AIESEC provides me a very special experience in the year of 2012. I think my dream will never come true at my 20s – going to Africa. I joined Global Citizen Programme this year and went to Ghana. When I looked back, it’s a tough journey full of challenges!

 

Let’s start from the day I made the decision to match to Ghana. Actually, I had a big fight with myself and my family. My parents strongly opposed to the idea going to developing countries since they thought it is somewhere full of danger and uncertainty. Their perception on African countries was poverty, uncivilized and violence everywhere. I tried my best by giving ‘evidence-based’ information to them and persuaded them through some video clips from other previous EPs, but they still worried a lot. Maybe it is because they thought I am still just a kid or I was not that mature to deal with some crisis and emergencies. One night, I sat down with my family and we chatted for long. I made it a very serious meeting and showed them my determination. I was grateful that my parents finally agreed with my decision and became supportive.

 

The place I did internship was a small and rural village. It took more than six hours to go from airport to the site. The very first cultural shock was the time management for the local people there. Before I arrived, I already contacted the staff form the organization who was going to take me to the site. However, he finally sent his friend to pick me up. I phoned the staff and he kept promise me to come within an hour, but I didn’t meet him until the next morning. As a traveler from Hong Kong, we believe time is money. Everything shall be efficient, but for Ghanaian, they respect everything they promised but without a very specific concept of time. 

 

One of the funniest experiences I got in Ghana was travelling on trotro (the common public transport). The first time I went to trotro station was very impressive. Different people yelled out the final destination of trotro. For a traveler, it will be very confusing with all the people shouting and pushing/pulling you toward the trotro. Drivers love to play Ghanaian music and sometimes sing with it. You can enjoy the view outside with dust and sweat. On Sundays, you may also meet the priest talking about Jesus Christ continuously from the beginning of the trip to the end (2-3 hours).   

 

My main job duty was teaching Mathematics and conducting HIV/AIDS workshop among Junior High students. I needed to wake up at 5a.m. and walked for an hour to my school. At first, I found it very tough but I enjoyed it very much. You will never feel bored because all the people you encountered would chat with me. Greetings, sharing and laughing together was what I did every day. Although I put lots of effort in teaching, students didn’t come to school frequently. One day, I chatted with my students and I found that it was not the problem of the teachers. They didn’t come to school because they needed to go to farm with their family. I suddenly understand why some students can’t even do simple calculation like multiplication and division because they skipped classes very frequently. Fortunately, a library ran by us was opened. We hold dream workshops and tutorials after school. All students from the village could attend the sessions they like.

 

In the village, there was no water for bath, no electricity at nights, no internet connection but I miss the simple life there. I am glad that I walked out from my safety zone and explore a new world with a humble heart. The biggest thing in exchange is I gained friendship from people all over the world and the best memories were imprinted in the deepest of my heart.