volunteerwork

My reasons

In September 2002 I quit my job as a lawyer for refugees to go and work in Ghana as a teacher. By than I had worked with refugees for almost two years. It was the job I always wanted to have! But it was time for a change now. Refugee procedures can be quite frustrating, loosing about 9 out of 10 cases, often just because of the rules. In my opinion the procedure is not fair anymore.

I realise that has to do with political reasons, but I don't agree with them. Europe is becoming a fort, almost nobody comes in.
Apart from that, when refugees ask for asylum in the Netherlands, it doesn't change anything about the general problems in a country. So I wanted to see if I could do something in a country itself. Does a better world really start by me? I understad you can't change the world all by yourself, but when you keep on saying that, nothing will change. So I went to Tokokoe in Ghana. And I can honoustly say that a better world starts by you. Of course you see the reactions and results in Ghana itself, but also here in the Netherlands. If one person starts something good, others will follow! And they did! In the church in Beijum, the area of Groningen where I live, people sold Tokokoe wine, normal wine bottles decorated with drawings from the children of Tokokoe. My father appeared in cloth to tell them something about Ghana. Collections were held and children made piggybanks to save up for Tokokoe.

My parents and me also went to my old primary school, the Dom Helder Camaraschool, to tell the children about Ghana. Dom Helder is a priest from Brazil, who said that you have to have eye for the problems of people. no matter where they are and no matter of what race they are. Be human among humans and try to live on a wordly scale. These words can be found on a sign when entering my school. When I saw the sign I went in and spoke to the headmistress of the school. I told her about my work and she immediatelly offered to help. A poetry project was born. Children wrote poems about the forrest and Ghana. Together with two poems from my Ghanaian students, they were put in a book. The book was professionally printed and looks really good! It' called "In het bos", that means 'in the forrest'. The books were sold and the money went to Tokokoe, to rebuild the primary school. Also a lot of children gave us some of their toys and teddy bears to be given to the chilldren in Ghana.
My parents and me appeared in Ghanaian outfit to tell the children about Ghana. Even a local tv station was there to film it. That evening we were on the news!

On this site you can also do a test on how much you know about Ghana. This test is part of a fundraising action organised by my old secondary school. Another secondary school, het Maartencollege (see the links) gave us a lot of books and started corresponding with the students in Tokokoe.

Some people raised money during birthday parties, others just gave some money etc.

I was in a couple of newspapers a few times, I was even on the radio. And I got the best wishes from the queen of the Netherlands, Her Majesty Beatrix!

Through my website we got a lot of books, from sport organizatios we got a lot of sporting materials etc etc.

So you see, if one starts, others will follow!

Volunteering

I wanted to go to West Africa, since most of my clients were from that region. But how to get there? I was looking for a volunteer organisation to help me get there. When looking on the internet I was surprised to find that a lot of volunteer organisatiosn actually ask a lot of money to go there. And I was already investing a lot! Paying to do volunteerwork... it sounds like a contradiction. I found the cheapest one and that' how I got in Ghana and Tokokoe in particular. They actually didn't do anything more than arrange the placement. From the moment I set foot on Ghanaian soil I arranged everything myself. Very soon I found out you can actually arrange something yourself very easy. People are very willing to let you stay and help out. You can just go to a village and discuss it. But when you are in the Netherlands you don' know that, and that's why you pay.

It's different!

Ghana is not the Netherlands. You really have to realise that! There is a big cultural difference, but also living conditions are very different. Hygiene for instance. In Tokokoe there are no taps in the houses. A lot of people get water from the river or collect rain water. There are a few taps and there is an electric borehole, but still people use water from the river. You can buy pure water in satchets, they are safe.

There is no shower. If you want to wash yourself, take a bucket and fill it with water.

There is no doctor. There is a clinic in the village with a nurse, but she can' do everything. There are hospitals in Ho, a district and a regional one. The regional one is new and has foreign doctors working there.

There is a great possibility you'll get sick because of the difference in hygiene, different food, the very hot weather etc. You have to keep on taking medicine to prevent malaria.