A view of the good life

I am a 30 year old white male living in a dominantly black culture. Ghana has become a place of eye opening respect and as well as at time deception. Coming from Calgary just 6 months ago I have learned to appreciate where we come from and what it means to be who you are. I currently work with 500 local people and enjoy the gratification that comes from helping people who really want to have a life that we have taken for granted for to long. I have yet met many Canadians since my arrival, but if you are in the area, drop me a line.Cheers!

So nice to read your message. I am what is being referred nowadays as a new canadian, having born and brought up in Burundi. I see and appreciate lots the privileges that I enjoy as a canadian. Howvere, one tends to take it for granted, and only by comparing it to other places can one really appreciates Canada, its beauty and endless possibilities.
Enjoy your time in Ghana, and bring back to Canada the warmth Ghanaians are known for.

Annick

i am currently in Arica, Chile, where i have lived off and on for the last four years. i am going to Buenos Aires in feb and will return to Canada in june. In the fall i will go to Africa and Ghana is one of the places i have been considering. Can you tell me a little about life there as a volunteer? I will be going with another retired canuck woman.
what is lifestyle like, cost of living, climate, how are foreigners treated? what dangers are there in the form of human, animal, disease, etc? any information u can share wud be greatly appreciated. i really don't want to pay some agency several hundred dollars which is what the web is full of.
muchos gracias,
Dinah

[Hello Dina! I am a french Canadian living in Ghana for 9 months now and I can tell this is a nice place to visit. People are so kind, always smiling, and the nature is so generous that you will love it. You may enjoy beach and sea, wild nature in the North, and crowdy big markets. But, you have to expect low standards in terms of hygiene : this is the difficult part of life here.

Wish you a nice trip to Ghana!

Hi! I am a French Canadian (so don't except a perfect english) living in Awaso, 2 hours drive from Kumasi, and 7 from Accra. My 2 children, my husband and I enjoy life in a small community surrounded by tropical forest. We don't have the chance to meet many canadians here : we, and another family, are the only white and expat people.

I want to know how is life in Accra. Are people so respectfull of hierarchy that you feel alone in your small world? Is it easy to make friends with ghanean people? My husband is CFO for a canadian mining company, and everybody living here is working in this business. So, all relationships are colored with the job status and make it difficult. We are not free to choose. How are woman in Accra? Are they going out of their houses sometimes? In here, we don't see them : even for official dinners, they stay home. So I don't have too much friends.

And also, tell me about the golf course in Accra. Have you been there? We have a 9 hole course on the top of our small hill. We sometimes go to Accra,usually for travelling, and maybe we will try it.

You talk about deception : mine is all about schools in here. It's so poor. No water, no toilets, even no books or walls around classes. But how to change all this? It's too big for one to do. Anyway, I try to cope with those lacks and hope that children in here will find a better life.

Bye! Give some news,

I am a 30 year old white male living in a dominantly black culture. Ghana has become a place of eye opening respect and as well as at time deception. Coming from Calgary just 6 months ago I have learned to appreciate where we come from and what it means to be who you are. I currently work with 500 local people and enjoy the gratification that comes from helping people who really want to have a life that we have taken for granted for to long. I have yet met many Canadians since my arrival, but if you are in the area, drop me a line.Cheers!

Hello all,

I just joined the site today. I am living in Kumasi with my fiance and working at an international school here. I have been here only since January 2008. So far, life is good but I do have the occasional pang for home. This weekend was a low point for me. I was living in Toronto just before coming to Ghana. It is the simple things I miss - going to Tim Hortons's or Second Cup for a coffee and a sweet, walking to the mall, reliable water and electricity supplies. Sigh. Anywho, my life is still good here though. I agree that living here gives you a real appreciation for what we have in Canada.

So far, I have also met a number of great people - local and international. There is even one Canadian who works at the same school as I do! Neat, eh? Fortunately, Kumasi is a large enough city that I can still enjoy some of the comforts so I really feel for you in the small mining community. But I do hear you about the hierarchy. I had one of the teachers here curtsy to me! We are about women, about the same age, maybe I am 5 years older. But because I have a higher position I suppose, she thought it was necessary. Very, very strange and uncomfortable.

Well, I look forward to chats and sharing.

Kindest regards,
Nicola