In Ghana I volunteered in "Peace & Love Orphanage & Academy" in Adenta which lies just outside Accra. Children from ages 5/6+ attend the school and 50 orphans live on the site. The youngest orphan was Barack who arrived at Peace & Love during July 08 at only 4 days old, because his Mother decided she could not cope with him. At the other end of the age spectrum were 18 year old twins, Daniel and Daniella. They were disowned at birth after their Mother discovered they were both blind. Many sad stories came from the orphanage, but I did feel an over-riding sense of happiness in Peace & Love. I think this may be simply because the kids know no different; they just get on with life, which I think is very admirable.

Our daily routine consisted of catching a "tro-tro" (a family owned van/minibus) at 8am from where we were staying in Medina to Adenta, which cost us 30 Peswas (equivalent to 15p!!) As soon as we had arrived we would make the baby's bottles and change nappies. There were 7 children under 3 who were a lot of hard work, but without them my experience would not have been quite as rewarding.

During term-time I spent the majority of my time in the nursery helping the children, aged 6/7/8 to read and write English. Many of the children struggled enormously. They were given no guidance by the "mammas" as to what to do. Some of the children would even fall asleep and be woken by a sharp whip over the head with the cane. It was horrible to watch but I kept having to remind myself that their culture is different to ours and that this was just the way things worked.

The orphans were given the same education as the paying school children and they "mingled" so well that in the first few weeks it was difficult to decipher which were orphans and which were not. However, I was surprised to see how little the kids shared with one another and how much fighting they did. I was also shocked to see one of the "Mammas" telling a 3 year old boy to bite his friend after he had been kicked. Revenge and retaliation was very evident here!

On a couple of days we hired tro-tros to take all the orphans on an hour's drive to Labadi Beach. I've never seen so many children so excited at once!! They all played in the sea and many had horse-rides along the beach, something they had never done before. It was so great to see the children so happy as it gave them a break from their normal routines.

It was very difficult to find yourself not getting attached to these children and it has to be said, we all had our favourites! Mine was Isaac, a 3 year old boy, who was living at the orphanage with his Mother, however he treated me more like his Mum, than he did his real one! He was very timid at first but gradually came more and more out of his shell once he became comfortable with me. The most exciting thing about going to orphanage every morning was seeing Isaac running up and jumping into my arms!

Our group of volunteers took regular trips to "Accra Mall" and "Shoprite" to keep the levels of milk powder and nappies stocked up; essentials we found ran out extremely quickly! We were also pleased to be able to take the babies for their first innoculations in Ghana's best hospital, as well as taking some of the older boys, who were suspected to have malaria, of which common signs include listlessness, lack of apetite and fever. We shared the medication jobs around and made sure that the children had their medication at the right times.

I felt my time in Ghana was spent extremely well. The kids made my experience and I wouldn't have wanted to change a thing. Sala, the Manager is amazing, she is the backbone of the place, and without her Peace & Love would crumble. Volunteers are very important in the orphanage and I would thoroughly recommend a project like this to anyone! You'll never do something quite as fun and rewarding and I'm sure all of us made a difference to these children's lives in one way or another.

Once again...THANK-YOU so much for your sponsorship! .x.x.x.