VSO training

Back row left to right - Ann, Sarah, Peter, Michelle, Ian, Ken, Janet

Front row left to right - me (!), Margaret, Julia, Cathy, Brenda

This weekend I went to Harborne Hall in Birmingham for my VSO training.


Here I met the other 11 volunteers going to Africa in January. 3 are going to Rwanda, 3 to Namibia, 3 to Nigeria and 3 of us to Ghana. I've been assigned a placement in Jirapa in northwestern Ghana and 2 others - Michelle and Janet - are going to different areas in northern Ghana. We will all fly out together and spend a week in the capital Accra for in country training, before tranferring to our placements in the north.



The course was excellent and filled with useful information like what to do about health, mosquito nets and showers, as well as information about our placements and roles. It was set in the most beautiful building, Harborne Hall. This has a broad history, including being a hospital during the first world war, a prep school for boys, a convent, a multifaith centre and now VSO's main training centre. It was hard to get to though - being in the centre of Birmingham! That said, the facilitators were really good with plenty of their own varied volunteer experience to share. It was also great to meet the other volunteers, especially those coming to Ghana with me, and we shared lots of information, like what to do about internet and mobile access, what to take to wear, and some of the Ghanean customs. Most worrying, we learned that we must always present ourselves in ironed clothes! This is in 42 degrees of heat following a cycle ride of who knows how long to each school! I'm sure it will all become gradually clearer.....