Ok, so a small, swift apology for my slackness on the blog. But moving on…I think at the time of my last blog that the UK was swept up in the Olympics whilst Ghana was awash with funeral fever. The President, Prof. John Atta Mills died on 24th July and weeks of tributes followed with a surprising number of recorder solos as the chosen sound of mourning. (Here the humble recorder is not bound to the primary school classroom, oh no, it has scaled majestic devotional heights).

In this time I've had a number of ups and downs in terms of work. In fact so many, rollercoastering thick and fast that I realized I was in great need of a break from it all. Volunteering, for me at least, means that even if you're not very busy (and volunteers regularly complain of being "under-used"), you never really switch off from it all. You are living in your placement and sometimes the frustrations of life itself as well as relationships at work, and with VSO Ghana, can pile up…and I experienced what my dad calls a "stack attack"! So I planned a visit back home…back to the comfort of drizzle, dairy products and not least, family and friends.

These frustrations have not been without a lot of learning though. I feel I'm realizing more and more that the kind of development VSO aim for, which is all about facilitation rather than service delivery, supporting rather than doing, is in fact a subtle art which requires what us CASOs have come to call "a balancing act of patience and persistence". On a personal level, this approach, in working to achieve change through an NGO, the Ghana Education Service and community representatives means you have to step back from the urge or the expectation for you to jump in and lead which can be tricky to navigate. I can advise, facilitate and recommend, but its not for me to decide how things go and when suggestions are dismissed and activities seem ineffective and wasteful of funds, it becomes difficult to keep motivated. Can't say that I'm getting the balance of all this right, but like I said, I'm learning!

Faith in this approach is difficult, partly because although long-term change is not brought about simply by throwing money at a problem or filling skill gaps fleetingly with international volunteers, I think there is an argument for direct service delivery and provision of resources here (for the time being anyway). Schools in Talensi & Nabdam Districts are desperately understaffed, meaning classes are overcrowded, the majority of teachers are untrained, some unpaid, and children are without text books and basic furniture in some schools. The school's hands are tied because they are not allowed to spend their capitation grant on resources which the Government of Ghana is supposed to provide…the problem is that the government don't. The money which the Ghana ploughs into education certainly doesn't seem to reach the schools here in the north. So on a basic level, how can the TENI project measure any improvements in attendance and transition of pupils when only handful of say 30 registers have been provided for all the classes in 69 schools (and that's only Primary, let alone Junior schools, Kindergartens etc)?

The challenges of working here come from a number of places…including from VSO Ghana. Although the programme office staff are lovely, communication and the organizational support to volunteers has so far been below crap, most of it picked up by the fantastic network of volunteers, particularly the volunteer representatives. The saddest thing is the fact that once volunteers are actually here - having jumped through the hoops of recruitment, packed up lives back home and made the commitment to being here - I feel that VSO loses them. I've seen skilled people prepared to work their bums off…leave, work independently of VSO and their placements, or get jobs here instead!

Outside of work, life has been good…and interesting. I've made great friends and am very happy in my relationship. Water, electricity and internet connection can sometimes be an issue but its easy enough to work round it - sometimes by showering outside in the heavy rain when there has been no water from the taps!

There have been some security issues for volunteers which has not left me feeling insecure but kind of unsettled. On the more positive end of it, it's a long story, but I did get to be a part of the police-raid to recover some stolen items from a friend's house and have had an interesting insight into the police service and legal system in Ghana!

Towards the end of September, just before I was due to fly home for a two-week holiday, I got malaria, which seems to catch up to all volunteers here at some point. It was pretty bad and I was worried that I wouldn't make my flight. Luckily, thanks to my boyfriend and my housemate (and in fact a small team of people), I was transported across the border to Burkina Faso, to the airport in Ouagadougou and got on the plane! I was in much better shape by the time I got to the other end where my dad met me and took me straight to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases. My 31st birthday was also spent at the hospital having an abdominal ultra-sound of my "deranged" liver and giving an armful of blood samples. It'll be one to remember! (Thank you Sub and Brooke for being there!)

One of the reasons for the trip home was to try and get some perspective, against the backdrop of all that has been happening, on whether I want to pursue an extension of my placement. Despite the challenging work-environment and feeling increasingly shut out by my placement organization, there are a number of reasons why I would want to stay longer. There are some interesting areas of work that I could get involved in and besides I did actually come here wanting a challenge! I might not have found the challenges I was expecting but that doesn't mean I'm ready to give up just yet. I want to put some of the learning I have done so far into practice and I acknowledge that there is so much more to get my head around and try and make sense of. And of course there is my relationship with Lambert to consider in the balance.

I returned to Ghana having made the decision to aim to stay here for an extra 6 months, so since I've been back I've been exploring possibilities and I'll keep you posted…