Written By: Fides Knebel

Hello everyone,
I am Fides Knebel, 18 years old and I come from Hamburg, a city in the north of Germany. In this article, I would like to tell you about my experiences over the last two months in Ghana, most of which I spent with the Elfacares Foundation organization.

The idea of coming to Ghana and volunteering with Elfacares Foundation was actually born out of a joke. When my friend Jorin, who is volunteering with Elfacares Foundation for a year, and I were talking about our plans after leaving school, it turned out that we were both going to Africa. He was going to Ghana and I was going to Rwanda. But as I was only planning to go to Rwanda for three months, I jokingly said: “Then I can stop by again on my way home”.

The fact that it really worked out now and that I came to Ghana means a lot to me, because as it turned out, this stay was much more than just a stopover on the way home and I was much more than just a visitor.

When I first walked through the streets of Kisseman, the community of course didn’t know me yet and I was often called “Auntie Lilly” (the name of the other German volunteers). However, the more I helped shape and support Elfacares Foundation’s programs, the more the children in particular got to know me better and so I was very happy when I was called “Auntie Fides” for the first time.

Fit4Fun was the first project I got to know and it immediately gave me great pleasure. The children bring so much joy and fun that I always go home after training with more motivation and energy for the next time.

I also supported the “Dzidefo Girls Club”, Elfacares Foundation’s women empowerment project. It was great for me to see how the girls can freely develop and strengthen their self-confidence here. To strengthen them physically as well, I developed a self-defense class in which the girls learnt how to avoid and fend off physical assaults. Not only is it a very important topic, it was also great fun for everyone.

During my time here at Elfacares Foundation, I was not only able to support the existing programs, but also implement my own ideas. I developed a workshop under the motto “How to become a hero”, where the children learnt about first aid and now know how to act in dangerous situations and save lives. I was very pleased to see how open everyone was to new ideas and how I was able to enrich the organization with my personal interests.

Throughout this time, wherever I went, I felt very welcome and supported. People were interested in getting to know me and were open to my questions. This is especially true of the Elfacares Foundation people. I am very grateful to be a member of these motivated and warm teams.

Even though I have been back in Germany for days now, my time at Elfacares Foundation is not over! I have learnt a lot during this time and I am happy to be able to continue supporting Elfacares Foundation with these skills. I organized a charity run here in my home town, the aim of which was to draw as much attention as possible to the great work that Elfacares Foundation does and to support it.

Thank you for reading!