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Africa » Ghana » Greater Accra » Accra
July 13th 2006
Published: July 19th 2006
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This is the first thing I saw when I walked out of my hostel on the first day :)
Whew! After a little over 18 hours of traveling, I'm finally in Accra! The flights here were relatively uneventful, although I did sit next to two Baptist ministers on the flight from Amsterdam to Accra, both of whom were organizing ministries in Ghana. They were actually from Georgia and one of them grew up in Jacksonville, Florida...small world 😊

After I arrived yesterday, Jessica Vernon (a friend from Stanford) picked me up at the airport and took me to a hostel (Ampax) where I'll be living until a room opens up at the Obruni House (where some of the other interns are staying). After settling at Ampax, we went to the Obruni House, had a few beers, and then went to Masters for dinner. There I had my first encounter with Ghanaian food...rice with 2 pieces of chicken. I also met some of the other interns at CDD and some other Americans who are staying at the Obruni House. First I met Candace, from Canada, and Kristin, from NYU, who both seem ridiculously nice and are also working at CDD. That night I went to BusyInternet (a 24-hr Internet 'cafe') and met Johnnice Tubman, a Liberian refugee who claims to
Amsterdam AirportAmsterdam AirportAmsterdam Airport

Um...this is perhaps the coolest airport in the world.
be the granddaughter of the late President Tubman of Liberia and a descendent of Harriet Tubman. I'm not sure how much of her story I believe, but she definitely had some sort of educational background (how many refugees know the word 'nepotistic'?!) and was a very talented artist! I may end up going with her to a refugee camp later this month to interview Liberian refugees. We'll see...

Today I went to the CDD for the first time. I'm not sure exactly what I expected but the atmosphere was surprisingly laid-back and the people extremely friendly. I first met with Peter Owusu-Donkor, the Program Director, who showed me my office and introduced me to the rest of the staff. Afterwards I met with Edem (the head of IT and Publications) and we discussed the possibility of making a documentary about CDD for their 10th anniversary. After that, I went on a 3-hr long odyssey for a cell phone with the company driver and got to drive around the city for the first time. It was amazing to see the contrast between the Airport Residential district, which is filled with politicians and ex-pats, and is comparately ritzy, and the rest of the city. After that, I went home, took a loooong nap, and went to a random Irish pub (Aquarius) where I talked to a Nigerian female student studying in Accra and had some frankfurters with Guiness. And now....I'm off to bed. Till tomorrow!


Additional photos below
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HostelHostel
Hostel

This is the hostel I stayed in for the first 5 days in Asylum Down. I didn't realize until the end of my stay that I was the only person staying there :/
CDD-GhanaCDD-Ghana
CDD-Ghana

This is where I'm interning...there's a cool pantry in the back and a lady that comes everyday to sell sugar-bread.
View of AccraView of Accra
View of Accra

This is a view of Accra from the taxi on my way to work the second day.


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