The past two weeks, my role consolidated into being the lead on Girl Guides and Menstrual Health and getting the opportunity to create my own project called ‘Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms’. A new set of volunteers had arrived on the third Saturday, whom were all lovely, and I got to experience the excitement of being one of the ‘senior’ volunteers who was familiar with how everything was ran.

So onto my classes, all of which I loved! Girl Guides was so much fun. The classes were kind-of chaotic but it was an organised chaos I loved. We did these classes at 2 partner schools called Southern Belt and Presby. With Southern Belt for example, the way the classes worked was that we had like 100 girls who all come outside for the class. Before we start the teaching stuff, they all stand in a circle and sing and dance their Girl Guides songs. Then we get started on the teaching! Since I was in-charge, I got to create the lesson plans and after looking at what had already been covered, I realised there seemed to be a gap in how leadership skills were not taught. Therefore, for the two lesson plans I was doing these weeks, I decided I wanted to focus on the lessons I had learned during my leadership training as part of the Laidlaw Scholarship, using the topics of Teamwork and Assertive Communication and creating interactive lessons. The girls were so interested and loved the activities created that were based around role-playing and it was beautiful to see how much of a positive and uplifting environment it was.

As for my lead on the Menstrual Health project, this felt like a really important and informative topic for the girls. It was super special to see overtime how much confidence they gained when talking about things like periods. An insightful idea I was able to continue was the confidential questions aspect of the lesson. The girls would write down their questions on sheets of paper and we would take them away write the answers and return them the following lesson. I really liked this because it allowed the girls to ask questions, they wouldn't feel comfortable asking in a large group. Additionally, it is worth noting how during this project navigating the cultural considerations was quite difficult, especially when questions regarding sexual intercourse arose.

Also, I got to create my own 3-week project called Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. As the staff leader of educational projects, this new teaching avenue required extensive conversations with Ebi in order to ensure it was both culturally considerate and accessible. I taught this project at 3 partner schools called St Nicholas, Southern Belt and Presby and loved seeing the children actively engage and ask questions.   The project was split into the following sessions:

1. Freedom of Expression
2. Freedom of Thought and Belief and Freedom of Religion
3. Freedom from Discrimination

Outside the Internship: Other Fun Stuff:

In the past 2 weeks, I have felt so much more confident and comfortable in the community. In doing so, I have been able to enjoy my down-time much more which has heavily involved trying the local cuisine. I love jollof, red sauce, plantain and tellapia all from various local stalls, although I wasn’t sure about banku! Unfortunately, due to the unsanitary seawater, I also got incredibly ill in the fourth week and so had to spend a couple of days in bed. Whilst it was hard missing classes and feeling like I wasn't contributing to the group, I soon felt better and learnt that getting ill was a right of passage!

As for the other fun stuff, my third and fourth weekend were both spent away from base in Kokrobite, exploring different parts of Ghana. In my third weekend, we all went on a 4-day trip to the Volta Region, the favourite place I have visited in Ghana. We visited Adomi Bridge, the Kente Weaving Village, alongside climbing the highest peak in Ghana and visiting the highest waterfall in West Africa. It was truly one of the most beautiful places I have visited in my life, and I feel fortunate to have been with such amazing people. As for the fourth weekend, we went into back into Accra exploring other cultural sites and enjoying good food. It was so interesting to learn more about the history and culture, alongside getting the chance to buy lots of souvenirs!

Reflecting on my lessons in leadership:

I also think it is worth reflecting on what I have learnt about leadership in the past 2 weeks. Leading my classes, creating a project and introducing the new arrivals to how the programme ran was my first taste of leadership on this internship. Having these roles allowed me to exercise leadership skills and taught me that I actually enjoy taking on the role of leader which is something I didn’t fully expect because I often struggle being more assertive and making decisions. But I realised that when I am passionate about something, the decision making came more easily and the role felt more comfortable.

The most pivotal thing I have learnt was that when working with others, even if the product is something that the leader created independently, their role is not to micromanage. Being a good leader encompasses far more than creating the product but rather finds its foundation in strong interpersonal and teamwork skills. Therefore, when the new arrivals came to support me teaching my project, I found it important to take a step back and really allow them to teach and have their own independence with the material, whilst I oversaw and facilitated the class. Although I initially struggled releasing control, especially when I had put so much effort into the plans, this really helped the new arrivals learn as well as giving me a change to exhibit the leadership skills I want to emanate. These surround being strong leader who prioritises the group above herself.

Anyways, if you have gotten to here in the blog,  thank you so much for reading !!!