Hannah's parting thoughts

Hannah finished her placement at the UCC at the end of June, after eight weeks of loveable (and often cheeky) Class 2 students, cashew nuts, mooning over baby goats in the street and a lot of giggles with the other volunteers. 

Before she left she wrote a bit about her time here, which I've finally got round to posting up. Like almost all of the volunteers who come here, she left saying she would be back another year. I really hope she can make it back, she was a great teacher and a brilliant person to live with. 

My placement at the UCC

"I didn’t really know what to expect when coming to Ghana, but I ended up having an amazing experience that I will never forget. 

Hannah with some of her Class 2 students

This was my first time travelling to a developing country, and it is truly hard to put the experience into words. The people at UCC create a comfortable, kind and fun environment as to make the transition from home to Ghana smooth. I found myself immediately fitting in and feeling comfortable in the living situation.

Ghana as a country is incredible because of the laid back and relaxed lifestyle, the awesomely positive and friendly people, the animals roaming around everywhere (especially for someone like me who loves animals), the many beautiful geographical areas to visit, and the loudest thunderstorms you will ever hear.

My teaching experience was awesome. I had never done any real teaching before, and it was great to have the opportunity. It was a perfect progression to start with 1-1 teaching, and work my way up to teaching a class. It was the most rewarding feeling when you develop a trusting relationship with the kids and really feel like they respect you. The best feeling was when I left the class to go get some pencils and when I came back the children were all sitting perfectly trying to impress me.

Overall, my two months in Ghana were perfect. It was a great introduction to developing countries for me and I think that was all due to how Future Leaders UCC runs their centre and takes care of their volunteers!"