The first week - in-country training

Spent the first week in a hotel on the outskirts of Accra on our in-country training with the other 25 or so new volunteers from the UK, India, the Phillipines and Uganda. It has been great for getting to know new and existing volunteers and generally acclimatising, but with three buffet meals a day, hot water and a pool, it felt a bit like a cocoon and a far cry from proper Accra. The food is traditional Ghanaian mostly, and I have developed a love, slightly verging on addiction, for kellewelle, which is like potato wedges but made from plaintain and way nicer. Also tried banko, which is sour and quite heavy and starchy as it’s a mixture of pounded yam and something else.

We had language lessons in Twi, which is the local dialect in the Greater Accra region and I can now hold a very basic conversation. Very basic!

We went out on a bus tour of Accra. It’s a bustling city with loads of traffic as the only way to get around is by road, hundreds of street hawkers selling everything from cleaning products to plantain , chips. There is also lots to do – with a sushi bar, gelataria, running club, yoga centre and lots of live music, and believe it or not, a polo club!

Boy weaving kente cloth by the hotel