Yes We Can: Developing Positive Attitudes

Abdul Nawas

If I thought that my life and my world were the worst or the best, I was wrong. Until I became part of a larger world of different people with different cultures, different life styles, different understandings, different opinions, different knowledge, different values, and different norms and beliefs, I didn’t fully understand my own. 

Jana where I deliver my community work is one of the indigenous villages in Ghana located in Savelugu, Northern Region. It is filled with hospitality, love, respect and cultural heritage and a community of hardworking individuals; all determined to make the most out of what they have: they believe in themselves and their abilities and are open and willing to learn more in life.

At first I was quite nervous about the whole idea of community work. I started asking myself questions about communication, understanding, cohesion between the communities and the whole project and, overwhelmingly, how I would be able to build an interpersonal relationship with the women in the income generation group.

I always longed to learn new ideas and new ways of doing things, because, as Kofi Annan said,

 “Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family.”

At first I doubted myself because the whole idea of standing in front of thirty women, sharing with them the knowledge of how to become cooperatives and raising their awareness about so many other things did not seem feasible.

Being one of the Dagbani speakers in the team, it falls to me to translate and facilitate our community sessions, but I am lucky to have the help of my counterpart, Jason, who always surprises me with great ideas to lighten the mood during long sessions in which attention spans can naturally drift off. 

Facing my fears, facilitating a training session in Jana community

I knew that I had to face up to my fears so that I could develop the “can do” spirit. I told myself that no matter what I will do my best to ensure the success of this whole project. As an in-country volunteer, I knew that this was an opportunity for me to give the very best of myself back to my countrymen.

Coming to this project as the second cohort, we feared that it would be difficult for us to truly become part of our communities as the previous cohort did. In reality, we always leave our community visits with huge smiles on our faces. We believe that with our hard work and the amazing cooperation of our community, our project will be hailed a success.

 Chloe Sowerby

I cannot believe that my team and I are over the half way mark now! Especially not myself, because in the beginning I constantly questioned myself: “Can I last 12 weeks?”, “Will I be able to adapt to this culture?” The last few weeks have been very challenging but my answer is a resounding yes! I believe in myself and I know I can absolutely last 12 weeks.

My home community Savelugu is extremely small. There aren’t really supermarkets here, and they certainly don’t cover the same range of needs that supermarkets do at home. There is little to do, very little! With only the company of my fellow volunteers, whether that is playing cards, going for walks, or visiting someone’s host home, at first it was hard trying to adapt to such a small community, but now the Savelugu community has really grown on me and in 4 weeks time it will be hard to leave! 

I have mainly adapted to limited resources, especially within my host home. I wasn’t expecting anything too big, but my first reaction was a shock and my emotions definitely took over in the beginning. I am now a big fan of having a bucket shower; I don’t know why I fussed so much initially, the thrill of pouring freezing cold water over you is amazing! The food that I am receiving in my host home I have also adapted to, the first couple of weeks constantly eating TZ and Fufu made it difficult for me to look forward to dinner, however, the soup that comes with it is actually lovely and my body has slowly grown to like it.

Social media has a massive impact on people’s lives these days and I have to admit that it definitely does impact own. I knew coming to Ghana I would have limited access to the internet and at first it was hard not being able to talk to family and friends every day and keep them updated. But now, thinking about the long run, when I return home everything I have experienced and all the memories I’m making will be much more fun to tell people face-to-face rather than through a social media platform.

My whole body has slowly adapted and still is adapting to the Ghanaian culture, it took a few weeks to get to a comfortable stage and I believe that when I return home my body will find it just as hard to adapt back to normal! Adaptability is a massive part of my placement here in Ghana, and being able to adapt has made me feel more comfortable in my community and enjoy myself so much more.