Last week, theghanareport.com brought readers a story of Ghanaian missionaries stranded in Ethiopia as the world battles coronavirus pandemic.
How about life for those who are stranded in Ghana? Today, theghanareport.com brings you a DailyMail story on other foreigners stranded in Ghana.
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When Jaimee Perrett arrived in Ghana from New Zealand, the term COVID-19 had not yet been coined.
The 29-year-old teacher flew to Ghana in January to rebuild a school in Tetrem, a rural village in the centre of the country 284 kilometres from the capital Accra.
But her volunteer work veered off course when Ghana closed its borders ‘without warning’ on March 22, leaving Ms Perrett stranded 16,162 kilometres away from her home of Nelson on New Zealand’s South Island.
Four of her flights have been cancelled due to reduced transit routes and caps on arrivals into New Zealand, leaving her no choice but to sleep in a family home beside the half-finished school she’d worked so hard to build – a structure that’s still without a roof.
Ms Perrett, who hasn’t been paid since December, told Daily Mail Australia her life savings have been completely wiped out from being trapped overseas for so long.
New Zealand primary school teacher Jaimee Perrett (right) travelled to Ghana to rebuild a rural school but didn’t bank on being stranded in the West African nation by a viral pandemic
Trapped by border closures and caps on arrivals into New Zealand, Ms Perrett has been living beside the unfinished shell of the school she was building (pictured) that’s still without a roof.
‘The days are passing so slowly, and there’s really not a lot for us to do. Money is low and our savings are just about exhausted,’ she said.
Also with Ms Perrett is Kiwi volunteer Sam Collins, from Whanganui on the country’s North Island. Mr Collins arrived in Ghana in on March 14, a week before borders slammed shut.
‘We still don’t know when we can get home,’ Ms Perrett said.
‘Even when we leave Ghana, getting all the way to the other side of the world will take a long time and we’re still risking cancellations and disruptions.’
They are staying in the school with a local family Ms Perrett met while volunteering six years ago, but conditions are far from ideal.
‘It’s a shared living space and there’s a lot of us. I have been staying with this family since 2014, so it kind of felt like staying at home, except this time, without a choice,’ she said.
But the first flight Ms Perrett was booked on that month was cancelled hours before it was due to leave. She has yet to receive a refund.
Since then, one commercial and two officially sanctioned repatriation flights have also been cancelled due to temporary restrictions on entry into New Zealand.
On July 7, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s government ordered airlines to stop taking inbound international bookings for at least three weeks to avoid overwhelming quarantine facilities with a surge of returning Kiwis.
This string of setbacks has taken an immense toll on Ms Perrett, who hasn’t received a paycheck in over eight months.
‘The first couple of months was okay, because we had the project to focus on. The last few months have been exceptionally difficult,’ she said.
‘I budgeted for four months here and I managed to stretch that to six. It’s definitely time to come home and get a job.’
Friends and family have raised $7,120 (NZD) through crowdfunding website, Give A Little, to get her on a flight from Accra to London, then home to New Zealand.
But with the cost of airfares more than tripling since the crisis began and New Zealand’s government grappling to stave off a second wave of infections, Ms Perrett still faces an anxious wait.
Villagers work to rebuild the school in Tetrem, 284 kilometres from the Ghanaian capital Accra, where Ms Perrett has been riding out the coronavirus crisis since it broke out.
A beacon of hope has been the remarkably ‘helpful and compassionate’ support Ms Perrett has received from staff at the Australian High Commission, who have been advising her of her right to emergency loans and charter flights.
‘It’s been a huge relief having this communication after so many months of no information or response at all. I’ll never forget that kindness,’ she said.
Ms Perrett said she has not received the same assistance from her own government, who only send automated messages reminding her to register with SafeTravel – an advisory service she subscribed to seven months ago.
Ms Perrett said she is aching to see her young niece and nephews who have reached many important milestones since she left, as well as her beloved dog Cindy, a 16-year-old Jack Russell who she’s had for half her life.
‘She’s my best friend! I can’t wait to see her wagging tail and hug her. I won’t be leaving her again,’ she said.
‘I’m also missing my niece and nephews. They’ve taken their first steps, said their first words. I can’t wait to dance around and chat with them.
‘I won’t be leaving my country for a very, very long time.’
