In
Tolon, one day to the next is never the same. There are always new challenges
to overcome, hard work to be done and fun to be had.
A
typical day in the life of an International Service volunteer based in Tolon
will start with waking up to the prayer call at roughly 4 am (then going
back to sleep until your alarm gets you out of bed). You wake up to the sounds
of chickens, cockerels, goats, cows and guinea foul all wandering around, going
about their daily business.
When
you walk out of your bedroom into your compound you are greeted by your host parents
and children all saying ‘dasiba’ (good morning) and seeing how you slept. Then
you visit the family toilet which is a long drop (a hole in a hut). After this
you fill your bucket up and head to the shower cubical, where you will become
refreshed and ready for the day!
You
come back into your room and your host mum will have already been in and set
your breakfast out, this will normally be bread and tea or hot chocolate. Some
days (normally in the weekend) you will get porridge instead.
We
head to the office for 9 am to continue
the plans for the communities that we are working with. We start an energizer
to get everyone awake and raring to go, before getting on with our work for the
day. Whether it’s helping getting Motor Kings for our IGG groups, planning
school sensitizations or having an active citizenship session, it’s always great
to get stuck in.
Once
or twice a week we will be out the office. Sometimes organizing a training for
our dressmaker groups, heading on a research trip, going to schools or visiting
our communities .
Over
lunch you break for an ice cold Froyo (a frozen yogurt in a pouch) fried yam, wasa wasa or fried rice, then head back for an afternoon at the office. We usually
finish the day around 4, which gives us plenty of time to plan all that is needed
to head into events fully armed.
On
the cycle home you get stopped by many people greeting you and asking, ‘How was your day?’ ‘Did you sleep
well?’ ‘How was the office?’ It’s really nice to be a part of a community as
welcoming as Tolon! You will also get used to the many children coming up to
you and saying ‘Siliminga what is your name?’ or ‘Siliminga Hello!’ (Siliminga
means white person).
Most
days there is some form of event going on over at the Chief's Palace, these
will always include lots of drumming, dancing, happiness and excitement.
Everyone is welcome at these events and if you're out and about a local will
always invite you to go and watch.
One
thing that all of our Tolon volunteers and team leaders enjoy after work is
going for a cup of Attire. This is green tea and is made by one of our
volunteers Rahman. This activity always includes lots of socializing and
dancing. Everyone in the Tolon team enjoys a ‘womma womma’ which means dance in
Dagbani.
A
typical night includes relaxing in the compound with the host family and
finding out about their days. Some nights your chef hat will be on as your host
mum tries to teach you how to cook a Ghanaian meal. Or you might decide to wash
your clothes using soap in some buckets, play with your host kids (my host kids
are really into watching Shrek - we've watched it three times), go to other
volunteers houses for dinner, or perhaps just relax and have an early night.
Food
in Ghana is very different to in the UK. There are a lot of carbohydrates you’ve
probably never had before, from fufu to banku, yam and even TZ. Trying new
dishes and helping prepare them has been a great way to get involved in the
culture and improved my relationship with my host family. In the particular
area of Tolon, fruit and vegetables are not common in the dry season, apart from
the occasional orange or some bananas from the weekly market. So when our team
leaders walk into the office with a watermelon from Tamale it really makes
everyone's day.
We
hope this gives some insight into our day to day lives while living in Tolon on
our International Service adventure. Every day is made to learn, eat or experience
something new!
Kim
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