When I was nine years old, I went to Ghana, West Africa with my mum and brother to visit my dad who was working as an engineer over there. Travelling was not foreign to me, as a child I was incredibly lucky to experience a lot of different countries and cultures. Even at that young age, I fell in love with Africa more than anywhere from the start. All the locals of Ghana were so incredibly kind and generous to us, despite the fact that they were so poor and we (being the only white people there other than another couple of engineers) were obviously regarded as incredibly wealthy by comparison. One of my most distinct memories is being at the Kumasi markets with my mum and seeing a blind woman sitting on the side of the road on a filthy blanket, holding her baby, and begging. I looked in my purse, took out the 2000 cedis (equivalent of AU$4 at the time) I had in there and gave it to the woman. She wouldn’t have even known how much money I had given her, but she took my hand and cried and said thank you like I had saved her life. It was at that moment that I decided I was going to come back there when I was older and do something to help these people.
The following year I went to Zimbabwe, Southern Africa, which at the time was the richest country in Africa. The contrast between Ghana and Zimbabwe amazed me; I know so many people that think Africa is Africa and there is not much difference country to country. The beauty of Zimbabwe also amazed me beyond anything else I’d seen, which is why Robert Mugabe upsets me more than almost anything else for tearing such a rich and beautiful country down so systematically.
It’s been almost fifteen years since I’ve been to Africa, but I have still always planned to go back and volunteer. When my friend Julie mentioned that she was thinking of going volunteering in South Africa through International Student Volunteers (ISV), I jumped at the chance to finally fulfil this dream I’ve had for so long. Although I’d always planned to go to Ghana, it didn’t matter to me. The chance to not only go to Africa to volunteer but also go with one of my best friends was an amazing opportunity.
I am currently a full-time student studying a Masters in Clinical Audiology, so unfortunately affording the ISV program and the flights has been costly. Julie, Scott and I are trying to raise money for our volunteer trip via fundraising and donations can be made via the Donation button to the right of this blog. Nothing is too small and we appreciate anyone taking the time to visit our blog and/or give donations.
Thank you for reading!
Linda.
