Dear FS
Boy oh boy have I learnt a lot about this organisation I’m volunteering with.
So first of all, yesterdays day at work was a lot more productive, I went for ward rounds with the nice male doctor, and he was really descriptive and taught me a lot. Due to the hospital being based in a more rural area, everyone just speaks twi. The patients, the doctors, the mosquitos. So in order for me to understand the medical stuff that’s going on, the doctor has to literally translate everything that’s said to him by patients, nurses and patient relatives, into english for me. And he did just that! What a kind man.
Some more positives about yesterday was the fact that:
- Fred arranged a taxi for me to be taking to work for the duration of my trip
- I did my first poo after a long while.
- My host mum made a yummy lunch and an even yummier dinner last night.
I left work feeling a lot more positive about life yesterday. Changing your mindset to positive thinking despite external circumstances can actually really help you know. Also, I think that my new hair has helped with my newfound positivity. I got a cornrow ponytail done last night, and now I literally feel like ‘new hair, new me’. Even though the hair was initially giving me aunty vibes, I now feel like I look like a Ghanaian bad bish, and this has given me more confidence!!!!
……………………….
Me and Toby (host family’s neighbour) had a really interesting chat about Fred.
It started when I asked Toby for his opinion of me paying £280 (2000 cedis) for a two day trip to the Cape Coast with Fred’s voluntary organisation. Toby said that 2000 cedis is wayyyy too much; even half of that would be more than enough for me to go there and back comfortably.
I then revealed to Toby that I had paid about 3500 cedis for this whole project trip. He was shocked! Apparently, Fred only gives host mum Eve 20 cedis a night for hosting me. I was horrified at first, but then thought okay, she’s getting about 600 cedis in total for my stay here. However, compared to the 3500 that I paid, and I know that Fred barely has any operational costs (no OVOM building, no official OVOM mode of transport like a van or car. I just kNOW he runs the whole organisation from his laptop at home), what is my remaining money going towards?
I know for a fact that the hospital would not have asked for a penny for me to just be there in the background shadowing the healthcare professionals like I’m doing. And even if there was a cost for my observing, it would not be up to 1000 cedis, or even 500 cedis for the duration of me being here.
Another thing that Toby revealed to me that I was surprised about was the fact that apparently Fred only pays host mum Eve every 2 weeks and even then, he slacks with it. When it’s time for payment, Eve will have to be calling and calling him before he would take any action. Apparently when he does eventually pay, he’s always complaining that money is short.
When I told Toby that Fred had made me pay the complete cost for this programme by a deadline like 3 months ago, he was shocked. How is Fred paying my host mum in 2 week installments, complaining that money is tight, when I paid the whole cost 3 months ago? See, this is why I no longer trust Fred. I thought this was a not for profit organisation, but clearly I was wrong. It’s a very for profit, money orientated, cunning business operation. This has now put me off giving this con artist (as Chindim calls him) any more of my money, and thus puts me off going on his fake NGO’s Cape Coast tour. Imagine paying an extra 2000 cedis to spend a whole weekend with a man you do not trust! NO thankyou!
flightsbyadebisi 