Volunteers ‘Invade’ the Garden City, Kumasi

By: John the Baptist Anirra Abaah

The spirit of volunteerism has caught up with Ghana very fast and many schools and colleges, mission, charities, institutes, institutions and organisations are benefiting from the many volunteers pouring into the country.

From the United States of America, the Peace Corps has remained at the fore front of volunteerism in Ghana, offering teachers, doctors, technicians, who over the decades have made significant contributions to Ghana’s overall development.

From the United Kingdom and from the Sixties, significantly after the overthrow of President Kwame Nkrumah, the Volunteer Service Oversees, VSO, sent down mainly teachers in Science and the Arts, Agricultural Science and other fields to contribute to the country’s development.

I know about Irish, Canadian, American and French teachers and priest offering their services in schools, colleges and missions in the Northern and then Upper regions of Ghana. I know because I enjoyed their services.

These days, volunteers are pouring into Ghana with the force of a gale. The Peace Corps and the VSO have still not dried up but have had other groups upping their much needed assistance.

In recent times, I have come across Wendy Olson from Florida, USA, offering her services for the visually impaired at Wesley College, Kumasi, with the kind sponsorship of the International Federation for Education and Self Help, IFESH, some Japanese volunteers at Nyinahin in Ashanti and others moving up North to help.

Now, in Kumasi, it is interesting to note there is an outpouring of volunteers from the European Union countries like the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany and the North American countries of the United States of America and Canada.

Those volunteers I have encountered here in Kumasi are Yount Juuso "Kofi" Raunio from Helsinki, Finland, ever cheerful Susanna Porter, a "Michighanian" from Michigan in the USA, Johanna Beven from Britain, Ludwig and his Swedish compatriot, easy going, much travelled, enthusiastic, exciting, friendly co founder of the Light for Children NGO, Sebastian Lindstrom.

Young and lively Juuso is here on the auspices of the NGO Light for Children and works at Mother Theresa’s Missionaries of Charity New Life Home, based at Potia in Ash Town, Kumasi, Ashanti Region. His work regimen includes working with toddlers aged 1 to 4 daily except at the weekends. He cleans the kids, changes their clothing, feeds them, plays with and helps them to nap while also assisting the nuns at the Charity in various ways.

All is not work without play for Mr. Raunio who is a musician and has recorded his own music in his native Finish on CD. Juuso likes to spend his lunch hours at a place within walking distance of his duty post, Shanty Bar, which is just a short walk from the Charity.

"Shanty Bar is where I have my lunch; I enjoy the best fried rice and chicken from Biggy Moo’s Fast Food Joint." About coming to Africa, Juuso said his father had taught in Zambia in earlier years; he hasn’t been there but "It has been a dream come true fore me to come to Africa and volunteerism is a way to do that, but more especially, coming to Ghana has been perfect for me as a starting point."

He continues "I have made quite many friends. Frankly, Ghanaians are especially hospitable to me. I haven’t had much hospitality anywhere in the world."

On his likes, Juuso states, "I love the music; traditional and modern Ghanaian music and I love reggae too."

Juuso expressed his gratitude to his host family at Atonsu, in an area "twenty minutes walk from Atonsu and then you’re in the middle of everything. The location is very quiet and peaceful."

Juuso will carry back to Helsinki fond and loving memories of Ghana. "When you have a steady job, Kumasi feels like home. Someday, I will be back."

About Shanty Bar, he says, " The place is lively, cheerful and has been an ideal place for me; meeting with cheerful, enthusiastic guys, welcoming you offering friendship, making you feel at home. I really love Ghana; whenever I am home my host family provides me with everything. I have two host sisters and three brothers. The father is a priest and the woman runs an NGO, African Hope Foundation."

"I can never forget stepping out of the plane in Accra, from very cold weather in Finland to be met by a whiplash of heat so intense but a few days on and much later, its all very good; I enjoy the weather." Juuso has made so many friends parting company will be difficult when his time is up in March.

The "Michighanian" is sweet talking, cheerful, often laughing, Susanna Porter. From Michigan, USA, and now in Ghana, Susanna is a "Michighanian."

It is the Canadian NGO, Ontario based Volunteers Abroad, that brought her to Ghana. She holds candid views and ideas about Ghana.

"Ghanians are most welcoming, friendly and hospitable," she directly puts it. The English Major and former Restaurant Manager spends her lunch breaks munching her fried rice minus chicken at Biggy Moo’s Joint at Shanty Bar. She enjoys this with a Coke, Fanta or Sprite.

Ms. Porter also works at the Missionaries of Charity, Ash Town, playing with Children, teaching them songs and rhyme, dressing the kids, helping with homework, doing laundry and cleaning the dishes.

"I have never worked with children with disability, mentally or physically." About her work Susanna admits "It is hardwork; I’m very tired by the end of the day but I think it will be very hard to leave them too." Despite this, she says "I enjoy it, I love the children," nearly shedding tears.

Ms Susanna Porter expressed her fear about the traffic on the Breman Road; Breman is the suburb in Kumasi where she lives with her wonderful host family but the traffic at Breman scares her to death!

Ms Porter has been to Accra and other coastal areas, Cape Coast; the Busua Beach is impressive but her only bad experience is the malaria she has had on two occasions.

"But I’d love to come back to Ghana, sometime later and go up North." Her visit to Ghana has been "mind opening, eye opening. There were some stereotyped beliefs back in the US which are untrue; for example, I was worried about violence and stealing but Ghana is quite developed: paved roads, public transportation, running water and electricity." She added, " I’d carry back to America stories about the people, working with children, friendliness of Ghanaians except for one thing: I’ve been inundated with hundreds of marriage proposals including one from a dentist with a car who could not buy me a fanta on Valentines Day."

"Sue" as I love to call her, always wears a pleasant face, sports a lively disposition, is cheerful and happy to give you one of her full throttled laughs.

I asked her why she’s always cheerful. "Its just a part of me, even back in the US," the Michighanaina replied. On the Charity she works with, she waxed monosyllabic, "well run!"

Another volunteer, Sebastian Lindstrom, Sweden, is Chairman/Co Founder of the NGO, Light for children. He, with two other Ghanaians, Mike Owusu and Yaw Otchere, in 2005 founded the NGO which has been dutifully registered in Ghana.

The NGO’s budget comes from its principals in Canada, US, some European Union countries, Hong Kong, and South Korea with added assistance from the Ghana AIDS commission in Accra.

Aged 4 to 24 years, the inmates are encouraged to take their daily dose of drugs.

Light for Children gives financial support for the current 43 children, pays their school fees, feeds them daily and once a month are taken out for a treat; the care takers play with them and before returning to base are treated to a sumptuous meal.

Mr. Lindstrom was confident his NGO would be around for much longer because " There are organisations that can sustain it financially; Africans tend to misappropriate finances meant for charitable work like ours but that is not how it should be. They would rather spend huge sums of money on expensive cars for themselves instead of administering such finances the right way."

"Right now, there is an HIV/AIDS clinic at Atonsu Agogo and the doctors there refer the children to us; currently, 40 of them are waiting for us to take them in but we lack funds to do so," he added.

Interestingly, volunteer Ludwig Leffler is a Football manager/coach of a school team at Atonsu Agogo. He was critical of the white race coming down to adulterate and pollute African culture. "Ghanaians are kind all the time and happy." Ludwig continues.

Patricia Kelly, from Alberta, Canada, is another volunteer who works with the HIV/AIDS clinic at Atunsu Agogo. She works at the Out Patients Department, at the clinic recording vital statistics of patients, their pulse and blood pressure.

Patricia got to know Ghana in 2007 when she, with others, conducted a research for the University of Calgary, Canada. She later applied to Volunteers Abroad, Ontario, Canada that then "put me in Light for Children and they brought me here," she says, smiling.

Ms Kelly has been here five weeks and returns home in two weeks time. She has had a pleasant stay in the country.

Johanna Beven is from the United Kingdom and offers her volunteer services at the Missionaries of Charity at Ash Town. She has had experience working with people with disabilities in the UK and has been in Ghana for only two weeks but, even then, she has had the opportunity to visit the Mole Game Reserve at Damongo in the Northern Region, where she spied elephants from 20 yards away. It was a worthwhile experience; Johanna loves the Ghanaian people who are not only friendly but are also helpful. The multilingual lady eventually hopes to work in West Africa someday.

As at the time of going to Press, two more volunteers, both teachers, Jemma Rebecca and Alice Pullin, had just arrived to do service.

Volunteerism, therefore, has encapsulated Kumasi, the Garden City of West Africa, in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. If the world has become a "global village" where "East is east" and "West is West" no longer exists, the coming to Ghana of these volunteers is an omen of even greater human closeness, ideals and aspirations, unity, peace and development.

To all you volunteers, Akwaaba to Ghana!

Source: Public Agenda