Charlene Woods
1. Why did you decide to take a career break?
I made the decision to take a career break for a number of reasons. Recently, a number of friends had taken career breaks to travel and had inspired me to make the decision – I realised that if I didn’t go soon, I probably wouldn’t go at all (also a realisation that I’m not getting any younger!!). I knew I wanted to do something different and worthwhile, not only for charitable reasons, but also for personal reasons (to give my CV a little oomph and hopefully end up working for a charity).
2. Did you face any hurdles in order to make it all happen and if so how did you overcome them?
The biggest hurdle was convincing my partner that I wasn’t entirely mad (no pun intended). Once the initial shock had subsided he was extremely supportive.
Being able to take the time off from work was another hurdle. Luckily, my employers were very accommodating and agreed to let me take a combination of annual and unpaid leave.
The final major hurdle was raising the funds to go. Finding the money to cover my mortgage, flights, vaccinations and other commitments was a huge challenge. My personal savings wouldn’t stretch to covering the project as well and it soon became apparent that I was going to have to do some fundraising. Rather than dog-walking or marathon running, I set up a website to let people know what I was doing and how much money I was trying to raise. I sent the link to literally everyone I knew – friends, family, family friends and work colleagues and asked them to give generously. I also wrote to local charities and trusts asking them to sponsor me. Thankfully it worked and I reached the target for the project, plus a little more on top.
3. What did you do while you were away?
I nominated to build in Ghana, but found that once we were in the village (Gbledi-Chebi) we could help build, teach, play with the children, and help farm – pretty much anything! We were building a three-classroom school building and got involved in every aspect of the construction (apart form the roof). We dug, carried bricks on our heads, mixed cement, plastered and painted. It was exhausting work, but seeing the finished building was amazing. Monday to Friday was spent on the project, but the weekends were our own.
4. What was the best bit about your experience?
There are so many to choose from! Living in Chebi was incredible – being part of a different way of life and getting involved with the culture. The children were so much fun (and often had far more energy than us) and all of the villagers made us feel so involved and welcome. The arrival ceremony was awesome – dancing to drumming with the whole village…my cheeks hurt so much from smiling that day. I have so many great memories of my experience and have made some great friends too.
I suppose I should say that the best bit was when my partner John came out to Ghana for a two week holiday and proposed on my birthday after a moonlit dinner on the beach at the Green Turtle Lodge.
5. Are you happy that you made the right decision to take time out?
It’s the best thing I have ever done! I wish I could go again!
6. What are you doing now? How do you feel that you are back in the UK?
I’m back at work now. It did take me a while to re-adjust to London life again and part of me didn’t want to. It has been great catching up with friends, family and particularly my sponsors and talk about my time in Ghana (sometimes it’s hard to stop me talking about it). I feel very lucky to have been a part of something that has made a real difference. I do feel that I’m a ‘Chebi woman’ (which is what they used to call us) and I hope to stay in touch with the village and perhaps even go back one day. I’ll be supporting Ghana in the World Cup too (just in case, I’m hedging my bets!!).
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