The late return last night meant it was time for a well-deserved lie in today. Luckily there was no reason to rush anywhere, since the first item on our schedule was a meeting at 2pm with the Executive of Ghana’s new Youth Parliament.

We got a taxi to the offices of the National Youth Council, where the appointment was taking place. Everyone was a little late, but we still managed to thoroughly discuss the main topic: visiting the UKYP National Sitting in July. We had to go through all the fine details with budget and visa arrangements, so these can be worked on next week. Hopefully the government will provide funding for the five-person delegation, or three or four at the very least.

Ghana’s National Youth Council is located right next to one of Accra’s main sports complexes; I had seen people playing football from a window and wanted to check it out. I even got to play tennis for a while after the club coach generously said it was OK, despite the fact I wasn’t a registered member.

My partner was a young guy called Francis, who told me all about the tennis situation in Ghana. Apparently it’s quite popular – I could see this from the amount of people waiting to use the two club courts. I don’t know why, but I hadn’t really expected this to be the case. Ghana does have great conditions for tennis, but this was the first time I’d seen any courts. They were being very well-used though, so I suppose it must be the same wherever facilities are available.

Unfortunately it got dark around six o’clock so we had to stop the game. This was still a cool experience though, and hopefully there will be time to go back again. One unusual luxury the players enjoyed was having ball boys available to collect the balls. I’d never had this before, something Francis found quite surprising. He told me the children were always there; it was their only way to generate income. So, while it might be fun for the club members to have this service available, the dark side is that these kids don’t have any education or proper kind of job.

This evening I went with Kwame to a sports bar on the site of the Paloma Hotel, where I spent my first night in Ghana. As soon as I stepped inside I was hit by the westernisation of the place. For the first time since I’ve been here, Ghanaian people were in the minority; the only natives around were serving drinks. The clientele were all tourists of the kind I don’t really like. I think they were mostly British – British tourists always seem to have some kind of presence I can detect and don’t appreciate. It may seem silly for me to say that, but I don’t regard myself as a tourist, especially in the circumstances of why I am in Ghana. Also, whenever I visit anywhere, I deliberately try not to follow the beaten paths of tourism. Yes, seeing some famous sites is always worthwhile, but the rest of the time I like exploring the native culture and learning about how people live. A nice tan is not top of my priority list. Unlike most tourists, who don’t care if everyone can see they’re from abroad, I try to be inconspicuous (very hard in Africa though, obviously, but Europe is a different story). When I get home from a trip, I want to be able to say I’ve had a truly unique experience – not the same as all the other visitors who were there. That’s the way to travel.

Anyway, we didn’t stay at that place very long. After getting soundly beaten at foosball for the third game by the same opponents, it was time to go home. The sports bar was too much like places I see all the time in London and hanging out in similar environments to what you’re used to is not good activity when in other countries.

Today was a landmark date for me. It’s exactly a year since my last exam at school. Wow. I can still remember the cascades of relief when I finished the Politics paper, stepping out of the classroom into the afternoon sun and knowing I was free. That was June 30, 2005. Back then I could not possibly have anticipated all that has transpired in the intervening time. Who could have predicted I would be in Ghana, or that I would have been in more than 20 countries overall? After that exam all I could think about was hurrying back home to get ready for the end-of-school boat party.

One thing is for sure: I wouldn’t change the way anything happened in that year, or swap the experience for any other. I’ve learnt so much more than I could have imagined – about myself as much as anything else – and in terms of life experience I’ve learnt more than I ever did in all my time at school. My life has changed in lots of major ways, especially in terms of how I’m planning to spend the rest of it. Taking time away from study has really broadened my perspectives and there have been some truly unforgettable moments along the way. Not to say it’s over yet though, I still have three months left!

The late return last night meant it was time for a well-deserved lie in today. Luckily there was no reason to rush anywhere, since the first item on our schedule was a meeting at 2pm with the Executive of Ghana’s new Youth Parliament.

We got a taxi to the offices of the National Youth Council, where the appointment was taking place. Everyone was a little late, but we still managed to thoroughly discuss the main topic: visiting the UKYP National Sitting in July. We had to go through all the fine details with budget and visa arrangements, so these can be worked on next week. Hopefully the government will provide funding for the five-person delegation, or three or four at the very least.

Ghana’s National Youth Council is located right next to one of Accra’s main sports complexes; I had seen people playing football from a window and wanted to check it out. I even got to play tennis for a while after the club coach generously said it was OK, despite the fact I wasn’t a registered member.

My partner was a young guy called Francis, who told me all about the tennis situation in Ghana. Apparently it’s quite popular – I could see this from the amount of people waiting to use the two club courts. I don’t know why, but I hadn’t really expected this to be the case. Ghana does have great conditions for tennis, but this was the first time I’d seen any courts. They were being very well-used though, so I suppose it must be the same wherever facilities are available.

Unfortunately it got dark around six o’clock so we had to stop the game. This was still a cool experience though, and hopefully there will be time to go back again. One unusual luxury the players enjoyed was having ball boys available to collect the balls. I’d never had this before, something Francis found quite surprising. He told me the children were always there; it was their only way to generate income. So, while it might be fun for the club members to have this service available, the dark side is that these kids don’t have any education or proper kind of job.

This evening I went with Kwame to a sports bar on the site of the Paloma Hotel, where I spent my first night in Ghana. As soon as I stepped inside I was hit by the westernisation of the place. For the first time since I’ve been here, Ghanaian people were in the minority; the only natives around were serving drinks. The clientele were all tourists of the kind I don’t really like. I think they were mostly British – British tourists always seem to have some kind of presence I can detect and don’t appreciate. It may seem silly for me to say that, but I don’t regard myself as a tourist, especially in the circumstances of why I am in Ghana. Also, whenever I visit anywhere, I deliberately try not to follow the beaten paths of tourism. Yes, seeing some famous sites is always worthwhile, but the rest of the time I like exploring the native culture and learning about how people live. A nice tan is not top of my priority list. Unlike most tourists, who don’t care if everyone can see they’re from abroad, I try to be inconspicuous (very hard in Africa though, obviously, but Europe is a different story). When I get home from a trip, I want to be able to say I’ve had a truly unique experience – not the same as all the other visitors who were there. That’s the way to travel.

Anyway, we didn’t stay at that place very long. After getting soundly beaten at foosball for the third game by the same opponents, it was time to go home. The sports bar was too much like places I see all the time in London and hanging out in similar environments to what you’re used to is not good activity when in other countries.

Today was a landmark date for me. It’s exactly a year since my last exam at school. Wow. I can still remember the cascades of relief when I finished the Politics paper, stepping out of the classroom into the afternoon sun and knowing I was free. That was June 30, 2005. Back then I could not possibly have anticipated all that has transpired in the intervening time. Who could have predicted I would be in Ghana, or that I would have been in more than 20 countries overall? After that exam all I could think about was hurrying back home to get ready for the end-of-school boat party.

One thing is for sure: I wouldn’t change the way anything happened in that year, or swap the experience for any other. I’ve learnt so much more than I could have imagined – about myself as much as anything else – and in terms of life experience I’ve learnt more than I ever did in all my time at school. My life has changed in lots of major ways, especially in terms of how I’m planning to spend the rest of it. Taking time away from study has really broadened my perspectives and there have been some truly unforgettable moments along the way. Not to say it’s over yet though, I still have three months left!

Our day began with an early appointment to meet the Kpando District Chief Executive, Pius Adanuti Kwami, who had kindly agreed to be interviewed for the documentary. Although our 8.30 start time became somewhat delayed, we got more than just an interview. The DEC invited other members of his staff into the spacious office and convened a panel discussion which was chaired by Kwame. I really enjoyed hearing everyone’s views on youth involvement, with the Chief Exec repeatedly describing young people as “agents of change”. Even better was the fact I knew there was a will behind the words, a commitment to action. What a breath of fresh air from the negativity I experience a lot at home.

As for the projects, they were all amazing again. Edem and his brother took us round in the same small, battered white car, which felt a little closer to falling apart every time we hit a pothole in the road. The driver seemed to have an almost mystical connection with the vehicle; I don’t think anyone else would have been able to control it in the same way. This kind of limit to resources is the sad story of youth activities across the road.

Project number one was another education initiative being organised by local volunteers. Their teaching and hard work gives opportunities to so many children, many of whom spoke about ambitions to be doctors or teachers. Free breakfast is also provided and this is a great incentive to attend. Lunch is available at only 2,000 cedis; one reason this is so cheap is that the ingredients are grown in fields adjacent to the school premises, with some of the crop sold off to subsidise its operations. Scholarships donated by supporters in the USA have been made available to the poorest families and highest achieving children as well. I think this project is a little more advanced than the similar initiative we saw in Kramokom; hopefully they will both keep growing and improving.

The next two sites we visited were agricultural initiatives. First we learnt about a pineapple and mango farm which is run almost exclusively by female volunteers. They are getting very good business and when I tasted some pineapple I understood why. Simply delicious. We ten visited another plantation nearby, where okro is grown. Profits from both of these ventures are used to reward the local volunteers and develop their communities.

Our host Edem, the man behind much of this great work, explained to us how he has established a youth coalition in Kpando. The operation is similar to what Kwame does at a national level with the Global Youth Action Network and I believe these efforts are essential. It is vitally important to share knowledge and information in order to succeed with these programmes. Edem would not have been able to five us such a good tour of activities if it had not been for his efforts to create the coalition. Long may it continue!

So that’s the end of another productive day. The small car was very happy to get home – its engine emitted a shrill whistling sound of jubilation. We had a bit of rain earlier which disrupted the filming, but thankfully it was nothing major. They delay just meant a slightly later return to Accra (arriving around 10.30pm) after an exhilarating nighttime ride through the Ghanaian countryside. For some reason I always think everything is more exciting when it’s dark outside.

Our day began with an early appointment to meet the Kpando District Chief Executive, Pius Adanuti Kwami, who had kindly agreed to be interviewed for the documentary. Although our 8.30 start time became somewhat delayed, we got more than just an interview. The DEC invited other members of his staff into the spacious office and convened a panel discussion which was chaired by Kwame. I really enjoyed hearing everyone’s views on youth involvement, with the Chief Exec repeatedly describing young people as “agents of change”. Even better was the fact I knew there was a will behind the words, a commitment to action. What a breath of fresh air from the negativity I experience a lot at home.

As for the projects, they were all amazing again. Edem and his brother took us round in the same small, battered white car, which felt a little closer to falling apart every time we hit a pothole in the road. The driver seemed to have an almost mystical connection with the vehicle; I don’t think anyone else would have been able to control it in the same way. This kind of limit to resources is the sad story of youth activities across the road.

Project number one was another education initiative being organised by local volunteers. Their teaching and hard work gives opportunities to so many children, many of whom spoke about ambitions to be doctors or teachers. Free breakfast is also provided and this is a great incentive to attend. Lunch is available at only 2,000 cedis; one reason this is so cheap is that the ingredients are grown in fields adjacent to the school premises, with some of the crop sold off to subsidise its operations. Scholarships donated by supporters in the USA have been made available to the poorest families and highest achieving children as well. I think this project is a little more advanced than the similar initiative we saw in Kramokom; hopefully they will both keep growing and improving.

The next two sites we visited were agricultural initiatives. First we learnt about a pineapple and mango farm which is run almost exclusively by female volunteers. They are getting very good business and when I tasted some pineapple I understood why. Simply delicious. We ten visited another plantation nearby, where okro is grown. Profits from both of these ventures are used to reward the local volunteers and develop their communities.

Our host Edem, the man behind much of this great work, explained to us how he has established a youth coalition in Kpando. The operation is similar to what Kwame does at a national level with the Global Youth Action Network and I believe these efforts are essential. It is vitally important to share knowledge and information in order to succeed with these programmes. Edem would not have been able to five us such a good tour of activities if it had not been for his efforts to create the coalition. Long may it continue!

So that’s the end of another productive day. The small car was very happy to get home – its engine emitted a shrill whistling sound of jubilation. We had a bit of rain earlier which disrupted the filming, but thankfully it was nothing major. They delay just meant a slightly later return to Accra (arriving around 10.30pm) after an exhilarating nighttime ride through the Ghanaian countryside. For some reason I always think everything is more exciting when it’s dark outside.

After enjoying relative relaxation in Accra since last Saturday, it was time to hit the road again. We travelled to Kpando in the Volta region to find out about youth projects being run in the city and its surrounding area.

The bus journey took up most of our day, so it was relieving to finally step outside into a pleasant evening breeze. Kwame’s colleague Edem picked us up in a small white car from the centre of town and took us to his place for dinner.

It was nice not being the only person who can’t understand a language for once: in this area of Ghana there is a different local tongue, so Kwame joined me in cluelessness at what people were saying. Actually I quite like this element of being in foreign countries. Sometimes it’s great not to hear every random conversation going on, like finding out details of what this man is making for dinner tonight or how that woman’s day at work got messed up by the next scoundrel in the office.

Anyway, the rest of our evening was spent first relaxing in our accommodation at a small lodge, then visiting a local bar to meet up with a crew of American volunteers working at the local hospital. They love what they do to help people in need – I could easily detect that from how gruesome medical stories were shared with relentless enthusiasm – and it’s clear they are making a real difference at the same time. Many were saying how important it is for med students to see the ways their profession works in other parts of the world and I think that applies to many trades and occupations – just like youth activism.

One of the guys had a grim tale to tell. The previous week he’d been infected with malaria. Thankfully he was feeling better now and had the right medication to stay well, but it’s sadly ironic for someone visiting a country to help improve the health of its people to be struck by such a malady. It’s also a timely reminder that you have to be careful. Obsessively careful. I’ve been on medication since before leaving and will continue taking daily pills for a few weeks after getting back. At night it’s also very important to use spray repellents and sleep under a protective mosquito net treated with anti-insect chemicals.

Tomorrow has a very busy schedule. We’re going to film projects at three different locations before heading back to Accra in the evening. I can’t wait to learn more about the youth activities in this area; tonight was hopefully just the beginning of another awesome experience.