We spent our four weeks in Ghana, predominantly helping to renovate and expand a school in the village in which we were living. This provides the children with opportunities to escape from the poverty which their families have faced for generations. However, the opportunity to teach and assist with marking exam papers made us realise the dichotomy that still exists between our two societies in terms of education….After 4 weeks of building (our hands toughened and our muscles bulging!) we were proud that we had managed to completely finish one building and the second just needed to be painted. At the weekends we had the opportunity to travel around the country; visiting the tallest waterfall in Western Africa, the slave forts at Cape Coast and national parks to name just a few. Even the time we spent in the tro-tros (rickety old minibuses which were the only mode of transport) was great fun; bumping along and obtaining a truly authentic view of the country. It wasn’t all joyful and happy; we heard stories of people who had lost children to Malaria – unable to afford the minimal costs for their treatment – and children who had had to drop out of school to look after younger siblings and consequently not received an education. Perhaps most disturbingly of all was when a young boy, whose house we were living in, was whipped by his father for no less than half an hour; crying to the point of making himself physically sick and begging him to stop. We don’t deny that we missed our homes; not just the people but also our modern comforts – our beds, bathrooms and food – which did seem to be recurring themes in our conversations with other volunteers. Yet we wouldn’t change a thing; a literally “out of this world” experience. We met incredible people, saw amazing things and hopefully contributed something, however small, to the child we played duck duck goose with, whose hand we held or whose school we built.

Which leads us to the point of this letter: to say thank you. The Fund’s contribution to our trip was invaluable and enabled a long standing ambition to become a reality. It is such a brilliant thing that the Fund does and your generosity will definitely not be forgotten amongst our memories of our trip. We have produced a book about our trip which we would like to present to you as a token of our appreciation. We hope you will be able to use it to encourage other people to travel and have as great a time as we did. Being woken up by the locals chanting at 5.30am every morning, the mouse which lived in our room, the python which invaded our building site, and the knowledge that love actually is all around! Thanks again and best wishes for the future. Rosie and Fran