By Kelsy Nelson, Program Advisor

During my sophomore year of high school, my social studies teacher passed out a blank world map and asked our class to label the continents. I was sure I aced the pop quiz when I turned it in — oh, how I was going to show Mr. Quesada that mama didn’t raise no foo! Well, she did. At least that’s what an “F” generally indicates in the American school system. Of all the mistakes I made on that test, the most glaring rested on Africa where I scribbled “Egypt” across the entire continent. A for effort?

So when I received the call that I would be making my third trip to Africa this year for our escorted flight to Ghana (oh hai Delta Skymiles!), I had a much better grasp of the continent (and for the record, after a rigorous university course I can now name/locate all its countries, their capitals, and current presidents. Thanks mom!). Still, I have to admit, Ghana was one of those places I hadn’t heard too much about before working at Projects Abroad. Though after talking about it extensively over the past year and a half, I was enticed to experience the black star nation once and for all.

In honor of my first trip to the West Side aka the Best Side of *Africa*, here are my top five most curious things about Ghana:

1.) All the Beautiful People

A child at an orphanage in Accra

Hands down, I have never been to a place where I’ve seen so many beautiful people. This encapsulates not only the overall look of the population, but also how genuinely friendly people are. Countless times I was invited to share meals, engaged in fun conversations, and welcomed into people’s homes. Throughout all my travels, I’ve never experienced this type of openness to a complete stranger.

2.) Volunteer Diversity

“I spy Americans, Canadians, Koreans, and an Englishwomen!”

I suppose with hundreds of people from Projects Abroad coming to Ghana each year, it’s only natural it would host our most diverse volunteer population. As a cross-cultural enthusiast, meeting people beyond the host country really enhances the volunteer experience and creates some interesting couch surfacing possibilities after ones’ time in country has passed. To give you a little idea about Projects Abroad Ghana volunteers, one host family housed people from the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. That is some international flava.

3.) Unpredictable Weather

Assistant Country Manager Ellie Gurney after a wet and wild storm

Granted I visited Ghana during the rainy season, but the weather was about as predictable as the L train on Wednesday morning* (*mandatory Williamsburg reference). Out of nowhere, rain storms lasting for hours would beat down and then sticky heat would take over.

I am not always the most efficient packer, so the list of things I failed to bring because I took too many pairs of shoes would include: a rain jacket/poncho, water proof gear, extra flip flops, a hat, and looser clothing.

4.) Interesting Cultural Differences

Part of traveling is of course discovering what makes one culture different from another. I was fascinated by the burial traditions in Ghana — when one dies, they are put in a coffin shaped like their occupation. I went to a shop where they fashioned these and saw the likes of airplanes (pictured above), fish, chickens, and tomatoes. Hopefully they’ll be able to construct a fierce pair of skinny jeans by the time this custom hits Brooklyn.

5.) A Love for the United States

Me Feeling Unusually Patriotic

Ghana is the first country in recent memory I’ve visited that simply loves the U.S. I really think this photo says it all.

Allison getting friendly with a T-rex!

By Allison Kean, Program Advisor - Canada

Hi! I have just recently started at the Projects Abroad office here in Toronto and was asked to introduce myself via the staff blog. So here’s a little bit about myself and my travel and volunteer experiences!

I grew up in Northern Ontario in the city of Timmins. Living in northern Canada is not as bad as it sounds. I have fond childhood memories camping and calling loons by the lake in the summer, winters spent at the ski hill or being towed behind a snowmobile on a GT snow racer, and sitting around a campfire in the fall.

I was very involved with Girl Guides when I was younger, and when I was sixteen I was selected to participate on a volunteer trip to Costa Rica. We volunteered at an ecotourism lodge in the rainforest, building a giant swimming pool. I stayed with a host family, and I loved every minute of it. I loved the cultural sharing and the excitement of being immersed in a different culture. It made me realize that the world was bigger than my little northern town. This might sound cheesy but it was during my Costa Rican adventure that I was bit by the so-called travel bug.

The following summer, I was selected to represent Ontario at a UN Friendship conference in Switzerland. I fell in love with Europe and before I left, had already begun to plan my return. Later that year, I returned to Europe on a student exchange in Niederkassel, Germany. While my Canadian friends sweated over their calculus and physics homework, I did puppet shows with my grade 6 German class and travelled around Europe.

After graduation, I moved to Southern Ontario to attend university. I obtained a bachelor degree in Global Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University. The best part of the Global Studies program at Laurier was that students had the opportunity to take advantage of the “Global Studies Experience” credit. The GSE was structured so that you could set up some time abroad wherever you wanted (within reason) and count the experience as a credit towards your degree.

It didn’t take me long to decide that I was going to spend the semester volunteering in South America. I decided on Peru and before long I was living in a suburb of Cusco, where I worked at an orphanage in the Sacred Valley and volunteered at a drop in centre for street kids in the Plaza de Armas. To date Cusco is still one of my favourite places and I miss it (and especially the people) a lot.

After finishing University, I pursued my Post-Graduate degree in International Project Management at Humber College. Now here I am, living in Toronto and settling into my new home with the Projects Abroad family!

By Scott McQuarrie, Programme Advisor

At the risk of making Robert Burns turn in his grave, I’ve prepared this short poem based on my recent time in Nepal. Try reading in your best Scottish accent!

Nepaland

Nepal is a riot of radiant skies
Blind men see sights to move the wis
Another life that’s not bound by things
harder now, yet still the music rings

Does He really care if it’s Hindu or Buddha
As I make my way along the Stupa
It seems enough, colours burn so bright
Flags droop low but hung up like a kite

Mountains obscured by hills and the mist
Rainy season turning palms into clenching fists
The water pours down on one smiling old man
Only one word uttered; it’s beautiful “Chitwan”

Tuk Tuks and rickshaws litter the street
Cloths and rags and the humid August heat
Children sell space for more than a Rupee
Converting the cost, is not all we see

A word in Nepali is spoken, “Namaste”
Translation means hello or simply just hey
Other words used sparingly to people in ranks
“Dhanyabaad” given as they offer their thanks

Kathmandu Valley where dogs often bark
Thamel town resonates long after dark
Banapa’s quiet and Patan’s stunning view
Women tell tales, the day’s almost through

Shanika and Jess carry out an induction
Enthusiasm radiates through words like conduction
Sajana’s stories, she tells them so dear
Over to you: the Projects Abroad volunteer

The poet himself

Ian the self professed “Cricket nut”

By Ian Birbeck,

I have just come back from visiting our Argentina projects which was great. It was good to be able to meet so many volunteers, hosts as well as staff.

I found out lots of things sitting in taxis, buses, bars and in coffee shops.

A couple of things I found out. The first Test Match cricket match was between USA and Canada. If you looked at my bookshelf at home you wouldn’t expect this English cricket nut to need to fly to Argentina to find that out.

Another interesting fact I picked up in Atlanta stopping over on the way home. I visited the Coca Cola museum which had been recommended by many. Did you know that famous shaped bottle came because the designer thought it was Cocoa Cola. The shape is meant to look like a Cocoa pod.

Any other interesting facts you guys have picked up on your journeys around the world?

By Richard Munday, Desk Officer

Since 2005 Taricaya has been running the Taricaya turtle repopulation project. From 14th July 2008 we have started year four of this project with the aim of further improving on our massive successes in previous years.

A little back round for those of you unlucky enough to miss the project completely.

Taricaya turtle

The Taricaya turtle otherwise known as – Podocnemis Unifilis or Yellow Spotted side–necked turtle is hunted for meat in the areas of Madre de Dios and the eggs are poached from local beaches for sale in Puerto Maldonado (12 chicken eggs will sell for about 3 soles, 12 Turtle eggs will go for about 6 soles, so you can see why people sell them) The process of our Turtle project is as follows. We have permission from INRENA to patrol and protect one beach in our area called Playa Alta. Each night we send a group of volunteers and staff with Melvin (Son of Enrique the native Ese Eja family that we have worked with so much in the past) who then camp out on the beach for the night. Dinner usually consists of Tuna, Ham or Cheese sandwiches and then off to bed at an unusually early time of about 7:30pm. Our first patrol of the beach then starts at about 11pm, a patrol of the beach consists of walking around the perimeter of the beach to try and find turtle tracks, which is the easiest way of locating the turtles nest.

The red circle is the nest and the blue circle are the tracks

Once we have located the nest we then extract the eggs, taking records on the depth of the nest, the width, the amount of eggs and various other pieces of data that help us relocate the nests in our artificial sand bank in Taricaya. During each night we try and do two walks, one at 11pm until about 12:30am and then another at about 4am until 6am, before we return to the lodge with nests that we have retrieved. Back at the lodge we then proceed to relocate the nests in the artificial banks in as similar a way as possible.

Then it’s a waiting game…between 70 and 90 days later the eggs begin to hatch and the young are then taken to the turtle pool we have at the animal rescue centre, where they are kept until November 5th (Which as the observant among you will remember is Taricaya’s anniversary!) Before they are finally released we weigh and measure the turtles, as well as mark then with the Taricaya V, which is finely cut into one side of the shell (This does not cause harm to the turtle and is common practice when working with shelled animals).

Since 2005 Taricaya has released a massive 2027 baby turtles back in to the wild, which is 2027 more baby turtles than would have been allowed to hatch if it wasn’t for our work (Local poachers take everything, leaving perhaps 1 or 2 nests that they can’t find)

This year is exactly the same except that we are planning on running the project for slightly longer – 6 weeks instead of 4 - just so that we make sure we don’t miss anything! One of the things we started last year which continus this year is the Taricaya Turtle Tournament, as each group consists of volunteers, staff and Melvin, so naturally a little bit of competition between the staff comes out of the project, who gets the most nests, the most eggs, sees the most turtles actually laying, etc.

Last year I had the pleasure of getting the most nests by a mile! Beating everyone else by about 20 nests, this year though as you can see below in our Taricaya Turtle Tournament board its going to be a lot closer!

The final scores and the winner will be shown in next months update

By Michael Harms, Director of Projects Abroad-Germany

Our conservation programme in Mexico is very popular - and our volunteers are doing a worthwhile job. As I read in the Swiss German newspaper “Neue Zurcher Zeitung”, the police in Mexico recently arrested seven men who were caught smuggling more than 9,000 turtle eggs in a van. Although it is strictly prohibited to sell these eggs, these people were hoping to sell these eggs on the black market but they now have to face legal action of up to nine years in prison.
 
This shows how important our turtle camp in Mexico is… 

Link to article

Conservation volunteers at our turtle camp in action