atlantic was also really cool, although for some reason I didn't manage to convince anyone else to join me in the battle! The others preferred to swim in the river (which I also did for a big chunk of the day). I saw a few tiny fish in the river, and many (read "hundreds") crabs (or whatever they were). Shellfish, that's for sure. Oh, and there were lobsters as well. The lobsters only came around in the afternoon, i.e. after the sun had left its mark on our skin. At least the sun block greatly reduced the redness in my case (as I'm sure I'd have been as bright a red as blood had I not used sun block).

Talking about food, the strangest thing has been happening ever since I arrived in Ghana. I haven't gained any weight, and neither have I lost any. At least, I certainly haven't fluctuated by more than 1kg at most. It's amazing how I always weigh the same, whatever I do, whatever I eat. I've been weighing the same weight (within a range of +/- 2kg) for more than 11 years now, and that is quite a sizeable part of my short life to date. So if anyone wants to give me some of their own, please feel free to do so. If I see that there's a queue forming, then we'll auction it off. Whoever pays me the most wins the auction.

Ok, I'm rather boring, so I'm going to stop writing here for today seeing that it is nearly midnight (and I still have to read through it all, which will, in all probability add another good chunk of minutes... or hours). The pictures you see with this blog are me with some kids, the Ashaiman group of kids with the team of animators, and then there are a couple of pictures of paradise. I hope you like them, however if you don't, then really, you ought have got it by now... it's your problem, and not mine.

Have a good week!

And the final journey began!

2009-07-25T21:11:00.018+02:00

So you think that the "final journey began" because I arrived in Ghana. Think again. The journey started months ago, and I'd say the "final journey" began with the car wash.
And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good, and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light 'Day', and the darkness he called 'Night'. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

And so, on Saturday 25 July 2009 the sun rose just like it does every day. This time, however, there was a difference, as it was to be a scorching hot day. Well, God thinks about everything, hence our fundraising car wash was held at Level -3, GS Superstore in Naxxar. As you can imagine, being in Level -3 was a lot cooler than it would have been outside, so at least I didn't get to bake in the sun. Don't however for one minute think that I didn't feel the heat... washing some 89 cars, together with the rest of the group, is a hard task.

If you think about it, it is as hard as follows: we got dirty while the cars got clean, and if that wasn't bad enough, we got wet while the cars got dry. It was certainly a good day to be a car, and if I could choose what car to be, I'd probably be a... hmmmmm, good question. Now that I think about it I don't know what I'd be. For an occasion like today, I'd probably choose to be a van. No, better still, I'd choose to be a bus. First of all, I'd probably be unique in Europe, in that I'd be the only public transport vehicle (together with my fellow Maltese busses) to not meet just about each and every EU regulation on road safety and roadworthiness in general. Secondly, and more importantly, I'd be a pain in the you-know-where, as someone would have a hell of a job to wash and dry me. Do you think I'm an ******e? You bet :)

Anyway, apart from wanting to be a big, old, noisy, orange, rusty, filthy bus for the day, there are a few other things I could say about the day. It was a Saturday. It was hot. It was sunny outside. Many people went to the beach while I was sweating it out with the others. A number of people supported us by bringing over their cars to be washed. However I have to give a special mention to GS Superstore in Naxxar. The event as it took place was only made possible through the support of GS. For all the support and the sponsorhip as well, I really wish to thank them. The experience in Ghana is going to be a richer one, and GS should feel proud to have contributed (immensely) to this. Likewise, the other SPYS members who helped the 'Ghana group' get all those cars clean also deserve a big thank you for the help they gave us on the day. Again, washing all those cars without their help wouldn't have been possible. Who are SPYS? Visit the SPYS website to find out! Put simply, the Ghana experience has been made possible by SPYS, but I do ask you to visit the website for more details.

Did you realise that each paragraph is getting progressively longer? No? Tough luck if you are that oblivious to your surroundings... in fact, if that's the case then you may not even realise that I'm shifting topic to the actual Ghana trip. First things first, packing. Packing? Before even thinking about packing it was time to close off pending work, and then go and do some last minute shopping. Then to the actual packing... 45 minutes and I was done. Having already on a number of occasions packed my luggage for work experiences of 7 - 9 weeks each gave me enough experience to get through the packing in a jiffy. It didn't however mean that my day was to end before 03:45 but, eventually, even one of the longest days of recent years came to an end.

anything, except of course for their underwear).

Sunday followed a pattern that was extremely similar to the following: airport, flight, meal during flight, airport, flight, meal during flight, airport. You get the idea. Nearly 24 hours of travelling and airport connection time finally came to an end when we reached Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana. That was the first realisation that I was no longer in Europe. You just knew immediately that this place is different to the westernised world. This was quickly followed by a trip in a vanette to the Salesians house in Ashaiman. It was what you could call THE trip. Hot outside, dusty roads, people trying to sell just about anything on the side of the street (by anything I mean

For example... do you want pineapple? Water? Soft drinks? Car radios? Bread? Coconut? Crisps? Lions? You can get them all from the roadside. Except the lion, because that was in the van. It was of course me, talking of which, I plan to go to Sierra Leone on a diplomatic mission. My aim is to convince Sierra Leone to give up the Leone from their name, and give it to Ghana. 'Sierra' vs 'Sierra Leone'. They sound equally good to me. Now contrast that to 'Ghana' vs 'Leone Ghana'. I definitely prefer the second one. It sounds so cool. All that will be left is to convince the Ghanaians to add 'do' at the end, and my real mission will be complete :)

you say that? I guess not, which makes my experience even richer. Why was I in hospital? Those who know me know that my stomach is not exactly robust. Well, shall we just say that some Ghanaian food had a worse effect on me than green peppers tend to have. And that is saying something. So anyway, can you imagine what a fountain with a partially blocked pipe would look like? You know, it builds up pressure little by little, until a short burst of water comes out. That's what I was like, until the hospital took care of me. And just in case you were wondering, I didn't for one moment contemplate eating the ants that shared my hospital room, even though they are a good source of protein :)

So what about my experience in Ghana to date? Fantastic. Hospital was great too. I can now say that I've even experienced a Ghanaian hospital. Can

Ok, this is where I say goodbye. I'm off to bed, and the blog I started writing 12 days ago (only for me not to finish it) has now finally come to an end. I hope you liked it, but if you didn't, then it is absolutely not my fault that you decided to continue reading all the way to the end. So now just lump it and don't complain. In fact, no complaints will be entertained, although if you want to give me a cash grant in return for writing, then please feel free to do so.

David

My first blog...

2009-07-22T01:00:00.002+02:00

So here it is, my very first blog. Mind you, it's not the first time I'm writing something, but the first time it's in a blog. It's funny, because if you were to go back to some 15 years ago, and then think about 'a man and his blog', you would certainly be forgiven for thinking that his 'blog' was something vulgar!

I'll have to ask you to forgive me and my humour. The reality is that I have my own writing style, and it is a bit different to Shakespeare's. In fact, Shakespeare would probably have given me all he had in exchange for my writing style. Having said that, I wouldn't have accepted for two reasons. First of all, I'm proud of my style, and would choose it over Shakespeare's any day of the week, and secondly, when I say he'd have given all he had, I literally mean it. That includes his wife, and I'm led to believe that she isn't my type...

So anyway, what shall I write about? The topics high up on my agenda are: Ghana, Ghana, and Ghana. Sounds boring? Tough luck, they say that variety is the spice of life, and I don't like spices. Neither for that matter am I fond of spicy beers, irrespective of whether the Belgians are proud of them or not. As for the Ghanaians, they also enjoy their spices, so I suspect I'm going to need some mildly-spiced foods for myself. Alternatively plain rice with mouse meat balls and no spices would do just as nicely. I'm told termites are quite zingy too... and I'm beginning to wonder whether KFC's Zinger Burger had any termites in the recipe. After all, the recipe is a well-kept KFC secret, and surely the need to keep it secret is suspect.

Now as you can see, my attention span is about as long as my finger nails. I said I'll talk about Ghana, and here I am talking about Belgian beer, KFC's Zinger, and my nails. Now, just for the record, I'm led to believe that nails are dead cells. Also for the record, wouldn't it be more efficient if nails didn't grow, and therefore didn't need to be cut? After all, it's not like being in Ghana will be like being in the most hygienic of places. Can you imagine biting your nails after they've spent a day gathering Ghanaian dust? Disgusting isn't it? That's exactly why I'm thinking of sticking to a diet of termites. At least they're alive and kicking, as compared to the dead cells in my nails.

Believe it or not I'll be heading off to Ghana in less than 2 weeks' time. A special mention has to go to the rest of the group, with whom I have already spent a large number of hours preparing for this voluntary work experience. So Bianca, Heeleen, Lorraine, Maria and Ryan, thanks for everything. You are, put simply, great to be around, and I'm really happy that we'll be going through this experience together. As for Keith... pity you chickened out (no, no, I'm just kidding here, because it's really a 'blessing', not a 'pity'), but thanks just the same for helping us prepare for the experience. Like I said, my sense of humour has no limits, and can at times be interpreted as being offensive. I beg anyone and everyone not to get offended by anything I say here. It's my writing style, and when I say something like I just did about Keith, it's actually a sign that I respect the individual, and know that they'll take the joke. So yes Keith, I am kidding :)

Just in case you didn't realise, in the previous paragraph I mentioned the other 5 members of the "Ghana group" in alphabetical order. You see, nothing is left to chance. That is why we need to have everything prepared for Ghana, and just in case you're wondering what 'everything' means, all you have to do is go to http://dictionary.reference.com/ and type the word in. It's amazing isn't it? And to think that when I was still at school it was all about carrying a book with you... a book which said "Dictionary" somewhere on the front cover... a book which, when you consider how many of them were printed, must account for loads and loads of trees meeting the end of their happy days. Who knows, it may even have been forests.

Talking about forests, it looks like we won't see any in Ghana. What we will however see is a lot of dirt roads. Dust doesn't cost you anything over there, which is a pity because if you empty your shoes and your lungs you'd probably have enough to make a fortune by selling it. There is however a way to make money out of dust and dirt, and that is by washing cars. Now when I say 'washing cars', you didn't really think I mentioned it by coincidence, did you? No, no, no. I suspect that if you thought it was coincidence, then you really didn't read the paragraph before this one too well, because in there I said, "You see, nothing is left to chance."

Just in case you haven't heard (I don't think this is really possible), we're organising a car wash this coming Saturday, 25 July, in aid of the voluntary work in Ghana. Details of the car wash can be found on the SPYS website, or on this Facebook event page, although you can of course make a donation without bringing your cash to be washed. You will also see that I uploaded the event's poster to this blog. I hope you like it... I created it with my own sweat and blood. In fact, if you like it, I'm sure I can do something similar for you provided that you give us a donation :)

Ahhhh, this is so like the good old days when I used to be in Coudersport, Boston or London, writing long e-mails after midnight. It might at first appear silly to do it, given that I have to wake up for work in the morning. The reality is that with my brain sprinting a marathon distance, there is really absolutely no point in trying to sleep yet, since it would serve two purposes only. One would be to frustrate me because I wouldn't manage to sleep, and the other would be to frustrate me more because I would be wasting time which I could otherwise have used to write this blog. It's exactly the same reason that has in the past driven me to cook light meals in the early hours of mornings, or trim (some would rather say shave off) my hair at about 3:00am. Provided you wake up fresher than a piece of bread that has been there for a few weeks, you're good to go. In my case, I'll be as fresh as a freshly-cut cucumber. The only difference is that a cucumber is disgusting, and I am not :)

I think I'll stop writing now. Just in case you were wondering, the only reason why I'm going to stop writing is because I fear you've already stopped reading (or would have done so shortly), and there really isn't any point in writing any more. I want to make it clear that I'm not stopping because I have nothing more to write, but rather because of... didn't I just tell you why? Whether that is clear as crystal or clear as mud I'm not sure, but in Ghanaian terms, the volume of dust will tend to make things as clear as mud.

Before I head off into what will probably be a massive struggle to manage to sleep, I want to remind you that:

we have a car wash on Saturday 25 July at GS Superstore in Naxxar, and

if you don't want to bring your car over, you're still more than welcome to make a donation. Any donations are welcome and greatly appreciated

That is all for now. I thank you for your attention. You have been listening to me, reporting for 'Ghana group experience', on Blogger FM radio. Stay tuned for further updates.