Murphy's Law for volunteers

Well, it all just seemed too good to be true. That return flight for £617 which I wrote about in the last blog appears to have been a myth. I was patiently waiting for Travelhouse UK's agent to get back to me yesterday and today so I could book the quoted Ghana airlines flight he had told me about on Saturday. When there was no response by 4pm today I rang him, but as I was almost out of credit and in the internet cafe ready to finalise the details, I asked him to ring me back.

That took another hour, and I was anxiously looking at my watch as I was due to go to work shortly afterwards. Problem was, I couldn't hear what he was saying on the phone. But I caught enough to hear that the flight he thought he had for me could not be booked. Even though it claimed to be available when he tried to access it the latest return date available was March 27th 2009. I already knew this from my own efforts online.

So I asked him to email me the details immediately. Still waiting................

Next, I went onto Ghana airlines website, which was down on Monday night and wouldn't allow me to access their fares. If I was to get a one way non-refundable ticket it would set me back €497. The same would apply returning from Accra to Ghana. All other flights, whether it be from British Airways or Lufthansa are far more expensive. I just don't understand why Ghana airlines, who must have the worst airline website service in the world, do not allow people to book beyond March 27th 2009 even though their flights are valid for one year.

I emailed them yesterday for info. on this. Still waiting..............

Then more bad news poured in. Seems like Dorota will be staying in a room with another volunteer so our hope that I might be able to bunk in has just gone out the window. Now I really do have to worry about accommodation, despite casual assurances from a host of people that everything would work out in time. Well, we'll have to make it work out some way cause the dice just ain't throwing up any 6's at the moment.

So the question is, should I revert back to the offer of 6 months accommodation and 2 meals a day for €770 with a host family in the hope that Dorota could stay there when she wants? Should I request a host organisation to set up a concrete placement for me prior to my departure, rather than keeping my options open to work with small, grassroots organisations that have little infrastructural support? Should I bring a tent and a sleeping bag and kip anywhere I find space?

My tired brain and need for concrete information and security says yes on the first 2 counts. The latter, before you think I'm dumb, is only a joke. Hopefully Dorota will be able to sort out something over the next two weeks. In the meantime I'm going to keep my hand in my pocket, creidt card in my wallet, and keep plugging away at getting a flight.

Given that I am going to receive my new 10 year Irish passport on October 9th and that the Ghanaian embassy is only open that same day from 10-12, I may have to wait until the following Monday to get my visa sorted. Good news is that I only need 2 photos, passport, relevant filled out form and the name and address of a host organisation in order to receive a visa to work as a volunteer. In order to get a 1 year visa one would need an invitation letter. Nevertheless, it seems that immigration on the Ghanaian side only give 60 day stamps and require one to check in at a local office to renew the stamp. There should be no additional cost of course, in theory that is.

I hope that every cloud in this saga has a silver lining. One thing is for sure, every independent volunteer has bucket loads of bureaucratic hardship.

Volunteering in Ghana - organising update

Hopefully by tomorrow at noon I will have my travel arrangements secured. I emailed Travelhouse UK agents on Saturday morning as they organise Ghanaian International Airline flights. Unfortunately, one cannot get access to their return flights beyond March 2009 from their website so if you are going to Ghana drop an email to Travelhouse or GIA themselves. The former's agent's got in touch with me within a half hour and found a flight leaving Oct. 16th from London Gatwick-Accra returning August 15th and valid for 1 year - price: £617, €777, or 2079 Polish zloty. I've put in the Polish zloty price as that is the currency I have been earning over the past few years.

I just need to reserve it tomorrow morning and then I can tick that box on my list of things to do.

Regarding medical insurance, I thought I would head into USIT in Dublin citv centre today to see if could get a hold of one of their under-30 cards and a basic medical insurance quote. Unfortunately, they have 2 policies which are both costly. The cheaper Silver policy costs €330 and though it covers 10 months, I am uneasy about spending such money for insurance. If one breaks it down it's probably not much more than €1 a day for the period I will be away, but with vaccines on top of that I'm watching the bank balance.

I have booked in to my home health clinic in Banagher this Friday to get yellow fever and typhoid jabs as well as a prescription for anti-malaria tablets.

I also have to get my 3 month holiday visa soon and should ring tomorrow to find out if I can volunteer with this or whether it is essential I have a business visa. I've heard differing stories so need to get on top of it tomorrow morning.

Dorota has arrived safe and sound in Germany and has started integrating with Inter-cultural youth exchange volunteers. Her partner at Edwenase Rehabilitation centre is Italian. They leave for Ghana on Thursday from Berlin with KLM.

I studied Twi for a while today but really need to dedicate more hours to it from now. Maybe I should have a look for an online forum to see if I can find any Ghanaians willing to share their language skills......hmmm, time to publish this, browse elsewhere and then hit the sack.

Cheapest travel to Accra from Dublin/London?

If you have any information as to how I can travel to Accra from Dublin by land and sea please add a comment below with relevant information. Personal experiences preferable or at least interesting wewbsites. I have done research myself but would like some fresh insights. The cheapest airfare I can get at the moment is €959 with British Airways Dublin-Accra Oct. 16th rtn. July 15th. I would rather retutn August 2009 but unfortunately the fares are not yet available for purchasing through travel agents I have visited. Thanks for your help.

The Great African Scandal (2007)

"In this thought-provoking documentary, made with the help of Christian Aid, academic Robert Beckford undertakes a challenging, emotional journey to Ghana in West Africa. This is where, two centuries ago, Robert Beckford’s ancestors were seized and taken as slaves to Jamaica. Now he is making a journey to the land of his roots to discover the hidden costs of rice, chocolate and gold." Official site: channel4.com

Watch The Great African Scandal (2007) now

Ireland and Ghana - common points

The weather? Hmmm, not really!

Hurling and Gaelic Football? Ahhh, rather not.

Pubs, bookmakers and chippers stuck to each other every corner you turn? Thank heavens no.

But there are lots of commonalities which Ireland and Ghana share. Let me tell you of just a few for the moment.

Ireland was the first country in Europe to gain independence from Britain (1922), while Ghana became the first sub-Saharan country to gain independence from Britain (1957).

In additon to this, the discovery of oil in Ghana has led President Kufuor to declare Ghana would become an 'African tiger'. That's interesting, cause our 'Celtic Tiger' seems to have been robbed by a circus over the past 12 months.

But as Joe Higgins, the former Irish Socialist member of parliament party cautioned to the Association of Ghanaian Professionals in Ireland (AGPI)last March,

"the proceeds (of oil) should go towards the improvement of the lives of the ordinary Ghanaians rather than the multinational corporation, corrupt politicians and public officials."

Last year The Guardian wrote 'Ghana enters oil age with wary eye on neighbours', hinting at Shell's destruction of the Niger Delta and that ordinary Nigerians have not benefited, as well as the lack of prosperity for the populous following the discovery of large deposits in Equatorial Guinea, Angola and Congo-Brazzaville.

Joe Higgin's remarks to any audience in Ireland would sound like a comment made towards Shell and the Irish government's antics around the Corrib gas controversy, rather than something due to occur in north-west Africa.

Over the coming months of this blog, I will try look at a host of other areas where relations between Ghana and Ireland overlap.

Flashpackers stay home!

Well, as Dorota enters her 11th last day prior to departure from Berlin for Accra, the coming week will hopefully see me have a return plane ticket in hand and vaccines in bloodstream as part of my own preparations. I'm also waiting to be sent an invitation letter from a local organisation so I can get a 3 month business visa and then all will be set - apart from the packing that is.

After reading an interesting article recently about flashpackers (backpackers with a colossal amount of tech gear in their rucksacks), I've decided the most sensible thing is to leave behind my laptop. It'll only be a nuisance to carry around and consume time that could be better spent learning Twi and meeting people in Kumasi, playing the guitar, not to mention the detrimental barrier to communication that it poses between couples.

My laptop has it's time and place - but this time and place will be best served with my friend Gerald, who has been thinking of getting a laptop for a while. He'll have a free one for a year now and can then decide whether he wants to splash out on his own. And I'll have pain free shoulders when I transport my luggage.

So that's one load less to think about mid-October when I am wedging stuff into my bag. Now, how about the digital camera? yip, no need for that either I think. If I'm desperate I can always get a disposable somewhere. MP3 player that I got from a friend en route to the Mid-East last year? Well, it's very handy for language learning and doing interviews, and most importantly is tiny and weightless. Mobile? Hmmm, well it's also weightless and small and a must for emergency contact, so best bring that too. For sure nobody will pinch it even if I left it behind somewhere as it's falling apart.

On a less tech but still on the bulky side, the classical guitar will also have to be left somewhere in Ireland. I already managed to find a grateful new owner for my acoustic guitar in Poland prior to travelling to Dublin. Hopefully I can pick up a cheap one in Kumasi to avoid losing my mediocre talent.

Knowing that I will be away from TV, my laptop and the multi-faceted digital assaults one must endure in Dublin for a year is quite therapeutic. I'm looking forward to meeting more people face to face and not on facebook! Surely that is the proper foundation for inter-cultural networking.

Ghana school - Random View

New African Partnership for Development (NEPAD) e-Schools Initiative

Ghana School Welcome Dancing

Donations gratefully accepted

Thank you so much for donating to my voluntary work in Kumasi, Ghana. I really appreciate it, will ensure that your money is spent wisely and give a full account of how it has been used through this blog, accompanied with photos when possible.

I am prepared to cover all my costs to volunteer and have been working and saving for over a year to do so. However, if you can specify whether you would like part of your donation to help cover my vaccine, flight, visa costs, etc. (I promise it won't go towards pizzas or tourism) or to just assist the educational and community development projects I will be engaged in, then please let me know by adding a comment here or emailing me at dbamoran@yahoo.com

Thanks again for your generosity and please let friends know about this blog. Although donations are important, education and knowledge about the benefits of volunteering and our responsibilities to help make trade fair, donate aid without strings attached, alleviate debt unconditionally, etc. are of far more importance in the long-term.

The money you have donated will assist in the provision of much-needed resources, like the financing of school books and equipment or key infrastructure for small community development projects in the form of computer gear and medicine. More details of how your donation has been used will be given in detail here from mid-October 2008 to the summer of 2009.

On return to Europe in August 2009 I will be available to speak at schools, churches, social centres, sitting rooms, pubs, etc. about my voluntary work in Ghana, in addition to previous work on a wide range of social justice issues. For more background on my activities go to my olderPeacenikhurler blog, anti-war acquittal website PeaceonTrial, Palestinian diary, Polish anti-war activities, amongst others.

Please keep in touch as will I through regular blogging here.

I would really like to teach my students how to say 'Thank you' like the above image from this interesting teaching website

TWI - Study for Ghana

Here's a little Twi lesson for those of you interested in seeing and hearing what it is like. Follow the audio link here for a sound sample


This is the translation of the above text:

A cow was grazing in a field of grass.
This field was near a pond which was full of frogs.
When the frogs saw him some of them exclaimed, "This fellow is extremely big."
Just as they said this, one of the frogs remarked, "I can blow myself up as big as this cow."
No sooner had he said it, than he began to blow himself up, and he went on blowing until he burst.

Shopping around for flights to Ghana

Phew, at long last Dorota has had her ticket organised for Oct. 2nd. So off she jets from Berlin to Accra, preceded by some training in Germany and followed by some integration days once she lands.

With passport and credit card in stock today I ventured towards travel agents to see if there good offers from a few weeks ago still stood. Thankfully, they do. But a return flight for mid-August 2009 will only be available in 2 weeks time - so the wait continues. The good news is the flight quotes I am getting for Dublin-Accra through London are around €850, which is €200 less than what the Inter-cultural youth network are spending on tickets for their volunteers.

So Mary Harney was right for once - shopping around certainly pays off.

The Masterplan

My pet hate is procrastinating. Therefore, I have decided on the following:

VACCINES - Get them this Friday in Banagher clinic

FLIGHT - Take the British Midland €813 return offer

ACCOMODATION - Bank on Dorota's organsation helping out

VISA - Request invitation letter from organisations I have been in touch with and hope that I will get a business visa.

Let's see if the Masterplan pans out as easily as I wrote it down!