(published for Ishmael Dotse)

Dear friends,

Grace and peace be unto you.

Having lived over two decades of my life in the tropics, the climate shock I experienced was not that intense during the summer season. I was amazed about the prolonged hours of daylight as compared to the short hours of darkness, notwithstanding I adjusted quickly. Eventually, summer was over and we made a transition into Autumn. I began experiencing intense climate shocks, the weather was becoming cold and cold as the days came by which translated into a complete change in costume everyday. Decrease in day length and increase in night lengths. Nature and the trees are even singing the melodies of Autumn which is spectacular. The colour of the leaves keep changing to orange brown and can’t stop falling to the ground. This is very significant for me because, it resonates with the fact that as humans we also go through seasons of life and each season comes with it’s peculiar purpose.

We attended a mid-term seminar in Wuppertal where we had the opportunity to evaluate ourselves and to also psych ourselves for the months ahead. There was a session in which we discussed the various stages one goes through upon traveling into a new jurisdiction. I found this philosophy to be true, after evaluating myself by it. By discovering the stage I was, I was filled with strength and hope to still journey on. After the seminar we had the opportunity to visit some cities around, for example Köln. We saw the Gothic architecture of the Kölner Dom, which is said to be Germany’s most visited landmark, attracting an average of 20,000 people a day. A very notable landmark and tourist attraction. At the end of October, all current volunteers and some alumni came together for a Networking seminar in Bremen. This was a moment of refreshing for me, getting to see colleague volunteers once again after a while. We spoke about our individual endeavours at our work placements and listened to past experiences of former volunteers. We also had a radio workshop. We were taught the strategies required in having a radio interview, which we would need for our podcast later. 

Dear friends, these are some of my engagements thus far. I can’t wait to come your way with more, until then it’s bye for now.