Peter in Ethiopia

By Dr. Peter Slowe, Founder and Director - Projects Abroad

Ethiopia is amazing. It is an incredible fact that Lalibela, Emperor of Ethiopia a thousand years ago, had a vision and decided to dig down to build churches underground rather than to build them on the ground like a normal Emperor. Forty thousand of his servants then used chisels to dig out eleven substantial churches from the bare monolithic rock. No has recorded what they muttered about the Emperor and what he could do with his visions if he had any more of them.

Not satisfied with underground churches, the Emperor then decided to build a path to the top of a high mountain nearby, with sheer cliffs on either side. This path suddenly disappears into a cave. At the end of the cave, the Emperor’s servants dug a tunnel and at the end of the tunnel, you come into another church. This church, like the underground ones, is still in use and manned by ancient monks.

The servants probably didn’t mind the mountains as much as the underground part of the work. The views are amazing , and I saw rare Gelada mountain baboons and an eleven-foot-wingspan Bearded Vulture. Ethiopia is quite a country.

The Projects Abroad team of Sami, Bikesegn and Freweini (known as “Wenny”) have organised very good placements in Addis Ababa. At the moment, they do only Teaching and Care, but we’ve now added Medical projects too. I hope that more volunteers start to go to Ethiopia, since it is really somewhere to explore, not just the sites – like Lalibela’s churches – but also in depth. For example, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is like no other with some Judaism and some Christianity mixed into it. Judaism in Ethiopia goes back to the marriage of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon and there are still ancient Jewish communities as well as all kinds of interesting Christian and Muslim communities right across the country.

Next time I go, I’m going to try to visit Erta Ale volcano, the world’s only Lava Lake.

By Jonatan Arriaga,

Are you or will you be volunteering in Ghana? Check out these top 3 suggestions from volunteers already in Ghana.

-Embrace the fact that Ghana is different; do not try to fight and learn from it; it is part of the process. Anna Slattery, USA- Care

- Adapt to the culture, spend some time with the local people and try to learn a bit of the local language, which will make your time even better. - Henriette Jacobsen, Denmark. Sports in Ghana

- Go out in the weekends and see the entire country, have fun, be open to everything and taste the fufu! Jelle Swaan, Holland-Teaching

By Jonatan Arriaga,

The kids at Kumasi Children’s Home saw a different dawn that morning. They had an extra reason to smile. They were playing football that day.

We got into the orphanage and the energized and vibrant kids warmly welcomed us! Football, football, is everything they were talking about!

‘Pass me the ball, I will score today!’ A kid told me as soon as I grabbed the ball to start the warm-up. The day is boiling but the feet of the young players were desperate for some action! There is water but no one sees it, they are focused on the ball.

Locals Vs. Obronis (foreigners). The local team formed by about 30 kids and the foreign team formed by volunteers and friends. The referee’s lungs took a deep breath and started the game!

Not a long time passed when the local team scored the first one! Three seconds later, the same team netted the ball! And so on and on. Endlessly! In about 20 minutes the score was 7-0! We tried our best against the local team but they scored another 5 goals leaving us no real chance to show our best foreign skills, which seemed pretty rusty that day!

After the match the kids enjoyed some fruit juice, fresh water and some cookies. It was great to spend such a great time with all the kids! I will count my days until I go back to Kumasi to play football again with them…and maybe my team will be able to win this time!

By Jonatan Arriaga,

When I arrived in Ghana I started wondering where the buses were! I just could see an army of little screaming-vans in the streets. This little vans are adorned with a man in the main door, a man who tries to shout louder than the other screamers from the other van services.

These little talking-vans are called Tro-Tros. At first it is a bit tricky to understand how they work but once you have received an induction and you have learned the main junction names is when the yelling men in the tro-tros start to make sense. They scream out loud the name of route/junction they are going to!

The tro-tro has space for about 12 passengers including the talking man that will not forget that you haven’t paid!

It is always a new world to discover everyday inside one of these little speaking-travel machines.

Jonatan and Mamud

Editor Note: Jonatan Arriaga, the Deputy Manager of Projects Abroad in Mexico, is spending the next couple of months in Ghana working with our staff and volunteers. He will be sending in regular updates of his time in Ghana and we are devoting the next week on the blog to Ghana Week! We hope you enjoy it!

By Jonatan Arriaga,

Throughout the diverse cultures I’ve had the chance to see there is certainly an immense diversity in motivations for people. You can tell by the different people you meet in life how determined they are to get what they call their dream.

In the case of Mamud Billa, motivation meets him and reaches others on its way. Starting his mission under a mango tree back in 1998, he has been teaching children whom circumstances do not allow them to join school. His school started with 5 kids.

‘Covered by the shelter of the mango tree we were used to learn together. Under the fresh shade of the talking tree they learned the numbers’ Mamud mentions.

The second period of the school, or better known as the ‘second mango tree period’ got many more kids. Mamud Billa was teaching to about 80 kids!

Now the school has been officially established. ‘Future Leaders Underprivileged Children Centre’ (UCC).

Mamud Billa goes out to look for kids in hard situations and he invites them to join the school enabling them to have the basics of education. He also works encouraging the parents to send their children to school.

This way he has been able to send to higher education level schools almost 115 kids! This is what we can call a great passion and a life-changing experience.

As the number of kids grows, he needs more help from volunteers who want to teach one-to-one. Through the help of others he strengthens his school and the education of the kids.

Projects Abroad joins his cause and volunteers are teaching in the school. We are happy to know that there is great work done by the volunteers for the kids!

Congratulations to a man dedicating his life to the improvement of others’.

Editor Note: Jonatan Arriaga, the Deputy Manager of Projects Abroad in Mexico, is spending the next couple of months in Ghana working with our staff and volunteers. He will be sending in regular updates of his time in Ghana and we are devoting the next week on the blog to Ghana Week! We hope you enjoy it!

By Jonatan Arriaga,

Walking down the dusty and warm streets of a village near Cape Coast, I found myself in the entrance of a Leprosy Center. Along with the volunteers and the medical crew, our eyes started analyzing the place like a baby analyzing a new toy. So we started our way.

The blast of happiness from the children when they saw us arriving is something I won’t forget. We are going to give some medical supplies and attention to the people affected by this disease.

Knocking at the doors of the houses of the people we invited them to take the chance to receive a little treatment for their wounds. In these moments you feel great to be part of such eye-opening experience and also for the opportunity to bring medicine they need to treat the wounds.

They might have wounds on their bodies but several told me that the wounds that were really helped by our visit were inside.

The volunteers, medical crew and myself headed off to Cape Coast to keep on going with our work so we got into a taxi and said goodbye to all the people who embraced us like a family.

No doubt this is an extremely interesting placement for those who want to dedicate their life to the medical world!

Are you one of them?

Editor Note: Jonatan Arriaga, the Deputy Manager of Projects Abroad in Mexico, is spending the next couple of months in Ghana working with our staff and volunteers. He will be sending in regular updates of his time in Ghana and we are devoting the next week on the blog to Ghana Week! We hope you enjoy it!

By Jonatan Arriaga,

Have you just arrived to Accra and you feel as if you were inside of a crystal maze? Lost in translation and lost in direction? Believe me, I was feeling like a newborn in communication during my first two days but during the third day I started learning the basics. I have been here a week and I feel like I’m at home already.

Here are my suggestions:

1. First and most important…smile and say hello to everyone!

2. Learn the price of taxi and other transport systems and make the correct conversion according to your currency, this way you can save and administrate your money in a better way.

3. Draw a map of the different junctions that are near the places you will visit the most as well as the name of the area where you live. Taxis and public transport will charge you depending on the area; they don’t really know the name of all the streets. Taxis and public transport are really safe.

4. Always have small notes in your wallet. Believe me, it is very useful.

5. Exchange money according to your needs; do not carry all your cash with you. And remember leaving your passport at home when you don’t really need it.

Don’t you forget to let me know your top suggestions if you are around Ghana!

Jonatan in Cape Coast

Editor Note: Jonatan Arriaga, the Deputy Manager of Projects Abroad in Mexico, is spending the next couple of months in Ghana working with our staff and volunteers. He will be sending in regular updates of his time in Ghana and we are devoting the next week on the blog to Ghana Week! We hope you enjoy it!

By Jonatan Arriaga,

…And finally I got here; my boots were melting, especially after being used to the crunch of every step in the icy streets of England. The smiles of the people in town and the nice warm weather welcomed me. As a Mexican, I am used to the warm weather but this is simply amazing. I am in Cape Coast and just about to discover its wonders.

I am writing this after an hour of having been here and I love it already! I felt immediately happy and safe when I saw everyone saying hello to me while the spices of my first typical dish were making me sweat out of joy! I am enjoying myself here looking at the sea, feeling the embracing breeze and having a delicious Red-Red for lunch. The tornado of colors and music is just fantastic!

I am so excited about the beginning of this adventure, if you see a big sombrero walking down the streets of Cape Coast for sure it will be me! Throw away your winter clothes and see you on the beach!

In Cape Coast now? Give me your advice on which places to visit!