Neil Wotherspoon, Associate Chartered Building Surveyor at AECOM, Edinburgh, tells us about his two weeks volunteering in Ghana for Sabre.

“I wanted to get outside my comfort zone and do something I had never done before. Through AECOM’s partnership with Sabre, I knew about the charity’s work and the opportunity to use my professional expertise to help improve education for children in Ghana.

I didn’t really have any idea of what to expect in Ghana, I’d never been anywhere in Africa before and I can say my first half an hour in Ghana was certainly an experience. Unbeknown to me, I had arrived at the same time as  popular Accra football team, Hearts of Oak, were returning home after a famous victory and there were literally hundreds of people waiting outside the airport. The atmosphere was electric, with people playing drums, whistling and dancing, I’d never seen anything like that before.

I had an idea then that the football strips I’d brought as a gift to the site team would go down well and they were delighted with them. The football scarves got a slightly more confused response, but they were still put to good use as comfy pillows!

I had agreed a variety of tasks with the Sabre team before I arrived in Ghana to make the best use of my skills and time there. I helped with overall construction and specifically the roof trusses on site at OLA Kindergarten Centre of Excellence and used my surveying skills to survey two proposed sites for Sabre’s proposed Sustainable Education Centre. AECOM are assisting Sabre with the initial master planning and cost analysis of the development, it was important to gather as much information as possible to assist the AECOM team in the UK.

I also visited a number of schools in and around Elmina and surveyed the schools, looking at the facilities they had with a view to establishing external learning spaces. I really enjoyed this and without sounding clichéd meeting the local children was so rewarding. I have had to visit schools in the UK before and visiting schools in Ghana is a world apart, the energy, enthusiasm and positivity the children had was infectious. In fact, everyone was really positive, the whole Sabre team, led by Nick and Lawrence, [Sabre’s Brighter Futures Programme Manager and Construction Projects Manager] had a real passion for improving education in Ghana. AECOM’s Architectural team are working with Sabre to design sustainable and innovative external learning spaces, so I will be working with the AECOM team to help design external spaces features and training tools that utilise local materials.

I also assisted Nick and Lawrence on Sabre’s Teacher Training Programme, while visiting the schools above I surveyed the schools and drafted sketches of classrooms to ascertain the physical space per pupil and natural levels of light and ventilation.

I shared accommodation with Mike and Alfred, who are graduate Ghanaian site managers working for Sabre. I really enjoyed spending my evenings chatting about Ghana, their studies and hearing about how hard they have worked to get their qualifications and all the studying they have done and how things differed between Ghana and the UK. Alfred was also a keen Chelsea FC supporter so it was great to discuss a successful season for the Blues.

I enjoyed experiencing the Ghanaian culture which I found to be very welcoming and sociable. I was cautious with food to start with, but was soon enjoying some local dishes. My favourite meal was one of plantain and beans that we had on site, which cost me just 30 peswas – about 6p! – also the Ghanaian doughnuts, bought  from a lady who had them piled  in a huge bowl on her head at the side of the road, which were a little heavier than ours and no jam but equally good.

The highlight of my time there was staying at Stumble Inn, which is a travellers retreat about 15 minutes from Elmina, on the weekend, and after not being able to sleep I sat on the beach and watched the sun rise, it was absolutely stunning and gave me a chance to reflect.

If anyone asks me about volunteering with Sabre in Ghana, I’d say go for it! – It was an amazing experience. Certainly for my AECOM colleagues, there are so many skilled and technical professionals who could offer so much to these projects and would get so much back in return.”