Are you thinking of coming to us as a volunteer? Be inspired by the thoughts and experiences of previous volunteers!

"From Ghana a bright December morning to Sweden, a dark December night. Separate worlds under the same sky, on the same planet. It is hard to imagine that 4 weeks ago I left the other side of the equator where I spent 3 months of my life. I do not regret a second.
It is difficult to put words into the time I spent on African soil. My stay at the orphanage is one of the best things I have done and I am so grateful that I got the chance to just get there. Now I am home again with lessons and friends for life.
 
Somehow I ended up in Ghana, it was not so planned, I mostly just booked and went without knowing what to expect. What I had given myself into. Every day, I needed to get outside my comfort zone, but that's how you grow. My patience was tested every day but it always gave me a sense of gratitude, perhaps a gratitude for being needed.
I had ambitions to do a lot of different things and activities with the children, I was hoping to get get under their skin so that they could feel secure and that they would like to let me into their world. I was hoping to get the children laugh. I was hoping that my stay at the orphanage would give ME a new perspective on how I live my life. But nothing was as I had imagined, but that does not mean anything negative. On the contrary. My stay at Tina’s Childcare was absolutely fantastic. I never believed that these people would mean so much to me and that they would have such a great place in my heart.
Three months under the sun of Africa I learned about life, people and myself, while I got friends and experiences I'm sure I will never forget. "
/ Elin
Volunteer September - November 2017
 

“Joy, love and many fun moments are what characterize my journey as a volunteer in Ghana. And of course some tears, feelings and new perspectives. The tears and feelings came mainly when I was going home and looked through all the pictures when I was waiting for my departure at the airport in Accra. Five hours of waiting was nearly five hours of tears. Tears that somehow changed my life. When, with a little distance, I look back at my time at the orphanage, it is of course a feeling of missing them, but also a feeling of joy and gratitude for having met the world's most wonderful children and stay with them for three weeks.
 
 So far, this is one of my best and strongest experiences in my 23-year-old life and when I got home I immediately started thinking about when I would go back. I promised the children that I would come back in one to two years and of course I do not want to disappoint them. Getting the opportunity to socialize with the children constantly during these weeks on equal terms where learning and love were mutual is what I find to be the finest with my journey. I went during the children's summer holidays which meant that I had extra many lovely moments with the children.
Playing, wrestling, hanging, squinting, playing different ball sports, chasing each other, talking, learning, painting, drawing, climbing papaya trees, harvesting corn and much more has never been as fun as during this trip. Sometimes I felt like a child (type when we had a chocolate war or when we chased each other four laps around the house) and I am convinced that it gives one so much more, but also the children. Finding the balance between the adult who supports, comforts and is just available and the one who become a child again makes all parties get more out of it.
During the trip I also had the opportunity to make purchases for the orphanage for the money I had collected. An experience and challenge in itself, but the gratitude and joy of the children and moms (who, incidentally, are fantastic - what super women) showed, made it worth every battle over prices and it was also worth every single meter with things on the head. Just the gratitude for so little is something that I am inspired by and bring me back to Sweden.
Susanna and Tessa, the work you do is fantastic and I am so inspired by your vision and everything you accomplish. Having the opportunity to be in place, it somehow becomes even more inspiring, as I have experienced it myself and seen the cultural differences that sometimes make things more difficult than they should be. I follow you with excitement and hope to contribute to your work for a long time to come.
And do you know what? I am convinced that children's joy and curiosity can change the world! "
 
/Dino Jahic
Volonteer August 2017

Doing a volunteer trip has not been a matter of course to me. A year ago at this time, the idea was to make such a journey was nothing I was thinking of. I also think I never used the word. But if I have learned one thing it is; never to say never. Before you know it you stand there and do exactly what you said you would never do. That is exactly what happened to me. The person who was so against to it would now be in Ghana for three full months! Once there, I met the finest, most wonderful, most curious, most fun, happy children. My time there was not without challenge, but at the same time, it is one of the most important and wonderful experiences. What made me do this trip and choose this particular project?
A few years ago I read an article about Susanna. The article made a big impression on me, but how big I would not know until a few years later. I remember thinking how cool and courageous Susanna is, being a young woman starting an orphanage in Africa. A few years later, I seriously started thinking about being a volunteer for a period. However, I had my reservations to make a volunteer trip. For me to be a volunteer, I felt that the project I was going to go to had to engage me and I had to get the right feeling. For me, it was important that I shared the project's vision and that I felt initial trust in the people who ran it. After some searching online, I found the "Together as One" website where I read about Susanna and Tessa and all the amazing work they do in Ghana. I recognized Susanna's name and remembered the article I read a few years earlier. The project "Together as One" then became the obvious choice for me. The article had made such a strong and positive impression that I had no doubt that this was the right choice.
I left without knowing what to expect. It is difficult to imagine or prepare for what awaits one and what I would experience. Therefore, I went into it with an open mind. I experienced many nice and happy moments. There has been a lot of laughter, tears, play and hugs. Washing, washing clothes and cooking has never been as enjoyable as the moments when I did all this together with the kids. There were also times when I could feel a strong sense of frustration and sorrow but at the same time feel so much joy and love. The kids made my stay there unforgettable and something I will always carry with me in my heart. But also to meet Tessa and Susanna personally and meet other fantastic volunteers has helped make this trip memorable and inspiring. In the meeting with all these nice people I got to learn a lot which is something I appreciate and value a lot! Above all, the children taught me how to feel joy for small things. From Tessa and Susanna I learned the amazing thing you can do if you have the courage and the will to go beyond yourself and genuinely work to improve the living conditions of others and the life conditions. A job that is not the easiest many times and not without its challenges.
Many thanks to Tessa and Susanna for letting me come to the orpanaghe. You are fantastic enthusiasts and inspirers! I feel a lot of gratitude to the children who welcomed me with open arms. You are the finest and most wonderful I met! Thanks to the moms who were so keen of my well-being there. And last, to all volunteers I met for your fellowship and support. You are amazing people! "
 
/ Cibelle Chaocheva
Volunteer January - April 2017

"Since I finished my education as a dance leader in 2014, the moment when I danced together with the children at Royal best hope school is among the finest and most enjoyable I have done. What I teach is called Zumba and means that I mix several different dance styles from Latin America in one session.
Before the session I was nervous as I did not know how the children would react to neither the music nor the movements since they had never tested it before, but as soon as we started and I could see the joy and hear all the laughter the nervousness released. I am both happy and grateful that I have got the opportunity to experience this together with the children and I will always remember the moment we had together! "

/ Angelica Gullborn
Volunteer March-April 2017

"For just over two years ago, I decided to go as a volunteer to Shalom orphanage in Kofi Ansah, which was run by Susanna from Together As One. To go as a volunteer was something I had wanted to do for a long time and when I found out about this non-profit work it felt like a matter of course that it was where I wanted to go. It was a very unique and fantastic experience I got with me from my weeks in Kofi Ansah and when I went home I felt immediately that I wanted to go back. So now just over two years later I got the opportunity to go back but this time to Tina’s Childcare.  I once again felt how much I enjoy Ghana and its culture. Although I had been in Ghana before there will always be a new experience in this eventful country. A feeling I immediately once again felt when I came to Tina’s Childcare was the familiar atmosphere, the fellowship between the three fantastic moms who work at the orphanage and the wonderful kids. You become part of the great lovely family.
It is an indescribable special feeling filled with love and the connection you get with the children. Many fun and cozy moments when we together do the jumping rope, swing and play out in the yard or when we draw, fold boxes and airplanes, or when we a Saturday afternoon just watch movies with the kids and just chill out. Something that  a child needs and what I think is very, is to be there, available for them, talk about everything between heaven and earth and just hug and feel each other's presence  creates a sense of security. To just be there for the kids, to comfort, to find activities and games, to help them with their homework. There is a lot that you take for granted that a child should have and need which is not always a matter of course here. Then you really feel that you are needed and available when needed. In this environment, it is also easy to find pleasure in such simple chores as doing dishes and washing clothes, as many laughs are exchanged when they see our lack of techniques and ability to do in Ghanaian way. Which is nevertheless received with joy and gratitude.
You get to see and learn a lot that you can never imagine if you are not in the middle of it and get to experience it. A lot of laughter and joy as well as frustration. But despite the great cultural difference that one can have difficulty understanding, I still felt found it meaningful and filled with so much love.
A great experience was also to experience two different kinds of travels in Ghana, to live a little more primitive in Kofi Ansah inside the rainforest and to stay at Tina’s Childcare a bit more in the open countryside with a little more facilities. And that I also had to meet some of the children from Kofi Ansah who now have Togehter As One's foster family support was great fun. Reuniting after two years was a special and emotional feeling, to see how they had grown and safe they have become and to see that they despite all the circumstances had once again got a good life.
I am so happy and grateful that I have experienced and been part of all this and I never stop marveling about the amazing work Tessa and Susanna have accomplished, and to see that they work daily and have dedicated their lives for this work gives an incredible security and personal touch in their commitment. An amazing experience and memory for life and again I was longing to go back when I left Ghana. "
 
/ Moa Lofterud
Volunteer October 2016