Two local women leave for volunteer trip in Ghana

On Saturday last, Athlone natives Ellen Barrett and Katriona Donohoe set off on a 26-hour journey from Ireland to Ghana, where they will be working as volunteers for the next six weeks. Speaking to the Westmeath Independent in advance of the trip, Ellen said she was "excited but nervous" and "not fully sure what to expect." The Coosan resident recently completed her second year of a Nutrition and Dietetics course which is run jointly by DIT and Trinity College. A former Our Lady's Bower student, she is the daughter of Mary and the late Colin. Ellen has had an interest in volunteer service for some time, having helped out with St Hilda's Services when in Transition Year and at the Simon Community Shop in Athlone more recently. Travel is another passion of hers, so the trip to Ghana was a perfect opportunity to combine an experience of the West African country with helping others. "It's my ambition to travel and see as much of the world as possible before I have to settle down and start being responsible," she remarked. Both she and her friend Katriona, who is from Mount Temple, will live with a host family in Ghana and work at an orphanage. They will help children get ready for school, wash clothes, assist in the kitchen, play with the younger children, and carry out some basic teaching. The trip has been arranged through the Cork-based EIL Intercultural Learning organisation. It arranged an induction event prior to the trip which, Ellen said, outlined some shocking statistics such as the fact that 40% of the world's population lives on less than $2 a day. "It really brought home the gap between rich and poor, and the fact that so many people are living in the kind of poverty that we, in Ireland, would find hard to imagine. "EIL knows that in six weeks I probably won't make a big difference to people's lives in Ghana, so one of the most important aspects of this trip is raising awareness of the issues when I'm at home." Asked about the kind of conditions she expects to find in Ghana, she replied: "I'm expecting mud huts and mud roads, but I don't know exactly what to expect. I'm sure there is a gap between rich and poor within Ghana itself. "We are staying with a host family in a house which has a proper toilet, which I wasn't sure it would have, but the family still cooks with a coal pot over a fire." The orphanage where Ellen and Katriona will work is entitled Anja's Children's Home and it's located three and a half hours north of the capital city, Accra. It is home to twelve boys and six girls, aged from 5-16. Ellen had to receive eight different vaccines before setting off for Africa. When asked if she was looking forward to the experience, she said: "I'm excited about it but I'm also nervous. "I'm not worried about getting sick or about it being unsafe, I just don't know how big of a culture shock it will be." Ellen expressed her thanks to everyone who provided her with sponsorship. She plans to keep a diary while in Ghana, and she will discuss her experience in a follow-up article in the Westmeath Independent when she returns home.