As my time in Ghana is coming to an end, I have come to realize more and more how much I love my second home at Africa's West Coast. There are so many things I'm going to miss and though I look forward to being able to make different food choices soon, I guess Ghanaian food is one of those things I'll miss.
It wasn't always like that though. There were times when food was one of the toughest things for me here. But how come?

The title already suggests it and I think many of you have already realized it anyway: I'm a vegan.
Before my time in Ghana I lived on a strictly plant based diet and was extremely happy with that. Then I got offered a volunteering placement in a Ghanaian high school and was totally enthralled. While still in Germany, I already suspected I might be forced to compromise concerning my diet.
One thing I love about the organization of my volunteering year is that I live with a Ghanaian family instead of sharing an apartment with other volunteers. I just think it gives you a different inside into the Ghanaian culture and every day life. However, this also became one of my biggest troubles; as a part of the family you get the pristine local food...


...and in the southern regions of Ghana food and fish go hand in hand. Our Ghanaian partner organization told us during the first days of our arrival that the vegetarians among us (they didn't really count vegans) should try and wrap their minds around the fact that they are going to eat the same stews and soups as everyone else, they could pick out the fish and meat. I don't know why, maybe I was preoccupied with other things at the time, but I never even considered that.
In Germany, it was a matter of principle for me not to eat anything, which has been prepared with fish or meat aka a dead animal. After all, it's not like I don't eat because of the taste (oh no, I loved the taste of it) but for ethical reasons.


The good thing for vegans about food in Ghana is that dairy products are hardly ever used for cooking. However, there is a hitch: If there is no fish in the soup or stew, then that's because there is meat inside.
I was lucky to have a family, who respects my food choices and can also understand, why I don't want to eat a soup that tastes like fish. So at home, my food is vegan, though it's still not healthy considering the huge amount of oil used for cooking. I didn't have the heart to tell them I would like to cook my own food because in Ghana food is an essential part of good hospitality which I didn't want to take away from them.
Another thing is eating out. Especially during the first months I often made the mistake to buy something at a chop bar, ask ten times if there is fish or meat in, just to spit it out again anyway. One time I asked the woman preparing Indomie (fried noodles) why there was fish in when I told her not to add it and found out that she didn't count canned sardines as fish. Same thing with my family when they added shito (ground dry fish with pepper and oil) to my food. Something like that happens a lot and mostly the people are really sorry when it does but it made me change my own behaviour.


Sometimes I compromise when it comes to eggs (though I'm not happy about that), but I refuse to eat fish or meat no matter what. Now I only buy food I am absolutely sure about. Nevertheless, it happens that I do eat soups or stews prepared in a non-vegetarian way in order not to hurt someone else's feelings, like I said food is hospitality.
I'm not happy with these compromises but I still make them, for several reasons: it's only temporary and this way I don't offend people. Before my time in Ghana, I couldn't have imagined that, thinking: how can a lifestyle where you choose not to harm offend people? I was much more idealistic in Germany and maybe I will be when I go back.
But in Ghana I have also learnt that not everyone has the means to be idealistic.

- Sarah

Ever since I can remember I have been addicted: to notebooks. I guess there is nothing I have bought so often when I actually didn't need it. Because that was the flaw: I couldn't think of anything to write. So I started writing down the lyrics of my favorite songs. I stopped, though, pretty soon, I knew them back to front, so I couldn't quite muster the composure to keep on writing them. And, once again, my notebooks were pretty but pretty useless.


Then, as I faced the almost impossible task to decide what is necessary for living in Ghana for a year, I couldn't prevent myself from packing one of my beloved notebooks. There I was, having brought the book, so I made myself write down everything that happened. It was quite an effort, because A LOT happened and even within a week I started confusing things. This made me even more determined to write almost on a daily basis, just to keep track of things.
Another volunteer, who has a knack of shoving her opinion into other people's faces, once said how stupid she thinks it is, she would remeber everything that is important.
Only the thing is that I realized, I (and I guess lots of other people too) tend to forget how they felt about something at a certain time. Life is a mess and it's easy to judge events in your life because of what has happened after them. Sometimes you will look back at something and throw your hands up, thinking "how could I be so stupid to do that?". But maybe it was just what you wanted at that time. It can be hard beating oneself up about things, but a diary is a great way of empathizing with one's former self.


Before I could even realize it, writing became my best form of self-reflection and self therapy. It certainly takes some time getting into it and not feeling awkward writing these things, but once you find yourself in it, writing a diary can be extremely relieving. I have tried before, but I always felt like I had nothing to write about, but thats not true. Everyone has a story to tell. Why don't you write it down? Let the loves in your life read it or keep it to yourself like your very own paper vault. Paste every ticket into it or keep it simple. Write regularly or whenever you feel like it. Just try it, no matter how.
I can very dearly recommend it.

- Sarah

My time in Ghana is coming to an end so now I'm quite eager to see as much of the country as possible during the time left. This weekend I travelled from Central to Eastern Region to visit some friends of mine who work in an orphanage there.
Eastern Region is very much defined by its smooth hills and lush green vegetation.


I love my Ghanaian hometown in Central Region, but it is dusty, noisy and always in a hustle so I wanted to use this opportunity to refuel my mind and energy with an escape to good old mother nature. Step number one was a trip to a waterfall. Apart from admiring its untouched beauty, one could take a refreshing shower and clamber around the rocks like you did when you were a child.


The next day we decided to have a picnic on top of a nearby mountain. However, we first had to walk a narrow farmer's way and climb some rocks before we could enjoy the view and our red pepper and tomato breads. The walk was a treat itself though. The climate might not be the most agreeable for sports activy, but the beautiful forest definitely makes up for that. I have visited a few national parks and certainly enjoyed myself there, nevertheless this mountain where no one except for the local farmers goes was even better.


Then we finally reached the top and it was, in lack of a better word, completely awesome! We could hear the birdsong and the chirp of insects in the forest below us and had a stunning view of the village and the surrounding farms.


Once again, I had one of my clearest moments when climbing a hill. I have never exactly been that kind of sporting person like my sister. I always was more the reading, tea drinking and baking kind, I didn't enjoy going to the gym or anything.
However, I do realize how much good sport can do for me, especially if I do it outside. A good breath of air on top of a mountain makes up for a few hours of gasping for air, and a shower beneath a waterfall makes up for a long sweaty walk. So if you share my lack of motivation for sports, why not try to hike a nearby mountain or start with a walk through the forest?
You might not have a rainforest next door but our world offers stunningly beautiful nature everywhere, get out and discover them before they're gone.

- Sarah

I have always been a huge fan of secondhand shopping, so in a way Ghana is a paradise for me. Why? Because of the markets strewn with huge amounts of secondhand clothes at cheap and negotiable prices.
However there is a dark side to it: A fair share of these clothes have once been donated in countries outside of Africa. I guess everyone has once or twice donated some old clothes or shoes in the hope to help someone with something you don't need anymore, but can still be useful for someone else.
The problem is that a lot of these "donated" clothes are sold in bulk to traders in African countries, like Ghana, who sell them to smaller traders, who sell them on the market.


Never in all my time in Ghana, have I witnessed or heard of clothes being distributed to the poor for free (the only exception was a pair of TOMS to each child in one of the local junior high schools in my town). Now this might not come as a surprise to you, but many of the organisations collecting donated clothes would like to create this very image and often they are succesful.


The deception of donors is not the only thing I find problematic. It is also the economic effect on African countries. One could argue that dealing with secondhand clothes also contributes to the countries' economy and it certainly does. Nevertheless, the effect is small and it also damages the countries' own textile and clothing production. Another thing is the dependency on other countries due to the import of clothes. The prices are low (one tee shirt can cost one cedi, you pay the same for two grilled plantains, a staple food), which is why the profit margins when selling second hand clothes are rather thin. Far less people in the country itself benefit from it than if you bought fabric and give an order to a seamstress.
Some organisations argue that the people buying second hand clothes and those buying fabrics were two different customer groups, however my personal experience in Ghana was quite different.

 What now?

I'm not saying that any donation of clothes is bad, but if you do donate, make sure you select a reliable organisation. You should also consider only donating to organisations who operate within your own country and distribute clothes to refugees or the homeless.
If your aim is to support African countries and their economies, I would recommend to choose products, which are produced by native businesses in the countries themselves, instead by global corporations that just export the raw materials.

- Sarah