Tribe Ghana - Day 5: Tuesday

Today was our sports day and our second day of camp!
The day began normally with a ruach session where all the kids got excited and split into their teams. Each group made a flag and a chant for their team – encouraging them to work together as a group and raise their competitive spirit. It was really important for us to make activities that were not only fun but also sustainable, in the sense that the Ghanaians would be able to replicate the activities once the camp ended.
The first station was the relay races. Here, we used empty water sachets, which would usually have just been thrown on the floor. However, the aim of our camp was to have a sustainable impact that would remain prevalent in the future. Thus, we have been encouraging the children to put their water sachets in the bin, rather than throw them on the floor and the relay races showed that waste could be used to have fun.
We were also taught a game by the Ghanaian leaders, called Ampe - a traditional game which is played regularly. It is really fun and requires a lot of energy. The Ghanaian children and leaders really liked that we learnt and enjoyed their game. In return, we taught them cricket football; a game that was enjoyed as much as Ampe. One of the most satisfying moments of the day was to see the Ghanaians set up a game of football cricket of their own accord during some free time. This showed that we really were teaching them something.
After a few more rotations, our second amazing day of camp came to an end with each group performing their chants to everybody else and some children summarising what they had learnt that day. We had an amazing day and it was a pleasure to see the smiles and enjoyment on the kids’ faces, but our minds always drifted back to the fact that not everything was actually so joyful. The reality was that most kids received little attention from their parents. We would see children aged 5 years old looking after babies of 5 months. The lack of maternal love is truly upsetting. 
Seeing such a problem left many of us feeling an urge to cause a change. So, whilst we have hugely enjoyed the first two days of camp so far, we are excited for what the rest of the week will bring and we hope that we will make a noticeable change.

By Alex and Emmanuelle


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