Last Chance to Be…

…that’s the noise I have heard every morning at 5am for the last eight months, until yesterday. The reason I didn’t hear it is because I have resigned from my job, from VSO and from Ghana. I am home. Gulp.

The reasons are numerous and soon, when I have a chance, I will write the hidden story of the last eight months. Briefly, lack of support from VSO, an inaccurate description of my placement and an unwillingness to make a real difference on the part of my employers were contributing factors. Perhaps I just couldn’t hack it am blaming those things.

Leaving broke my heart and those of seven students who cried for three days when I told them. They clubbed together and bought me some soap as a leaving present.

This post is dedicated to them.

and here they are, from the left, Ebenezer, Nicholas, Jessica, Enyonam, Suzzie, Patricia and Prince. They are putting on a brave face after the announcement of my departure.

They had very little before I arrived and they have very little now. I hope, however, that they have more self-belief, motivation and ambition now, than they did a year ago.

Nicholas was a friend of mine and, as you might expect, given his condition, he has a few more needs than your average student. His day to day needs, such as toilet, washing etc, were inadequately taken care of by a boy with a learning disability because the school has absolutely no facility or expertise for dealing with people with disabilities.

He frequently had minor ailments and aches and pains which were dealt with in such an incompetent way I became exasperated. Once he was given a used lip balm and told to wipe it on his head to help with malaria.

This is just one example of the way my employer dealt with the students and although I tried, I was unable to influence them in any meaningful way.

What may surprise you, however, is that the school was owned and run by rich, white Europeans, presumably hoping to book themselves a place in heaven. Eventually I couldn’t stand it any longer.

So here I am back in Britain. I have no house, no job and no money. Ah well, at least I might have time to fill in the gaps on this site. If anybody would like to give me a job, that would be nice.

Finally, thank you thank you thank you to everybody who sent me stuff, messages and IT Kit. Whatever it was I achieved, you all helped me do it.

PS Dear Vanessa, I lost your email and never got a chance to say thank you personally!