Richard Bradley
1. So Richard how's it going?
Not bad, I've been back from Ghana for a month now and settling back into normal life.
2. What were you up to?
Our main project was the construction of a toilet block, and septic tank, housing ten toilets. This was to be built from scratch. We also worked in a local school and clinic within the village. I was in the school most days of the week teaching English.
3. Was the experience everything you expected?
It was amazing, the way we were received and treated within the village. It was good to see the children, especially whilst in the school, benefit from our knowledge and experiences.
4. What was your favourite thing about Ghana?
The people were very passionate, about a lot of things we may take for granted, it's a nice quality. Also the food, I'm a fan of spicy food, and the local dishes didn't disappoint.
5. What was the food like?
We had a lot of rice spaghetti and Yam, usually with some kind of spicy sauce, there would also usually be some kind of meat, chicken or fish. Spaghetti and spicy salad, very nice...
We tried more traditional dishes too like banku and fufu.
6. How was the stomach?
It was fine until about the third week, I just stayed away from anything spicy, and stuck to fruit, of which there was plenty. I was ok again in a week.
7. What did you do in the nights?
Although the village was small, there were a few 'spots' where we could sit and chill with a cold beer, only about 50p for a pint! There was also a lot of card playing, it's always a good way to get to know the people you're away with.
8. How did you spend the weekends?
For the weekends we took a 'tro-tro' out of the village, visiting the beach a few times. The beaches were lovely, most of the time empty too. Lots of sun and sand was good to relax.
9. Craziest moments?
Craziest. some of the lessons with the children were pretty crazy, but I'd say on a whole, compared to English kids the same age, they were much better behaved and their willingness to learn was unbelievable!
One time I was on a beach in Ada, near the boarder with Togo. Whilst going for a wander along the never ending sands, we came across fishermen, and locals, pulling in the nets. One shouted me over and for the next half hour I was straining pulling in massive nets with over fifty locals all shouting and rallying up effort. A bizarre experience, I was only out for a stroll!
They offered me my share of the take, but had to decline, I didn't think the others would appreciate the smell of fish on the 6 hour tro-tro ride back to the village!
10. Describe briefly the most interesting local you met.
They pretty much all were, from the dancing old men on the building site (with or without music involved!) to the little kids that constantly shout you for attention whenever you're in eyes view.
There was one guy, he did live in the village from time to time as he had married a Ghanaian lady but he was Scandinavian. He was white with blonde dreadlocks, who always wore big white trainers, knee length big baggy shorts and lots of big jewellery..he was kind of like a white Bob Marley with bling, and a personality that would leave you laughing and shaking your head long after you'd finished talking.
11. Were you looking forward to coming back to work?
I wasn't looking forward to 'normal' society again, and I wasn't looking forward to joining work again, but I was definitely looking forward to seeing my girlfriend. It was an amazing look into the way another culture live, and I'm glad I was there to experience it.
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