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Our vision, our mission and our values - Aminu Initative’s approach of impacting the life of children in Ghana

Our Vision

A world in which every child has free access to quality education.

A world in which no child must suffer from hunger and poverty.

A world in which everyone has equal opportunities and rights.

Our Mission

Together with our Ghanaian Partner we empower children and young people through education.

Education strengthens.

Education motivates.

Education gives hope.

Our Values

Transparency - Be transparent and truthful in everything you do.

Motivation - Choose optimism on a daily basis and your conviction to pursue greatness.

Courage - Use courage to empower others, even when it’s not easy.

Our Approach

Long-lasting projects

Since our start in 2006, we continuously support schools, education programs and the neighborhood. We’re here to stay until we’re not needed anymore.

Local partners

We invest in forming strong partnerships with local authorities, government and other organizations who are committed to giving these children a better future in life.

Funding protection

We examine every project you fund to ensure that your money is wisely spent and comes to the places where it’s needed most. Your donation gives more children access to education.

                     Donate for education now

Some facts & figures

1 in 6 children isn’t able to even learn the minimum.

We have a learning crisis, with one in six children and adolescents worldwide still not reaching minimum proficiency levels in reading or mathematics.

(Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics)

75% still haven’t become literate after 5 to 6 years in school in Ghana.

The chance of a poor student in Ghana making it over the minimum learning threshold is very low. Only 41.5% even attend school at all if the child is from a low-income household.

(Source: State of the World’s Children Report and EFA Global Monitoring Report)

57% Men earn twice as much as women on average in Ghana.

Education has a strong effect on closing the earnings gap. With no education, men earn 57% more than women, but the gap shrinks to 24% among those who can attend primary school.

(Source: EFA Global Monitoring Report)

Why education matters

Education is the key to personal growth

When children learn to read and write, they become confident in their ability to succeed. It empowers to develop personal strength and to pursue own hopes and dreams.

Education combats poverty

Through having access to better job opportunities, these former students are now able to give part of their earnings to their families, breaking the cycle of poverty not only for themselves, but also for their relatives.

Education changes the whole community

When they graduate, they will put their acquired skills into action — go to work, starting their own business, innovate, produce and bringing so capital and knowledge to the whole community.

Our approach on impacting the life of others

Build homes

We built a shelter for young children and adolescents, who are in need of a new home to feel be loved again and to be able to create their own future.

Start programs

Our programs help children and adolescents in need. They are looked after by us, providing an environment where they can learn and prosper.

Invest in partnerships

We form partnerships with schools, to extend their buildings, staff, and materials so that these children can start following their own dreams.

“We equip our students with the tools they need to go out into the world and shape it for themselves.”

Mamadu Mudasiru

Founder of Günter Frey International School in Tuba

Every donation counts, as it makes a difference

We like sustainability

An even more sustainable way of donating is to give monthly, which is already possible from 5 Euros (approx £4.50) with us.

Please help us to ensure that the children and young people in our care continue to have access to education and donate now. Your click takes you to our website, where it is very easy to make an online donation.

We thank you very much as every single donation matters and has a positive impact on the lives of the children and young people in our care. Thank you so much!

                                           Donate for education now

If you prefer to donate by bank transfer, you can do so using our bank account for donations:

Aminu Initiative e.V

Frankfurter Volksbank eG

IBAN: DE84 5019 0000 0007 4303 70

BIC: FFVBDEFF

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How the “Junior Program” in Nima-Accra, Ghana, developed out of our personal stroke of fate - the project we are most attached to!

Anna Zaaki, founder & CEO, introduces the Junior Program in Nima-Accra, Ghana

The project we are most attached to

The history of our Junior Program in Nima-Accra begins with a terrible car accident, in which two young people lost their lives. One of them was „Junior“ Nasir Zaaki, my husband’s son and my stepson. In early 2007, he and some of his friends were on their way to our projects in Tuba, when the car went off the road and overturned.

Our son Junior, few month before he died - Never forgotten - May his soul rest in perfect peace

Junior was only 20 at the time and had just started studying at the Islamic University College in Accra with his whole future still ahead of him. When in November 2005 the idea was born to found an association supporting children in the field of education, Junior was one of the driving forces and right from the start was very involved in our work.

He cared for children in need very early on. He always passed on any money he had to the children he looked after, so that they could pay for their school fees and buy food. When they fell ill, it was him who took them to hospital, covered the costs, and looked after them.

Junior’s funeral, the start of our Junior Program

At Junior’s funeral in Accra, suddenly these children stood in front of us, crying and desperate, as they did not know what would become of them now.

And this is how one of the worst events in our life led to the development of our “Junior Program”, as from that day Aminu Initiative paid the costs for the children who had been in Junior’s care and continued to accept children and young people in need onto the program. Junior does not only live on in our hearts but also in the program, which was named after him as a tribute to him.

Two of the very first Junior Program students in Nima-Accra, Ghana

Today, 13 years later, our Junior Program has developed further. We continue to accept new children and young people, whose school education or professional training we finance, for whom we provide medical care, and for whom our colleagues in Ghana are trusted contacts they can turn to.

                      Donate now for our Junior Program

We support talent

The youngest participants on our program are attending kindergarten and the oldest ones are already studying.

Zubaida and Maina are two of this year’s A-level students. Zubaida is a very good student and decided to first do a work placement as a volunteer for our Junior Program.  It helps her to gain professional experience and get to know our program from a different perspective. We are very much looking forward to having her support.

Her brother Maina is a very good basketball player and due to his excellent talent has the chance to get a scholarship for the University of Ghana. We keep fingers crossed for him and are already very excited to see how his career in basketball will develop.

Our Junior Program student Maina is a real basekt talent

With our Junior Program, we try to individually support the talents of the children and young people in our care. We also support students with learning difficulties, who may not necessarily have the best grades at school. This can have many different reasons.

Living in the ghetto

Our kids were all born and raised in the ghetto. The families usually are not in a position where they could help their children with their homework or even send them to school at all. Usually the children live in very cramped accommodation, where a whole family often shares a single room. Many families do not have running water or a private toilet or shower. These kind of living and housing conditions often make it rather difficult for the children to focus on school, homework and learning. To address this issue, we have started our Junior Kids Club a few years ago.

Junior Kids Club

The Junior Kids Club is an open club for children and young people, which is offered in our rooms in the centre of Nima, right in the middle of the ghetto. It offers children and young people a space for learning, doing their homework, discussing their problems, and meeting friends. Painting and teaching materials are available there as well as different games and craft activities for the youngest ones. The children are supervised by our Ghanaian colleagues and two weltwärts volunteers. The age range and the number of children and young people varies from one day to the next, as the kids themselves decide when and how often they attend.

Our Junior Kids Club in Nima-Accra is taking place every afternoon

We have many plans for our Junior Program. Plans to help and support even more children. Plans to keep children away from drug and alcohol abuse as well as teenage pregnancies. Together with our Ghanaian partner organisation, we would like to give the children and young people a chance in life and support their individual talents.

Every donation counts, as it makes a difference

You can support us in giving the children and young people in Nima and the surrounding ghettos a true chance to get an education

We like Sustainability

An even more sustainable way of donating is to give monthly, which is already possible from 5 Euros (approx £4.50) with us.

Please help us to ensure that the children and young people in our care continue to have access to education and donate now. Your click takes you to our website, where it is very easy to make an online donation.

We thank you very much as every single donation matters and has a positive impact on the lives of the children and young people in our care. Thank you so much!

         Donate now for our Junior Program

If you prefer to donate by bank transfer, you can do so using our bank account for donations:

Aminu Initiative e.V

Frankfurter Volksbank eG

IBAN: DE84 5019 0000 0007 4303 70

BIC: FFVBDEFF

[aminuorg]

Our promise - Anna Zaaki, founder & CEO, recalls the beginning of the One Love Children’s Home in Tuba, Ghana

We are beginning this article with a video of our One Love Children’s Home in Tuba, Ghana

Anna Zaaki, founder & CEO, reporting

How it all began

I can still remember clearly how the decision to build the One Love Children’s Home meant a step up to the next level. We had founded our Aminu Initiative in early 2006 and since then our task had been to financially support already existing projects in Ghana, i.e. we cooperated with the Günter Frey International School, the day care centre Monika Creche and the “Junior Program”, which our late son/ stepson had started.

Together with our Ghanaian partner, we at some point started to think about ways of expanding our activities. The founder of the Günter Frey International School in Tuba Mamadu Mudasiru (Muda) on many occasions looked after children and young people as well as their families who were in need.

However, as he was approached with more and more requests we together decided to create a place for these children and young people, where they would get all the care and attention they needed.

And together we came up with the idea of our One Love Children’s Home.

Our founder, Amin Zaaki, in front of the One Love Children’s Home in Tuba, Ghana. On the wall you can see our former name Nima e.V.

Not an orphanage, but a boarding house

From the very beginning, we wanted to distance ourselves from the discredited orphanages in Ghana and registered the One Love as a boarding house of the Günter Frey International School. 

The kids were between 2 - 20 years old. The youngest of them attended Monika Creche and the older ones the Günter Frey International School. 

We did not want the children to be cut off from their families and family members but from the start, thought it of great importance that the children keep in touch with their families and bond with them. Consequently, the children spent their school holidays in their family environment.

Only in exceptional cases, - I remember one case, when one of our children returned from their holidays completely starved - some of the children were cared for in One Love or directly by Muda’s family.

Orphans, half-orphans, social orphans and cultural eye openers 

Among the children cared for in the One Love were many orphans, half-orphans and social orphans. What we also learned very quickly is that a lot of our orphans had not even known previously that they actually were orphans as either family members, neighbours or friends already looked after them when they were still babies and brought them up in their own families. This was another reason, why from the very beginning we tried to avoid using the term orphanage, but actually always talk about the “One Love”. 

First year of our One Love Children’s Home in Tuba, Ghana

We do not want to confuse the children and young people in our care unnecessarily and thus have not brought up the subject of many of them being orphans or half-orphans. And the concept of what constitutes a family is actually much wider in Ghana than what we are used to here in Germany. For instance, a cousin may be called brother and an aunt mother. What at first seems very unusual to us, is perfectly normal for people in Ghana.

These intercultural differences exist on all levels of our work, which can lead to confusion, sudden insights and shared laughter. As a German-Ghanian team we constantly keep learning and this is what makes our work particularly exciting. 

Boarding houses - quite normal in Ghana

In Ghana, boarding houses are actually very common. Their function is to ensure that the children can focus on their education, have a regular daily schedule and are generally well looked after. In the families our children come from, it is often difficult to regularly attend school at all, let alone to do your homework and study. The reason often is that the families do not have any money to pay school fees and the children either do household chores and look after younger siblings, or even have to contribute financially to the household income by doing paid work, such as selling oranges.

                 Donate now for our One Love

Finding compromises

We postponed opening the One Love twice as from a German point of view the construction progress was slow which in return perplexed our Ghanaian partners. This is another example for how different both of our cultures are and how from the moment of founding it, we kept learning from each other and had to find compromises.

It was inconceivable for our German team that the children might move into an unfinished building. Everything had to be done by the book after all. For the Ghanaian team this was of minor importance though, as their priority was getting the children into a safe home that was conducive to learning. 

We experienced the same thing with other joint building projects. For instance, the teaching on several occasions took place in classrooms which had not yet been finished. They were then completed later on, once the necessary money for finishing them was available.

Intercultural cooperation - working together as equal partners

We, the German team, had to learn an awful lot over the years, especially that we could not and did not want to impose German ideas on our German-Ghanaian partnership. 

It was all rather about cooperating and addressing the needs of the local people. It is a shared learning process which is still ongoing. Cooperating between two cultures which are that different keeps posing challenges but at the same time it gives everybody the chance to grow and learn all the time.

I have learned to appreciate this very much over the years and am grateful that our German-Ghanaian partnership keeps forcing us to adopt different perspectives and to make an effort to understand the opposite side’s position. Intercultural cooperation is only possible that way. Working together as equal partners.

Different religions living together

In October 2009, the first 12 children celebrated moving into our One Love even though not everything - but nearly everything - had been completed. Great celebrations took place in the community, all neighbours, family members, teachers and prospective carers for the children attended. 

Opening ceremony of our One Love Children’s Home in Tuba, Ghana

We were able to welcome the Chief Imam from Ghana as a particularly special on the occasion. He is the religious leader of the Muslim community and his presence made the opening celebration a very special event.

Even if our educational projects in Tuba and Nima-Accra are in areas with a majority of Muslim families, it never played any role in our work whether somebody belonged to a particular religion. From the very beginning, there was a fairly wild mix of Muslim and Christian children, boys and girls, orphans, half-orphans and social orphans, just depending on the demand we encountered.

This is actually characteristic of Ghana, as Ghana is a very good example for a country where different religions manage to live together peacefully.

The children of that time - our promise

The children of that time have become young adults by now. Some of them have just passed their A-levels, other study or train for a job. 

The former One Love children our now young adults and have just graduated from their Senior High School 

Unlike other organisations, we and our partner have agreed from the start that we will not release our children from the program when they turn 18 but that we will continue to look after them and support them financially until they have become independent and can manage on their own. We do not regard anything else as sustainable. 

One of our One Love students is now studying accounting at the University of Accra - he is amongst the best students in Ghana

Naturally, the educational costs increase with every year our children get older. In order to keep the promise that we have given the children, we will need even more funding in the future. 

Every single donation makes an impact. Many of our students are amongst the best in their schools, many times even amongst the best in Ghana.

Every donation counts, as it makes a difference

An even more sustainable way of donating is to give monthly, which is already possible from 5 Euros (approx £4.50) with us. 

Please help us to ensure that the children and young people in our care continue to have access to an education and donate now. One click takes you to our website, where you can donate online very easily.

We thank you very much as every single donation matters and has a positive impact on the lives of the children and young people in our care. Thank you so much!

                 Donate now for our One Love

For those preferring to donate by bank transfer, our bank account for donations is:

Aminu Initiative e.V

Frankfurter Volksbank eG

IBAN: DE84 5019 0000 0007 4303 70

BIC: FFVBDEFF

[aminuorg]

Suddenly back in Germany - weltwärts volunteer reports about the immediate end of her volunteer service due to Covid-19, her experiences and about acrobatic activities at our One Love Children’s Home in Tuba, Ghana

Covid-19 has changed everything

Covid-19 has not only turned the world upside-down, but has also a severe impact on our work. Instead of 12 months, we had to call back our weltwärts volunteers after only 6 months. 

Sudden return to Germany - Time to say good-bye - Airport Accra, Ghana

Instead of 8 volunteers, only 1 will be going to Ghana this year, provided a departure will be allowed at all. Until then Felix, our only remaining volunteer, will be working with us here in Germany. He has started raising funds, looking for new sponsors and applying for funds from official programs for our Aminu Initiative. 

Covid-19 has changed everything. At the moment we are hoping that at least the volunteer team 2021 will be able to do their volunteer service in Ghana without any disturbances. 

If you are interest in daily pictures and short stories about our work, we are happy to invite you to follow us on instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/aminuorg/

Enjoy reading!

Today Veronika, one of our weltwärts volunteers is reporting about the sudden return to Germany, what she learnt during her service and how she felt lonely and lost back home. 

Suddenly Germany again

From September 2019, I started my year-long volunteer service in Ghana, Africa. At that point in time, nobody would have expected that it would only last for six months. However, neither my fellow volunteers and I nor the organisation which sent us could change the fact that within three days we had to leave Ghana and the children who were on our projects and who had grown on us. As you would expect, the reason for this was COVID-19, which since the middle of March also started to spread in Ghana. 

The news was a real shock, which caused a sudden sadness, to me. I had really settled into a wonderful second home, had met incredibly cheerful and welcoming people and above all, I had learned a lot. 

Global learning experience

In comparison to my time at school, I had really got to know myself within these few months and had understood what matters to me in my future life. Attributes which I copied from some Ghanaians are being calm, unflappable and spontaneous. 

I have to add though, that only once I was back in Germany I realised that I had taken these characteristics with me. As I had not decided from one day to the next that I would acquire any particular character traits. No, it happened rather subconsciously, as the people whom I met in Ghana showed me all these things through their example. 

By adapting, I eventually found it easier to do things: washing clothes by hand, cooking with fire in the open air, understanding the children not only linguistically but also emotionally and above all appreciating a culture which I had not known before. 

Cooking with fire in the open air

Acrobatic activities at the One Love Children’s Home

One event in particular stayed in my mind which showed me that I preferred the Ghanaian way of thinking and acting to the German one. I remember the situation when I proposed my project idea of a children’s circus to the head of school. He was enthusiastic and we discussed a bit how to put it into practice and what materials we would need for it. At the end of our conversation he asked me: “So you will start on Thursday then?” And it was Tuesday. I could not say no and looking back I do not regret it either. As why would I have wanted to start only in one or two weeks? I already had a clear idea how I imagined the project to be and I was motivated too. 

Acrobatic activities with Veronika

I was just not used to getting something started straight away, without having it planned in detail beforehand. There were no leaflets for the children nor forms for the parents. All that was required was the children being motivated and me being spontaneous, and it all worked well. This way of “simply getting on with it” that I have just described struck me again and again. I think that before I was somebody who liked to live with security and excellent planning so that everything works exactly the way I imagine. However, in Ghana I realised that precisely these moments were meant to be little adventures that make life a little more exciting.

Even without proper planning it was a lot of fun for everybody

Taking it easy - Calmness and composure

I would still like to explain why calmness and composure also played a huge role for me. This is particularly about the well-known time pressure. Time pressure? It is hardly known in Ghana. A time or date might be arranged for having a meeting but if something gets in the way, that’s just how it is. You are also not being told off for being late either. “Too late” does not really exist. The joy that you are finally there and not mentally absent, because you are worrying about umpteen other things you should still be doing, is much bigger. Ultimately, this theory makes a lot more sense to me too, as not having to rush from one appointment to the next takes a lot of stress off my soul. 

As being punctual is a widely established behaviour in Germany, I unfortunately had to give up my relaxed time-management again.

Those were some of the conspicuous features that distinguish Ghana and Germany in terms of culture and way of life. Obviously there are also differences in the dishes (e.g. rice and palm oil soup, comparatively spicy), fruits (e.g. papaya and coconut) and climate (tropical). 

Reverse culture shock and initial loneliness

Accordingly, the sudden and unprepared cultural change back to Germany was not easy to come to terms with for me. During the first days and weeks back in my home country during lockdown, I was plagued by a feeling of complete emptiness. It was, as if I had got stuck between two worlds and without any idea, where I should be physically as well as mentally. 

I so to speak got a culture shock, only that it was from the culture that I actually know. Germany was silent. No constant cackling of hens or bleating of goats from outside, no loud children’s voices, no sunshine, not even some people in the streets. 

I was moved from a happy, lively country to a literally cold civilisation. Never before had I felt nothing. From time to time it actually frightened me. After I got in touch with my fellow volunteers and Ghanaian friends, I felt a little better. It made me realise that I was not alone with these feelings. 

We supported each other and promised each other that it would not have been our last stay in Ghana. After all, we found a second home where a piece of our heart will always remain and which we will make every effort to support.

Veronika is staying optimistic and is ready to return to Ghana

[aminuorg]

Volunteering in Ghana - The development volunteer service weltwärts and its impact

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About weltwärts

The development volunteer service weltwärts was founded in 2008 by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Since then, more than 34,000 volunteers have been sent from Germany and dedicated themselves to development projects. Since 2013 young people from partner countries have also been able to do development volunteer service in Germany. By the end of 2017, 1,381 young people had made use of this opportunity.

The following video was produced by our weltwärts volunteers 2019/2020 during the 5 days final seminar. In a very lovely way they are demonstrating what makes our Aminu Initiative so special to them.

Weltwärts focuses on joint intercultural learning. The funding by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has given all interested young people between the ages of 18 and 28 the opportunity to participate in the learning service. The majority has just finished school and completed their A levels (Abitur). They volunteer for six to 24 months at a local partner organisation in education, health, environment, agriculture, culture or human rights. They are integrated in the partner organisation, support the employees in their work and gradually assume their own responsibilities. The volunteers gain experience abroad and acquire knowledge of the language and personal competencies. After their service, the returning volunteers continue to dedicate themselves to development work in their homelands. As a result, they bring their experiences back to society and make a personal contribution to a fairer world through their assignment abroad.

Our Aminu Initiative attracts many of their volunteers who returned to Germany to get involved in the work.

Anne H. former volunteer about Aminu Initiative:

“In 2018/19 I was a volunteer of the Monika Creche, a Kindergarten located in Tuba-Kokrobite, Ghana. Aminu Initiative is so special to me because you feel that they love what they do and they do it by heart. It is a German-Ghanaian partnerships of equals where intercultural exchange is playing a major role. I am now involved in the workforce weltwärts meaning I am supporting the German weltwärts team with regards of improving the programm and developing further.”

The places of assignment benefit from the fact that young people who are interested in development subjects and cultural exchange support their projects with their own experiences and points of view. In addition to the practical work during their service, the volunteers often also support the projects to which they were assigned after their return, for example, by providing information or collecting donations.

Besides the volunteers, roughly 180 active sending organisations and numerous partner organisations in the countries of assignment are the main actors at weltwärts. They implement the programme in close collaboration and make a considerable contribution to its design.

Since 2012, weltwärts has been combined with other institutions, programmes and initiatives in domestic development work under the umbrella of Engagement Global gGmbH. Engagement Global forwards the subsidies to the sending organisations in Germany and advises them on the implementation of the programme.

Objectives

Weltwärts is a development learning service

The weltwärts programme is a development volunteer service for all interested young people. The focus is on making a concrete contribution to a development project, as well as learning from each other and facilitating intercultural exchange.

Volunteers support projects

During their assignment abroad, the volunteers support a specific project. They are included in a local partner organisation and support it in their work. They assume additional responsibilities that the organisation could not handle without the volunteer's involvement. In work with children, volunteers can ensure more intensive support, for example. They can complement lessons at school by holding conversation classes. They bring a new perspective to the project. This can be especially helpful, for example, with tourism projects or the marketing of products. They are multiplicators in the work with young people and can introduce them to subjects especially well thanks to their similar age and points of view. They often develop new ideas and implement new activities as well.

Intercultural exchange is promoted

The volunteers learn the culture of the partner country and exchange ideas and perspectives on the living conditions, attitudes and habits with the people in their environment. At the same time, they let others gain insight into their culture. The intercultural exchange ensures attention and tolerance, contributing to understanding between people. The volunteers also learn to understand global dependencies and interactions better. They reflect their own culture as well as personal ideas and ways of behaviour.

What they experience, is often remembered for a long time and sets the course for the future. After their return, many volunteers continue to support the project in which they were involved or the work of their sending organisation. They plan campaigns with other returning volunteers and advocate a fairer world.

During our final seminar the volunteers were reflecting their service, learning experiences and the impact of the service. Intercultural exchange and awareness of individual, institutional and structural racism is playing an important role in our work. Dr. Faisla Garba who is a member of our international team joined the seminar via video conference. Living in South Africa now, he was born and raised in Ghana and is an expert in the field of racism.

Promoting future generations

Weltwärts promotes future generations in development fields. In the course of assignment abroad, the volunteers gain insight into development cooperation. They acquire linguistic knowledge and competencies in intercultural communication as well as social competencies – properties that are becoming increasingly important in a globalised world. The service helps many volunteers with professional orientation; many decide, for example, to pursue a degree in a development field and make development work their profession.

Funding of volunteer service

Weltwärts is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The ministry assumes up to 75 per cent of the costs for volunteer service.  At least 25 per cent of the costs must be covered by the German sending organisation.  The volunteers can support their sending organisation in the funding of the volunteer service by collecting donations. However, this is not a requirement for the volunteer service.

[aminuorg]

Menace of illegal drug usage in Zongo areas in Accra, Ghana

Meaning of the word Zongo: 

Zongo is a Hausa term, meaning the temporary camping place of a carrier or a lodging place of travellers. Zongo are mostly migrant communities in urban areas dominated by people of Northern Ghana and the Sahel region of Africa and mostly traders. 

Ghana has its own Ministry of Inner-City & Zongo Development (MICZD). The Goals are to empower 

the indigene communities through a Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development. With the fight against poverty, disease and illiteracy the Ministry is responding to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 11) “making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”. 

Aminu Initiative and Zongo:

The picture below is showing some typical inner-city and Zongo scenes in Nima-Accra. 

This is where our founder and chairman Amin Zaaki was born and raised. It’s where our Aminu Initiative has been active together with our Ghanaian partners for so many years. 

Likewise the MICZD is responding to global and local development goals, we are responding by empowering less privileged children from the Zongo areas through education and furthermore taking care of their health. 

The Covid-19 crisis put the Zongo areas in an even worse position, as many people cannot afford to pay the skyrocketed prices for foodstuffs gain. Therefore our Aminu Initiative is currently providing food to the kids and families in our programs in order to reduce the burden on them.  

An essay by our Junior Program Student Zeinab Lavielle Ibrahim about drug abuse in Nima and other Zongo areas

We live in an era where drugs have captured the headlines. Youth have taken to the neglect and have abandoned their duties. What is the reason one may ask? They have taken the habit of using drugs. Who says the use of drugs is wrong? Not at all, but why it’s illegal intake?  I don’t think anyone would love to put one’s self in harm’s way.  Why illegal drug abuse?

According to the “Collins English Dictionary”; Drug is a chemical which is given to people in order to treat an illness. From the above definition, what’s illegal in taking drugs? Unfortunately, people take in drugs due to its pleasant effects on illegal drugs. The Zongo community can boast of few students, Truthful Islamic scholars and from my research, one Muslim female Doctor; but why the high rate of drug users? Between the ages of 10 and 25 is now a cycle of illegal drug usage. Sadly they find pleasure in it thereby, not realising its harmful and deadly effects. Cocaine, Heroin, Marijuana, etc. are still used in Zongo, despite Pharmaceutical Drugs such as Codeine, Benylin and Tramadol are popular drugs and used on highly illegal grounds by the “Zongo” Youth. Codeine and Benylin are mixed with energy drinks and taken. Also, Tramadol, available as injection and sold under the brand name Ultram, zytram, diazepam, paracetamol and morphine. 

Fatal side effects can occur if one uses Tramadol with alcohol and can cause slow breathing leading to deadly attacks. Peer pressure and curiosity used to be the major causes of Drug Intake. Personally, the above mentioned are not the causes anymore. In our Zongo community now, most drug users can’t give cogent reasons for abusing drugs. I must say, there is no justification in abusing drugs. The youth are not ignorant about the harmful effects of illegal drug usage instead; they just abuse it to satisfy their desires. A shame indeed! Nima, Fadama, Maamobi, Newtown, Madina and Ashaiman can boast of teen and elderly drug users. We can’t boast of white-collar workers, technically skilled persons and even entrepreneurs. One may say we can but countable.

To the individual, illegal drug intake may cause serious health problems. On the society, very horrific, including crime and depleted resources. To the country, illegal drug usage hinders future development on the basis. They taking drugs illegally shatters their creativity skills needed for a future progress. Government also spends huge revenue in their rehabilitation. To the streets of Nima, many young people are suffering from mental disorders which are a result of illegal drug intake. Intensive health-walks, strict government laws, opinions from religious Heads, etc., suggest ways in curbing drug intake in our community. Illegal Drug intake is claiming the lives of our youth; let’s not give chances in driving it away. Let’s take a bi-partisan method in eradicating illegal drug usage in our Zongo. I vividly believe we can do better and unearth the creativity in our youth.

Say no to illegal drug usage. Zongo must change!

GIRLS AGAINST DRUG ABUSE (GADA)

Our Junior Program student Zeinab Lavielle Ibrahim is the founder and leader of Girls Against Drug Abuse (GADA).

It’s a team of Young Nima Girls who seek to aid in curbing the alarming situation of Illegal drug usage and control rising situations among the Zongo Youth . It was formed on January 30, 2020 by Lavielle and her Colleagues.

Below are the main goals of GADA:

To educate youngsters in schools (Islamic and Western) on Illegal drug usage and its deadly effects.

To educate the General Public, NB: Zongo Community on the importance of Life and the need to kick off Illegal drug usage.

Compile a Drug Abuse Documentary

Finally, annual public Lecture in the Zongo community and gradually Control the habit of Drug Abuse in our Zongo Community.

GADA Slogan: Let’s Save Zongo Now!

On 26th June 2020 they organised an event to mark the International Day against Drug Abuse. Due to the pandemic, they discussed a lot on how to go about the drug abuse situation in their Zongo especially in Nima. Due to Covid-19 they did everything online.

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Aminu Initiative weltwärts volunteer service in Ghana - Intercultural exchange and change of perspectives

weltwärts - the development volunteer service by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) 

Those interested in doing a weltwärts volunteer service with us can apply online at join.aminu.org. Our weltwärts platform is providing vital information about our work in as well as the volunteer service itself. 

Our weltwärts volunteer Jan W. is reporting

My first few weeks in Ghana

When I first got on a plane going to Accra, I obviously only had a vague idea what things would be like in the south of Ghana. However, what I was well aware of, was that a lot of things would be very different from what I was used to. This turned out to be true in many ways. To begin with, I entered Frankfurt Airport at a temperature below zero outside and while it was snowing and left the airport in Accra a good half day later in the evening at 30ºC. The  people I met were treating me in a very unusually open and friendly way.

I live in Tuba, which is rather rural, but still cannot be compared to any German village I know: goats, sheep, chicken as well as cats and dogs roam freely on the sandy ground and seem to feed on whatever they can find. 

A wide range of crops are grown in a small space and - from a German point of view - there are a huge number of children and teenagers in the area. 

As I grew up in a city, before coming here, I was slightly worried about living in a rural area. For that reason, I very much enjoy that there is always a lot going on and to some extent you do not have the feeling of being in the countryside at all. So far, I have never felt bored. What certainly helps, is being close to the capital and having access to the public transport network, which in my opinion is surprisingly good. Fridays are particularly busy days as it is a predominantly muslim area, where people go to the mosque on Friday.

Well, this is a pretty good summary of the impressions I was able to get from Tuba during the first month of being there. All in all, everything is going very well, which also shows in the way I feel at present. I am really happy and enjoy having been given the opportunity to be here. I am grateful for every experience I make and hope that it will stay that way.

A smile makes all the difference

Getting to know a different culture is part of volunteering abroad. However, at the same time you also get to know your own culture a lot better, as you have the chance to look at it from outside with a certain distance. I found it very remarkable, that in comparison with most of the Ghanaian people I have met here so far, many people in Germany pass their days without smiling or having any particularly positive attitude. 

This seems slightly paradoxical to me, as in Germany we enjoy a much higher standard of living, and also as some Ghanaians on the other hand hope to fulfil their potential in Europe. While there are some problems here, people sing, dance and laugh together a lot, which is something I really enjoy very much. I hope that I will be able to take this skill of seeing things positively and appreciating my own situation more with me to Germany, and that I will not lose it again too quickly once there. Smiling is not just lovely for yourself but also for the people around you.

Our Day

The Ghanaian school system is modelled after the British one, and thus the school year is divided in three periods, so called “terms”. Each period is a good three months and concludes with an exam in each of the subjects, which tests the course content of the previous term. After the term, the children have a term break and on the last day before their break they will get their reports. This day is called “our day”, and it does not only take place at school but also in kindergarten, i.e. in the creche where I work. 

On 11 April, I experienced “our day” for the first time and it was a surprise in many ways. As a volunteer in the creche I was told that I should dress slightly smarter. But I was very surprised when I saw how the children arrived at school. Nearly all of the girls, none of whom was older than six, turned up in long dresses; some of them wore makeup or jewelry, and some even high heels. 

But the boys too wore really beautiful and mostly Ghanaian clothes. No matter whether smart or in their everyday clothes, there was one thing which all the children had in common: each of them arrived with a smile and all of them were very excited. There were special drinks, sweets and small toys, such as balloons, for sale and the children were danced with and played with all day. Lunch too was particularly delicious and each child got an ice cream. Only at the end, the school reports were handed out and the children carried them home unopened. 

Personally, I find it very nice to spend the last day at school like this. You could see clearly, how the children enjoyed the day, and I must have heard the sentence “Today is our day,” at least a hundred times from the little ones. 

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The Street Child - Streetism in Ghana

A Poem by our student Zeinab Lavielle Ibrahim

THE STREET CHILD

Can your silent cries be heard? 

Or you wish to die?

Maybe Yes and maybe No

Society may prove you so.

Succumbed to hard conditions,

I feel your pains!

Fate made you so,

Or society held you so?

Heartbroken and disturbed,

Your lives are in jeopardy

Your number is rising!

Yet, your predicament is overlooked.

Will society realize their mistakes?

Or, will your future be succumbed to a depleted fate?

I see no justification in trading your innocence

Your parents are just architects of negligence.

I hope and pray for a redefined destiny

And may you be far from any atrocity

I pray life offers you a better treat

And your life never goes back on the street.

A short introduction of Lavielle and our Junior Program

Before we continue with today’s topic “Streetism” we would like to introduce the writer to you. 

Here is a short video of Lavielle who has been a student of our Junior Program in Nima-Accra for a long time. Despite her physical handicap Lavielle is full of energy, an ambitious student as well as the founder and leader of an youth organisation called “GADA” (Girls Against Drug Abuse). 

Our Junior Program is empowering less privileged children through education and medical support in Nima-Accra. This is where our founder and chairman, Amin Zaaki, was born and raised. He knows by his own experience what it means to live and survive in places like Nima, Mamobi or Newtown. He believes in the power of formal and informal education and that it is one way out of poverty. Our afternoon Kids Club is providing a safe space to the children and youth of the neighbourhood where they can meet, play, read, do their homework or seek advice from our team.

MENACE OF STREET CHILDREN

An Essay by Zeinab Lavielle Ibrahim

Streetism has become a normal routine to the eyes of many. Why fancy streetism? Personally my pen goes to book upon seeing street children. “If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write’’ Martin Luther once said. I believe in writing to bring out the voice of the voiceless. Street children involve neglected kids, children from broken homes, poverty stricken children, etc.

The living of homeless or unmonitored children on the street is called streetism. Also streetism can be as a result of increased urbanization and the difficult socio-economic circumstances rural families are experiencing. Thus, most people in rural communities admire the idea of living in the city, little do they know about the challenges associated. On the street of Nima, Fadaama, Ashiaman, Madina, Agbobloshie, etc. the lives of teens on the street cannot be counted. It saddens my heart to see the future struggling to fend for themselves. 

Currently, about sixty-one thousand children are on the streets of Accra struggling to make ends meet. In May 2009, a head count of street children was done in Accra. The result obtained showed that 43% of the total population were males and the 57% were females. 

Exposure to rape, murder, prostitution, vandalism and illegal drug usage is highly experienced by street children. During traffic jams. Street children seek for alms and even follow vehicles upon moving which life is very threatening. Someone might ask how deadly is this? For a pesewa or cedi, a street child must follow a vehicle whiles moving to the expense of claiming one’s life.

Respectively, Parents and Guardians, why leave a child to the street? The danger in living on the street is soo bad. Nailing down to “Faceless” by Amma Atta Aidoo can mirror the contemporary life of a street child. Whether poor or rich, there’s no justification in leaving a child to the street. Little attention is given to alarming issues like ’’Streetism’’. It is a cycle of violence and complications. Children supposed to be acquiring learning skills are out there on the streets endangering their lives. I ask myself, where are Government Officials, Religious Heads, Community Leaders, Parents and or Guardians? Why have we instilled fear in being Voices to the Voiceless?

Effectively, Public education is a tool in curbing streetism. Parents, guardians, children, religious heads, etc. must be educated intensively on the effect of streetism. Streetism leads to extreme deprivation and social exclusion, creating avenues for engaging in crimes. This must be well-known to people. Parents must engage themselves in trading activities to fend for their children. ‘Poverty is the mother of crime’’ said by a Roman statesman. Also, Rehabilitation is another way to eradicate streetism. Trading ideas, formal education and handmade skills must be equipped to street children in rehabilitation firms. Related organizations like Street Children Empowerment Foundation (SCEF) must be established to support street children and their families.

The Ministry for Gender, Children and Social Protection must stand up to its work. They must walk up to major streets and at least not lend a helping hand but give the street child a right to a better life. The Government, Corporate Ghana, Media and all citizens must work vigorously to eradicate streetism. Putting all hands to wheel, lets find a lasting solution to end streetism.

Let’s ensure that, the street do not become breeding grounds for social vices. I vividly believe, our effort can unearth the creativity in a street child for a better Ghana. I call on politicians and appeal to them, Let’s take a bi-partisan method to deal with street children. I, Ibrahim Lavielle Zeinab believe the standard of life is raised by being more human and less being. 

STREET CHILDREN DESERVE EQUAL RIGHTS. 

SAY NO TO STREETISM!!!

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weltwärts volunteering in Ghana with the Aminu Initiative - divers experiences - from assisting in the education sector and supporting various talents, to rope bridges, monkeys and elephants

Pia W. is reporting

Our work - not just paying fees and giving out books

What I particularly liked about our work is that over time we get to know each individual student a bit better and establish some kind of relationship with them. Our work did not just consist of paying school fees and giving out the necessary books and utensils, but a much bigger part of the job also was looking after the well-being and performance of the students. This means that we occasionally visited the children and young adults at home and at school and talked to their teachers and parents and of course to the students themselves.

I was wonderful to watch how all students participating in the Junior Program thrive when practising their hobbies and how each individual student is able to show their strengths in a particular field. I regarded supporting students in practising their hobbies and interests as very important too, as this is what makes each individual student unique. These individual talents and skills can furthermore help to open up better prospects and new opportunities.

So many talents

A student called Maina for instance is a very gifted basketball player. Attending his matches was certainly one of the highlights during my volunteer service in Ghana. Maina and his team won numerous matches and were even able to compete in the championship finals at national level. Playing sports increases his chances to go to university and might even help him get a scholarship.

We also encouraged and supported another student, Lavielle, in those interests that might lead to professional training opportunities later on. Nicky, another volunteer, for instance helped her to further develop her drawing skills by a very wide range of different exercises and projects. In her free time Lavielle also writes about topics that are on her mind (street children, teenage pregnancies, drug abuse...), and then publishes the texts in a friend’s newspaper. 

And finally the youngest children on the program should also be mentioned, whom we tried to support in their development outside school as much as possible by joint activities such as playing and painting.

Hafiz and Ilyiam - a personal highlight

One day Manaf, the leader of our project, told Nicky and me, that two of the children from our immediate neighbourhood are highly likely to move to the North of Ghana. The two are called Ilyiam (3 years old) and Hafiz (5 years old) and together with their mother Balira, their little brother Yussuf (5 months) and their grandmother live in a small room. Their grandmother works at the market and is the sole breadwinner for the whole family. In order to ease the burden on her, Balira considered sending her two oldest children to stay with relatives in the North, which is quite common in Ghana. For the bright Hafiz and his sister moving there would have brought a radical change to their personal circumstances and would have meant that there wasn’t any guarantee that they would get satisfactory schooling.

We discussed this in our team and informed the members of the management board of the organisation in Ghana and Germany. We got the reply on the next day, that Hafiz and Ilyiam had been accepted onto the Junior Program and that as a result their school fees as well the costs of buying books, notebooks and uniforms (...) would be covered by Aminu Initiative. We were all really happy about this outcome and in the end the initially very unfortunate situation turned into one of my best moments here. 

You could see how Aminu Initiative and the donors together with the Ghanaian partner organisation can change an individual’s future and thus have a genuinely lasting effect.

Jule G. is reporting

In addition to the actual job we had to do, there were so many different kinds of exeriences we made - I am very grateful

I had been in Ghana for half a year meanwhile and could say with certainty, that during this time I had already had a lot of important experiences. It was the little everyday things, which defined my stay in Ghana - such as singing and playing with the children - as well as the bigger adventures - such as for instance trips and journeys. As Ghana is a very multi-facetted country, I also tried to discover as many aspects as possible. And the best way to accomplish this was of course by travelling. 

While in Germany most families celebrated Christmas at home and enjoyed advent time, I travelled to the North of Ghana with the Ghanaian team and my fellow volunteers. We rented a trotro minibus and travelled from town to town with it. It is true that we spent endless hours on this very cramped car without air conditioning, but it was definitely worth it. 

Our accommodation was usually in big and quite basic rooms with many beds or in small mud houses. But this is exactly what made it perfect and made us bond as a team even more. We had a look at the most different places, went for a swim next to amazingly beautiful waterfalls, went canoeing, watched how shea butter is produced and visited Ghana’s oldest mosque. 

One of the things I liked best about our journey, however, were the safaris we went on in the Mole national park. We saw the most diverse range of animals in the wild there, ranging from crocodiles to monkeys and elephants. 

I had never been as close to these kinds of wild animals before, not even in the zoo. We could see elephants spraying dust at each other and monkeys feeding their babies. 

All of this are memories which I probably will never forget and I am incredibly grateful that I got the opportunity to volunteer with Aminu Initiative and its partner organisation here in Ghana. 

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Book recommendation for an exceptional book: Americanah

Our Ghanaian colleague Ayuba Mamadu was stoked reading Americanah, a novel by the Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Ayuba, 30 years old, studied Human Resource Management at the University College of Management Studies in Accra, Ghana. He has been working as project manager with Aminu Initiative for several years and this is what he has to say about Americanah:

“The author is an exceptional woman with a historian background. She is a very good communicator and also an illustrator by high stands. She is precise with her facts while writing and that makes her book understandably good. She is seen as a pace setter for many African ladies. The book Americanah speaks about race and self identity. It is positioned to compare racial hierarchies in the United States and to social striving in her native country.”

AMERICANAH

A powerful, tender story of race and identity by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the award-winning author of Half of a Yellow Sun.

Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria for the West. Beautiful, self-assured Ifemelu heads for America, where despite her academic success, she is forced to grapple with what it means to be black for the first time. Quiet, thoughtful Obinze had hoped to join her, but with post-9/11 America closed to him, he instead plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. Fifteen years later, they reunite in a newly democratic Nigeria, and reignite their passion  - for each other and for their homeland.

Americanah is licensed for publication in 29 languages.

Major Theme

Americanization is one of the biggest themes in Americanah. In the context of the novel, America itself is a symbol of hope, wealth, social and economic mobility, and, ultimately, disappointment, as Ifemelu learns that the American Dream is a lie and that the advantages she enjoys there often come at a great price. Her Americanization is slow but distinct, and she gradually picks up the slang, adapts to her surroundings (for better or worse), and adopts American politics. Her views on gender and race change because of this, and her blog is devoted to exploring the issue of race as a non-American black in America. She's called Americanah when she returns to Nigeria, having picked up a blunt, American way of speaking and of addressing problems. She resists this label, but it's obvious to the reader that Ifemelu's years in America have changed her.

According to Idowu Faith, “no valid statement can be made on Americanah without deconstructing the term “Americanah” which, more or less, reveals the thesis of the narrative as well as the preoccupation of Adichie in the text.” In Nigerian parlance, the term “Americanah” is an identity term that is premised on a person’s previous experience of living in America. In an interview, Adichie defines Americanah as a Nigerian word that can describe any of those who have been to the US and return American affectations; pretend not to understand their mother tongues any longer; refuse to eat Nigerian food or make constant reference to their life in America.

From this understanding, it is clear that Ifemelu’s decision to return home without worrying about being identified as an “Americanah”, establishes the fact that Adichie is proposing and charting a path for a new kind of migration story whose quintessence is return migration.

The Author

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie grew up in Nigeria.

Her work has been translated into over thirty languages and has appeared in various publications, including The New Yorker, Granta, The O. Henry Prize Stories, the Financial Times, and Zoetrope. She is the author of the novels Purple Hibiscus, which won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award; Half of a Yellow Sun, which won the Orange Prize and was a National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist and a New York Times Notable Book; and Americanah, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award and was named one of The New York Times Top Ten Best Books of 2013. Ms. Adichie is also the author of the story collection The Thing Around Your Neck.

Ms. Adichie has been invited to speak around the world. Her 2009 TED Talk, The Danger of A Single Story, is now one of the most-viewed TED Talks of all time. Her 2012 talk We Should All Be Feminists has a started a worldwide conversation about feminism, and was published as a book in 2014.

Her most recent book, Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions, was published in March 2017.

Reviews

Critics praised the novel, especially noting its range across different societies and reflection of global tensions. 

Writing for The New York Times, Mike Peed said, “Americanah' examines blackness in America, Nigeria and Britain, but it's also a steady-handed dissection of the universal human experience - a platitude made fresh by the accuracy of Adichie's observations.” Peed concluded, “Americanah' is witheringly trenchant and hugely empathetic, both worldly and geographically precise, a novel that holds the discomfiting realities of our times fearlessly before us. It never feels false.” 

Reviewing the novel for The Washington Post, Emily Raboteau called Adichie “a hawkeyed observer of manners and distinctions in class,” and said Adichie brings a “ruthless honesty about the ugly and beautiful sides of both the United States and Nigeria.” 

In the Chicago Tribune, Laura Pearson wrote, “Sprawling, ambitious and gorgeously written, 'Americanah' covers race, identity, relationships, community, politics, privilege, language, hair, ethnocentrism, migration, intimacy, estrangement, blogging, books and Barack Obama. It covers three continents, spans decades, leaps gracefully, from chapter to chapter, to different cities and other lives...[Adichie] weaves them assuredly into a thoughtfully structured epic. The result is a timeless love story steeped in our times.”

Bibliographic Data

Chimananda Ngozie Adichie (Author)

Americanah

Turtleback Books

S. 806 pages hardcover

ISBN-10: 0606367217

ISBN-13: 978-0606367219

Link: https://www.chimamanda.com/book/americanah/

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Sharing is caring! A new way of sharing

Sophie L. is reporting

If you buy something to eat in Germany, then it is your food. 

Maybe somebody else will be allowed to try or will get some of the food, but it all depends on how close your friendship with that person is and will be done only if you have asked beforehand.

If you do end up sharing food, then often a lot of attention is paid to the way the bill will be split and to ensuring that the price that everyone pays fairly reflects what they have actually eaten.

Each group of friends or each family will do this slightly differently, of course, but that is the experience I have made.

It is different here in Ghana. If someone has something to eat and is in the company of others, then they will share. You are often asked to sit down and join the meal with a friendly “You are invited”.

Nobody pays any attention to how much someone has paid or to how close the friendship with that person is. People simply share and have a meal together.

As everybody knows that “Sharing is Caring”.

I find it a lot more relaxed than the way it is done in Germany and enjoy the conversations during the shared meal, where one plate is also often shared between several people.

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The first two weeks - Part II

Jonas K. is reporting

We’ve already been on a few short trips; we went to a reggae party, a market and the beach. The beach is in the neighbouring town of Kokrobite. With its many palm trees and small fishing boats, it is really beautiful.

On these journeys we also had our first experience of Ghanaian traffic where some traffic rules are “interpreted” slightly differently. On country roads, as many cars will drive next to each other as the width of the road permits. Every centimetre will be used. On the other hand, a parking car, pedestrians or a heap of sand may interrupt journeys on trunk roads. The indicator is only a nice accessory but has nothing whatsoever to do with the direction of travel, and a horn is as important for travelling as a steering wheel or brakes. But I will still report about the traffic in Ghana in greater detail. 

Power cuts are another integral part of life in Ghana. They have become so common for me by now that you stop counting how many there have been to date. Especially at lunchtime, electricity is hardly ever available. The first power cut was on the evening of the second day and still something unusual for me. Everybody you met laughed and said “This is Ghana” or “Welcome to Ghana”. For my job as a teacher I’m currently in the process of deciding which subjects I want to cover, as there isn’t any set curriculum for German in place here. Apart from my- at times stressful – lessons, life is usually relaxed here. You get cared for and waited on. But we have also already made ourselves useful and have helped to paint two classrooms. And even painting the walls was turned into a little party with music and dancing. You generally get to meet singing and/or dancing people at every corner. 

Finally two more things I was very often asked about: Weather and food. The weather is nowhere near as unbearable as you might imagine. Apart from the midday heat, temperatures are pleasant and I do no longer feel the humidity. Currently (both humidity and temperature will still increase), it is not all that different from a summer’s day in Germany. The differences are considerably bigger as far as food is concerned. A dish always consists of the same parts: something nourishing (rice, pasta etc.) with a sauce. A lot of the food isn’t known in Germany, e.g. banku, fufu or yam. Anyway, I like the food. But even the dishes which especially for us have been made less spicy, are still very hot. And for those of you who are worried about it, yes, you will get plenty of food. I could easily fill further pages with my impressions so far but will have to leave a few things for my next reports.

[aminuorg]

The first two weeks - Part I

Jonas K. ist reporting 

After the first two weeks in Tuba it already feels as if a very long time had passed. The first few days in particular were very intense and it was hard to believe that you have only been here for such a short time. At times you’ve got the feeling that you already know everything, only to realise in the next moment that actually you don’t know anything at all.

Even though I still haven’t been to Accra itself and have not yet been outside the surrounding area of Tuba, there was still a lot to get to know. First and foremost, of course, the people. It is very easy to get to know people here, as everybody is very open. To recognise them, when you meet them again, however, is a different matter and quite challenging. 

All the faces and names seemed like a perplexing conundrum. After only a few days, we volunteers were quite well known there and people approached us all the time. At that time, I usually wasn’t quite sure, who they were and where you knew them from. By now, I know a lot of faces and know who they are. 

I’m still struggling with the names though. In my defence I have to add that it does not really help that in addition to their real name everybody also has one or several nicknames. 

Some of the children have already given me a nickname: Spiderman

I owe it to my hair which, by the way, happens to be very popular here. Nobody has so far been able to explain the precise connection between Spiderman and my hair though. 

The people I’ve got the most intensive contact with are Nabil and Ayuba, who are both the head of the organisation’s sons. Ayuba spends a lot of time looking after the volunteers and Nabil and I are temporarily living in an all-male room share. But the number of other acquaintances, of whom you know a bit more than just their name and their face, is also steadily increasing.

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My first day at school

Jonas K. is reporting

Today was my first day at school - and that’s exactly how it felt. The differences to school in Germany already show before school even starts. More than an hour before teaching starts, the first students are already there, and the school and its grounds are getting tidied up. At seven o’clock a rest period of half an hour begins, the point of which I still haven’t quite worked out, just as I haven’t with so many things over here. After that, it’s time for assembly. Supported by loud drumming, all students line up in the school yard and sing and pray together. Finally, lessons start at eight o’clock. 

In order to gain a better understanding of things, I will only passively observe lessons during the first week and have my first French and maths lessons then, which I am happy to attend. I was introduced to the classes with the following words: “He is a proper teacher, just like any of us, so please show some respect.” Ah well, okay, then I simply am a proper teacher – even though I do not have any kind of professional training or preparation. Little did I know at that point, just how much I of a teacher I still was to become today. During the first couple of hours, I joined the lessons of a young social-studies teacher.  It is certainly true, that no teacher is the same, but his teaching surprised and impressed me. He was very lively and there was a lot of laughter. The relationship between teachers and students was unexpectedly relaxed. Still, there were a few things that I had not come across in Germany: Standing up when speaking, students clapping rhythmically when someone gave a correct answer, all students collectively repeating after the teacher, but also the punishment of having to stand or kneel. A lesson in Ghana is an hour and twenty minutes. In the third lesson, I was sent to a different classroom. It took me a while to realise that it all wasn’t a joke and that now I was expected to teach my own lesson and that no other teacher was still to arrive. And there I stood in front of 47 students (sixth form), completely unprepared, with just two lessons as a passive observer under my belt and was supposed to spontaneously think up my own lesson. 

At the beginning it all went surprisingly well. Everybody showed interest and participated actively. As was to be expected, this did not last for the whole time, after all a huge class will normally be divided into two smaller groups. However, there were a lot of students with whom you could really tell that they were keen to learn and who engaged enthusiastically until the end of the lesson. What particularly impressed me, was how they kept reminding the others to keep quiet and to contribute.

I subsequently had to deal with question such as which notebook they were meant to use, whether it was a problem if they used the “wrong” pen. But I still haven’t not got my head round everything myself. 

Tomorrow the headmaster’s son will come to my lessons with me to make sure students keep quiet and to answer any questions concerning the school. Then I will not only be a “proper teacher” but even one who has his own assistant.

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Jonas arriving in Ghana

Jonas one of our weltwärts volunteers is reporting about his first day in Ghana. 

Jonas, only 19 years old, died during his service in Ghana and left a big heritage. He is always on our minds and in our hearts. Therefore we would like to dedicate this online blog to Jonas. May his soul rest in perfect peace!

4 September 2018 Today was my first day in Ghana, even if at the moment it does not quite feel that way. Less than 24 hours ago, I was still sitting on the plane. We were given a warm welcome at the airport in Ghana. 

Driving to my placement in Tuba, we travelled across Accra, a truly multi-faceted city. Tuba itself is neither completely urban nor completely rural. I was woken up by drumming and the voices of students, who - right in front of my window - were singing the national anthem together, as they do every morning. While I started to hesitantly explore the school grounds and buildings, I was still feeling very insecure and foreign. 

In the morning, we visited the crèche, which is also part of the organisation. It was obvious that the children greatly enjoyed meeting the new volunteers and for the whole time we were spending there, you had at least three children around you or climbing on to you. 

Back at the school, I then met my future students the first time. The students there are a bit more distant but just as interested. During the course of the day you ended up talking to more and more people and the surroundings started to feel familiar. Within a few hours, my feeling had changed from being foreign and insecure to almost feeling at home a bit. Tomorrow we are going to have a closer look at the surrounding area – I’m curious!

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Video of Manaf Cheiba talking about the current situation in Nima-Accra

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Ghana Solidarity

The project was initiated due to suffering that many people were experiencing when Ghana was shutdown as a result of the Corona virus. It was initially an attempt by a few friends and colleagues of Dr. Faisal Garba, lecturer at the University of Ghana, whom we know for a very long time. Many common projects have build a strong and trustworthy relationship. 

The group who got engaged in social justice struggles with poor communities to provide some relief. The initial intervention was in the form of private contribution. They then came together to try and raise funds widely. Knowing Dr. Faisal Garba for a long time and working together on several occasions we the Aminu Initiative got involved and are now cooperating with them under the name “Ghana Solidarity”

The group of mainly lecturers and students of the University of Ghana are distributing foodstuffs to people in need. A special focus is on elderly women who are on their own.