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Background: Formed from the merger of the British colony of the Gold Coast and the Togoland trust territory, Ghana in 1957 became the first sub-Saharan country in colonial Africa to gain its independence. A long series of coups resulted in the suspension of the constitution in 1981 and a ban on political parties. A new constitution, restoring multiparty politics, was approved in 1992. Lt. Jerry RAWLINGS, head of state since 1981, won presidential elections in 1992 and 1996, but was constitutionally prevented from running for a third term in 2000. John KUFUOR, who defeated former Vice President Atta MILLS in a free and fair election, succeeded him.

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By johnnyrivers
March 30th 2009

Mole pt 1 - Getting There is Half the Fun! Africa » Ghana » Northern » Tamale

Team Mole

Hey All! Sorry for the long delay, the internet here at times can be such a pain! Anyway... with my batteries recharged, it was time for another high flying adventure. And this time I pulled out all the stops. The destinations? Mole National Park, the largest wildlife refuge in country and The Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary. The team? Loren, Bethany, Melissa, and myself. This trip was so big; I’ll have to spread it out over three entries. Hope you’re in a reading mood, because this might take a little time. In fact, this is another entry where it wouldn’t be a [View Full Entry]

By lprice4
March 20th 2009

Safari Jane Part 1 "So what's plan F?" Africa » Ghana » Northern » Tamale

AC is too cold!!

Well this past week I had quite the African adventure so I will have to split this blog up into pieces for your own sake. We finally found our way up north to Mole National Park and Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary. Its all the way in the upper west corner of Ghana so it’s a long trip anyways, but then throw in public transportation and you’ve got yourself some stories!! I guess plan A would have started when we tried to go buy our bus tickets ahead of time on Thursday. Well we didn’t bring enough money because transportation is so [View Full Entry]

All the people hanging out at the station with us

By monicalynn
July 25th 2008

Feeling Better :) Africa » Ghana » Northern » Tamale

Thanks for the words of encouragement and prayers. The Man Upstairs heard them and I'm feeling better. Health is back to normal (I think I had malaria - at least I was treated for it - but I didn't want to write that for fear of worrying Mom & Dad and the G-parents). But, not to worry, all is good now. The last two nights, I cooked my own dinner - spaghetti and sauce made out of tomato paste and water. It's not quite the same as Ragu but it was still pretty heavenly compared to some other food I've had [View Full Entry]

By monicalynn
July 22nd 2008

Should've Knocked On Wood... Africa » Ghana » Northern » Tamale

...when I said "rejuvenated and ready to go." Been sick the last three days with a slew of different things. Feeling better, but don't have much of an appetite so all I can stomach right now is Ramen-type noodles-- the supermarkets don't have chicken noodle soup :( So just want to ask for some extra prayers that I make it through this last week with a positive attitude and good health. Kind of ready to go home and looking forward to seeing all of you! [View Full Entry]

By Ashley L
July 22nd 2008

21 hours in the car... Africa » Ghana » Northern » Tamale

so the last blog i said we were leaving and going to be driving for 4 hours...i lied, the professors lied. we were in the car for 21 hours driving to the mole game reserve. i kid you not, 21 hours. it was awful. we were on only 2 or 3 main dirt roads for most of the trip. it felt like we were getting no where. not to mention the headlights went out and we were basically driving by the moonlight. the game reserve was awesome!! it was beautiful. i went on two walking safaris and saw: baboons, wild hogs, [View Full Entry]

By rkm
July 18th 2008

Traffic cop in a t-shirt Africa » Ghana » Northern » Tamale

Greetings from Tamale, which unfortunately lacks any Mexican food, despite it's name. Have I mentioned how much I am missing a nice big bean burrito these days? We are heading over to Larabanga this afternoon and then on to Mole National Park for a few days of animal watching--elephants, baboons, hyenas, etc. It is nice to get out of Accra once again. Speaking of Accra... Quick anecdote: Quite frequently the traffic lights will go out in Accra, leaving busy intersections without any sense of order or procedure. Almost as often you will soon see a few teenage boys, with broken off [View Full Entry]

By monicalynn
July 18th 2008

A Little Bit of a Slump, but Rejuvenated and Ready to Go Africa » Ghana » Northern » Tamale

Cooking

This week, I worked with Shekinah’s food program where they make different food every day and then drive around Tamale for about 3 hours delivering the food to the 2 Shekinah clinics, the homeless, blind people, and the poorest of the poor. It’s a great program that follows the tenets of the Shekinah clinic (read blog entry about CRS) and the women who make the food are extremely dedicated, working several hours every morning cooking food. (They don’t get paid, so I’m not sure if they have other jobs or how they sustain their families). I was a little frustrated b [View Full Entry]

By monicalynn
July 11th 2008

Catholic Relief Services Africa » Ghana » Northern » Tamale

Plumpy-nut

I’ve spent this week in the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) office. I was able to speak with several of the Heads of different propongrams (Education, Water & Sanitation, and Health) and get a better feel for what they do. On Monday and Tuesday, I went with the group of Americans and Thomas to see a few of the different programs. Education: The main coment of this sector is the school feeding program. CRS provides food (from the US and funded by USAID) to over 900 schools in the 3 northern regions of Ghana. We went to one school and got to [View Full Entry]

By monicalynn
July 9th 2008

Life in Tamale Africa » Ghana » Northern » Tamale

Go Cards!

So far, I've enjoyed my first week in the north of Ghana with my new family. I met Thomas when he was touring the US, talking about his experience growing up and his work with Catholic Relief Services (CRS). Long story short, we kept in touch and he told me I could stay with his family. He's actually traveling with a group of American Catholic high school teachers and people from the CRS Headquarters in Baltimore right now and has two more groups coming throughout July so I don't get to see much of him. But, I've had a great time [View Full Entry]

By monicalynn
July 4th 2008

Edit to last blog- please forgive me! Africa » Ghana » Northern » Tamale

I want to give my most sincere apologies to anyone who I offended when I said "Africans are a lot cooler than Americans." In no way did I mean that Africans are better than Americans, or even really that they're cooler people. I think all people are cool and equal and all that good stuff :) The other volunteers in Uganda and I had a joke and kept a running tally of all the ways that "Africans are cooler than us (Americans and Canadians)" because we felt utterly incompetent at some of the simplest tasks. For example, African women strap a [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Africa » Ghana » Northern » Tamale