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Tag Archives: Volunteering
Busua Youth Club raises over ¢350
IIn the weeks before working with the Integrated Rural Education for Change organisation the Global Youth Video Project (GYVP) was working with Black Star Development Projects in Busua, Ghana. In particular GYVP had been (and is still) working with the Busua Youth Club project to help them improve their sustainability and access to funds. The Busua Youth Club is a self-organised group of local young people who wish to improve their town and have been doing this successfully for a number of months. GYVP worked with the Busua Youth Club to help them put together two proposals for funding and organise a bucket collection at the Asabaako music festival where the whole group organised clean up activities. From the proposals and the bucket collection we have managed to raise over ¢350 and are now working to put in place a sustainable action plan to ensure that the club continues. Here’s more about the Busua Youth Club:
Busua Youth Club Mission
To improve the lives of people living in, and visiting, Busua through improving the environment, community, economic situation and health of local residents.
Objectives
- To improve the cleanliness of the town by removing rubbish and educating local residents on managing their waste.
- To train local residents to bring skills back to the community to develop tourism in Busua and promote economic growth.
- To support vulnerable people in the community including people who are sick, orphaned or unable to find work.
- To provide a voice for young people in the community.
Current Activities of BYC
- Organizing regular clean ups of the town
- Running keep fit session in the community for young people
- Helping to build the Busua Tourism Center
- Planning environmental activities for the yearly Busua festival – Asabaako
- Regular meetings of young people to forward the aims of the BYC
If you are looking for a conscientious volunteer placement that has a focus on sustainability and eco-tourism, as well as good opportunities to socialise, this is most definitely the place for you. There are not many people in Busua that don’t extend their stay!
Nigeria to Ghana
The flight may only take 45 minutes but I feel like I’m a world away. Lagos, Nigeria thrives on a hectic energy, everything is fast and you live fast or die. However, life expectancy in the city is substantially less than the surrounding rural areas and this reflects the toll that this lifestyle takes. Lagos is developing but it is being held back by its infrastructure. Lack of electrical power and drivable roads make starting a business hard and the few that do make it seem to give little back in the way of taxes or assistance to their communities. Whilst there are many parallels to this in Europe there are few places where you can see such poverty contrasted against such wealth. The gap between the classes of society in Nigeria is ever present especially when you can see the shantytowns from the hotels that charge a basic rate of £240 per night. Corruption also plays such a pivotal roll in society that it will take many years before the money given to the government actually gets to the communities that need it. However, most of the people I met in Nigeria are proud of their country and I heard many times that Nigeria is a land where you can make it if you try.
I’ve not been in Ghana long enough to even begin to form an idea about the infrastructure here but I can already see some stark differences. When I arrived in the city of Accra, which has a central airport, I was instantly hit by a better quality of air. When travelling along the roads I found myself relaxing as the cars followed the road markings and drove safely as appose to the highly reckless driving that is prevalent in Lagos. Whilst most of the Ghanaian’s I have met complain about the Accra traffic the roads still resemble the quieter days of Lagos driving.
From Accra the project travelled west to Busua to link with the Black Star Development Projects Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO). After sitting for hours in the Tro-Tro’s (local shared transport) Busua is a welcome relief. Busua sits in a wonderful location, it has a constant sea breeze and an open and relaxed atmosphere. Upon arrival Ebenezer the Volunteer Coordinator in training met the Global Youth Video Project. From the office we headed straight to the surf shop on the beach where I met Tabitha the Senior Volunteer Coordinator. If you plan on volunteering with Black Star you can be assured of a fantastic welcome. All of the staff here are brilliant and have a strong commitment to ensuring that responsible tourism and sustainability is central to their role. After Tabitha and Ebenezer ran through some of the volunteering induction I was taken to my accommodation so I could freshen up and return to learn more about the Black Star NGO. When I returned the power was still off so we continued to talk about the role of the NGO and the local customs and acceptable behaviours for tourists and visitors.
Paulo, Ebenezer and Tabitha outside the Black Star Development NGO
Global Youth Video Project starts in Africa
27th September 2011
The first students entered the room we were waiting in, to take part in the Global Youth Video Project. Alagi and I were met by smiles and handshakes, Alagi notably popular amongst the young students at Sifoe Senior Secondary School. As the room filled up with students we discussed the start of the Global Youth Video Project, the young people choosing two focus groups to make different videos about their culture and their lives. The young people were all polite and welcoming, no mean feat in temperatures soaring above 40°c. It was so hot that even the vultures, that circle the skies here, seemed to be sweating.
After introducing the Global Youth Video Project, and setting the next meeting time, we drove back to the Gunjur to buy a local Gamcell SIM card for 50 Dalasi (D) including 50D of credit – texts to the UK costing 3D. From there we headed back to the fishing village to visit the Kajabang Community Nursery, in the now blistering, midday heat. When getting out of the car I was met by many tiny hands all wanting to play energetically. I gladly obliged,quickly realising just how hard it is to play in 40°c.
Leaving the Nursery we headed towards the beach, buying small bags of water to quench our thirst. I became glad that my induction was steadily paced, allowing for a period of acclimatisation.
Returning to the project, tiredness due to the heat became my main opposition and I struggled to stay awake through my lunch. I finally gave in and slept through most of the afternoon. When I woke I took an early evening walk with Omar into the fishing village and along the sands where we were joined by hundreds of crabs scuttling sideways to avoid our footsteps. The cloudy sunset then sealed the end of my second day and the first Global Youth Video Project session.