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| TRAVELLERS' TALES: IT AND WEB DESIGN INTERNSHIPS |
GHANA |
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PROGRAMME CASE STUDIES &
FEEDBACK
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Tim Myles / Teaching IT - Ghana / British |
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Everything at this end has been
brilliant. The organisation has been first class - from the arrangements to
meet at the airport through to showing us a large number
of sites around the city we have been extremely well taken
care of.
The family that I'm staying with are
extremely nice, and the food is good (although sometimes a little strange -
rice pudding for breakfast?!!!!). Everyone has made me feel extremely
welcome.
The best thing about the placement has been the reaction of the older kids to my lessons. When I tried to end one lesson a couple of minutes early they actually refused to leave and made me try to teach them something else quickly. That was such an amazing feeling - to know that I really am making a difference to these kids, and hopefully giving them some real skills that are going to help them progress in the future. Other highlights so far include Kokrobite, Aburi and generally doing things at the weekend - it's really liberating to get away and do things for yourself. A bit scary, but very fulfilling when you get there and know that it was all you! The most important thing for me has been experiencing a completely different culture. I have taught kids before, so that aspect wasn't entirely new, but I have never been to Africa before, so that has been an amazing experience. You have to completely adjust to a new way of living and just basically accept everything - if you don't like something it's tough! I would definitely recommend this placement to others. I think everyone should do a placement of some
sort - there is no real reason not to nowadays. Employers look on them as
beneficial, not a holiday, and the way it can set you up for the next part
of your life (whether, like me, that is a career, or for the others,
university). The skills that you learn, and the experiences you gain, will
stand you in good stead for the rest of your life. Even if your placement
doesn't work out exactly how you hoped it will be an amazing experience. I
think this placement would suit someone confident, outgoing, willing to "muck in", friendly (v.
important) and just very open-minded! Can you describe a typical day? I get up around 7 each morning, except Tuesday when I have to be in early so I roll out of bed at 6! Quick bucket shower before some brekkie and I'm out the house. I often walk the 20 minutes to Atomic Junction, otherwise I'd never do any exercise, then catch a Tro-tro to the school. Lessons tend to start at 8.30. Everyday except Tuesday I have adult classes in the mornings, this tends to be one-to-one lessons as they are all at different levels. I also try to make sure all the machines are in good condition. Lunch at 12 each day, sometimes some beans and fried plaintain, sometimes some fried rice, then at 1 we have the kids classes in (sometimes there are kids classes 10:30-12 too). School finishes between 2-2:30, and I might stick around if there are some adults who want to do some more work. On the way home I might pop into the Internet cafe, check my mails and, more importantly, the football results, then carry on home. I play with the kids and read/write my journal in the afternoon, sometimes a bit of football, then dinner normally around 6 as the house starts to fill up (although Joe's house is never exactly empty! Then Joe and the guys often take me out for a few drinks, watch some TV, listen to some music, then off to bed! |
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Oliver Blackwell / Teaching IT - Ghana / British |
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Everything
is awesome out here and had
no problems at all adjusting to the life out here (i.e slowing down the pace
a few thousand notches!) The host family (Jo
especially - a certified dude!) are great, although have not quite worked
out who is who and who is where as everyone (like 30 people!) seems to be a
brother or sister!, and already had some great nights out with them! The
other obrunis ("white boys" spelt wrong!) are all great too and nice to have
some fellow Brits to occasionally (like now!) slip out for a cheeky chicken
and chips, as for myself have definitely not acclimatised to the Ghana grub
yet! - but confident it will happen soon....
Aloysius certainly falls into the same
category as Jo, had a great induction/tour and hopefully was able to do some
culture exchange as we bought him his first tequila slammer! Many thanks
again for all your help in setting it up |
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Omar Choudhary / Web Design - Ghana / British |
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I arrived safely, with all my luggage,
thankfully. My first impressions were, well, wow, this place is hot! I
mean coming from snow to 30 degrees is a bit of a shock. I'm getting used
to it now though, just need to make sure I'm drinking enough water. I'm sure you must hear this all the time, but the people
here are really friendly. They really go out of their way to make sure I'm
OK. It's interesting what a contrast I see on the walk to
work and actually at work itself. At work we use computers that wouldn't
be out of place in UK offices. But on the walk to work I see people living
by an open sewer 10-15m wide, which I guess we haven't had in the UK for
around 100 years. The house I'm staying in is good. I even get a flushing
toilet and shower! Things I like:
► You get real
responsibility on projects once you’re familiar with the
software/hardware/programming languages that they use. Though you’re not just thrown into
the deep end, Robin (my manager) is always willing to help out with
any problems. Can you describe a typical day? Well, I would like to say that I’m the best worker in the world and get into work every morning at 9am sharp. But that’s just not true! This really isn’t a problem out here, everyone here is so laid back, which is what I love about this country. So, I start work at around 10am/10.30am. It is similar to working for a small new web development company in the UK. There’s plenty of up-and-coming projects to be working on, and currently I’m working on an online DVD/Video rental website. The website is coded in PHP and connects to a SQL database. The website is coded up using Dreamweaver MX. Another project in the pipeline is an online e-commerce site. Though I’m not sure if I’ll begin work on this during my time here [not enough time left before my placement finishes].. I generally spend the majority of my day coding and designing the website. Since I’ve been made project manager on this I have a great deal more responsibility than I feel I would get back in the UK doing similar work. I finish work on average between 5pm and 6pm and spend most evenings socialising with other Travellers volunteers around Accra.
Got any questions? Please email us: |
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Suite 2A, Caravelle House, 17/19 Goring Road,
Worthing, |
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