First Impressions

I was fortunate enough to come a few days before the program actually began so a small group of us had some time to get acclimated, relax and have some fun before everyone arrived. We met Yao (our Program Coordinator who plans our day-to-day activities) and he showed us some nice places to go out. It was great to be able to experience the city and the hoppin’ night life of Accra. The people are incredibly friendly and open. This photo is of a group of us that went out one night with some of Yao’s friends. (Yao is the one in the black and white shirt)




We rode the tro-tro to Osu. The tro-tro is a mode of public transportation, basically a van packed full of people with a man hanging out the window yelling where it is going. It only costs a few cents to ride most anywhere. The photo below is of me and Valerie (my friend and current roommate here in Ghana) in the back of the tro-tro. We look deceptively comfortable. People are packed very tight and there are seats at the end of the rows which cleverly fold up. You can see my knee which I had to prop up in order to make room for the person sitting in front of me.



Now that the program has started our days are packed with activities! We met our Ghanaian peers (they will be working with us on our service projects), have had lectures about development in Africa and specifically Ghana and have toured the University of Ghana – Legon (Kofi Annan now serves as chancellor of this University) and the city of Accra.

We have been around a bit now and have experienced the market, which was an amazing cultural experience. People hustle here to make money and sell goods. The busy streets are filled with people who are carrying things on their heads, as you can see in this picture:




Ghana loves Obama! His name is everywhere and his image can be found in many art pieces, as I saw at the market:



We also visited the beach:




I feel so renewed here! I am happy and just excited about each new day!

How do you get to Ghana?

In my experience this involved a lot of delays and waiting in various lines and closed airports. I arrived at the Austin airport at 3:30 in the morning, before the newspapers. I had to wait for the airport to open. The first flight went well and I made it to Atlanta where I met some students from Utah traveling to Ghana as well. We traveled to New York together, where I met up with two fellow classmates (Jacquelyn and Naa). We boarded the plane a little late (around 5pm) but we were reassured we could make up the time in the air. While we were in line to take off we were informed that we had some mechanical problems which had to be checked out. It turned out that it would take a long time to fix the problem so they were going to get us another plane. We had to get a new cockpit crew so we waited… After waiting a few hours we were informed that we had another plane and were just waiting for the final pilot who was on his way. When that pilot arrived there was clapping and everyone was ready to be on their way. The flight and cockpit crew boarded the plane and we were all ready to go. Then, without any announcement the flight departure time was changed from 11:30pm to 8:00am. This was surely a mistake we thought…
People were angry and we were uncertain what was happening. Some passengers had been delayed the day before due to volcanic ash over Europe, so this was even worse for them. Finally after about 10minutes a Delta employee informed we had to go to another gate to arrange our accommodations. Nobody was happy about the prospect of yet another line and more delays!! It took a while to make the hotel arrangements and get to the hotel. The bus we took there was probably the most comfortable we had been the entire day. When we got to the hotel we had the honor of waiting in yet another line… By the time got into our 1 star room it was about 2am and we had to leave the hotel around 5am. So we took showers and my friends slept while I watched a film. We all discussed staying up so we wouldn’t miss our flight but they quickly gave into their tired bodies. I was too nervous to sleep. Naa woke up around 4:30 (after jumping out of the bed numerous times to look out the window to make sure the hotel van wasn’t leaving us) so I got a little power nap. At 5am we got a knock on the door telling us the phone wasn’t working and his was our wakeup call. We made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare.
All in all this experience was rough but we also bonded with our fellow passengers and had some laughs, probably due to the deliria that kicked in around midnight. This was our first taste of Ghana. We got to see so many mothers wrapping the babies on their backs and the generally good natured temperament of the Ghanaian people.
When we arrived at the airport in Ghana we were greeted by Kwame (our Program Liason who is from Ghana) and were glad to have all of our luggage. Dr Gilbert met us at the airport and took us to the hostel.

More to come on my first impressions soon, along with some pictures.

Ghana

A new chapter

I leave for Ghana in less than a week and I am excited about the adventures ahead!

I just completed my 2nd year of Graduate studies at the University of Texas School of Social Work. The experiences I have gained through this school are priceless and broad. I have grown to love my chosen profession and the people who make it so amazing! This trip is yet another wonderful highlight in this dynamic education.

I was fortunate to have an amazing internship with Southwest Key (www.swkey.org) for the past two semesters. I am so humbled and honored to have had the pleasure to work with so many dedicated and talented individuals. The kids I had the opportunity to meet at the East Austin College Prep Academy were all an inspiration! I learned and grew so much!

Now I venture outside of my comfort zone. What awaits me I will find out soon!