Leaving

Saturday morning, and my last in Ghana. All the TfaC employees went on their Christmas break yesterday, so it makes sense I guess that I'll be flying back to London tonight.

These last few months have been incredible - it's unbelievable that they've gone by so quickly. I remember stumbling nervously into the office when I first arrived, feeling a bit like I was going to be useless, a burden. Yesterday I walked away feeling like I was saying goodbye to friends I'd known for years.

A big element in making my time here so enjoyable has been the success of the InterACT! project and the enthusiasm for it within the TfaC team - from Patrick, the Director, right down to all the participants who've made videos for their UK counterparts. I knew very soon after arriving here that it would have been wrong for me to run workshops with young people here - they are and should always be run in local languages, by local people. So it was great that I was able to find a project that was relevant and useful - and so enjoyable to be part of.

My dominant feeling leaving Theatre for a Change today is of how much commitment and passion exists within the TfaC team. They are an unbelievable group of people - conscientious, kind, intelligent, generous to each other. In the main that could be applied to almost all Ghanaians that I've met in the last 4 months, but it especially true of the men and women wearing yellow t-shirts and leading workshops in communities all over Southern Ghana.

What's nice too is that the whole team has a brilliant capacity for being silly, making jokes, taking the piss out of each other in the fondest, friendliest way. No-one is evangelical about the challenges they face, no-one is aggressive about the ways of meeting those challenges. Everyone gets on with their work, in the main, with a big smile and an unfailing generosity towards each other. It's been an incredible pleasure to be part of.

I'm leaving on great terms, incredibly sad not to have the company of these wonderful people every day and with a real prospect of continuing my relationship with the company over the next few months: perhaps by extending the InterACT! project to Malawi and other theatres in the UK.

Whatever happens, I've gained an enormous amount here - both in terms of learning about interactive theatre and - more importantly - about the country, its people and how TfaC works with them. I've also made a lot of genuine, wonderful friends - and it is those people who I will miss the most.