VSO Ghana’s 50th Anniversary National Volunteers Conference

I spent Wednesday to Friday last week attending the VSO Ghana’s 50th Anniversary National Volunteers Conference. For 50 years brave (or misguided?), well meaning souls have been coming to Ghana to try to share their skills with locals. Every two years most of them get together to learn from each other, share experiences, catch up with people they haven’t seen for a while, meet new people and perhaps whinge a bit.

It would have been hard not to enjoy 3 days with over 70 positive, kind, self-confident, empathetic, pro-active, intelligent, curious (in both senses) and generally great people, especially when you’re staying in a beach side hotel with a pool (it isn’t advisable to swim in the sea off Accra) and attending an interesting workshops. VSO volunteers may be many things but they’re rarely dull and generally willing to get involved so the conference generally went with a zing, much to the credit of the volunteers who organised it.

Memorable moments include an incredible cultural evening where each of the main national groups entertained us, the Filipinos winning with a health and safety defying demonstration of traditional lantern dancing, with a woman dancing with a lit candle in a glass balanced on her head. The Brits demonstrated country dancing with a rendition of “Strip the Willow”* and a made up thing, music courtesy of a much appreciated CD Kirsteen gave me before I left. I will admit that I ended up teaching a group by the pool to “Strip the Willow” at 2am Saturday morning, apologies if we woke anyone up. The Irish demonstrated Irish dancing (which was also taught by the pool at a late hour). The Australians demonstrated drinking at a bar.

And we even got the opening ceremony (with the British High Commissioner) on national TV.

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* An innocent traditional British dance that involves swinging your partner and then someone else’s in alternately down a line.