Blogs from Cape Coast, Central, Ghana, Africa - page 6

For those of you old enough to remember the sadly unforgettable Peter, Paul and Mary you will know that this song tugs at the heart strings. It concerns loved ones saying goodbye without much idea of the future. That is exactly how I felt when my good friend and drinking buddy Dave C (known as half- day Dave because of his ability and propensity to escape from work unnoticed at lunch time ) came to pick us up to go to Heathrow. Do not misunderstand me. Whilst leaving Dave, Phil, Massa, Podge, Finbar, Cabbie, Frank et.al. as well as Murphy and Lon (the two best landlords in town) was in its own way memorable, it was as nothing to saying goodbye to our children. That is what we did or for at least three minutes because ... read more

Monday. Sunday at the Hotel in Accra was very strange as 8 people had left to start their placements, leaving just 2 couples, Dave and Jan who were heading to Volta region the next day, and ourselves, without any confirmation of moving on the Monday until Sunday evening. All we were then told was that some temporary accommodation had been found and that there were 2 possible places for our “permanent” home that we would view the next day. Nice trip (2.5 hours) to CC once we left the congestion of Accra, and were taken immediately to the offices of the Regional Government Offices who had kindly agreed to put us up. After some waiting around to greet the regional minister as etiquette demands, off-loaded our bags into a huge house …but containing only 2 old ... read more

Guess what..today's weather was hot and humid again! I think my new haircut was a wise choice and I don't think it looks too bad even when I'm dripping with sweat - which is most the time. Also as grey-haired people are afforded significant respect I think I'll now let it fade naturally as well.Over the past few days we have begun learning local languages, so Dave and I are being challenged by Fante...but we do know how to greet people and say "let's eat" - so all useful stuff. We also had to go out in small groups to buy a list of this at the best price from the area local to the hotel. Ours included a mosquito coil, one person having a braid put in their hair, a Kose ( a deep-fried soya ... read more

...but this time with a really warm feeling, still enjoying the fun, laughter and songs of the night before. I hope everyone enjoyed the evening as much as I did, and I now really do feel that today is the beginning of the rest of my life. So now only 3 days left in Leamington..most of which will be spent packing, and probably repacking , until I get a compromise between the things I really must have with me!! and the baggage allowance...how do people manage without their shoe and boot collection whilst doing VSO? Since my last entry I have travelled a bit already...to Liverpool, with the "Old Lags", to again commemorate our friends Rob and Mervyn...it was wonderful that everyone agreed to do this a bit earlier this year so I could participate once ... read more

a full last day at work to face,....... so why such a sleepless night? Head throbbing, stomach churning, covers off, covers on...certainly gave me time to reflect on having spent 28 years with the same organisation, to remember the many wonderful people I have met, worked alongside, shared high and low points with, laughed, argued, plotted, planned and cried with too. Especially those people who shared their lives and trusted in our judgements and commitment. I hope I did my best to meet their expectations. Sadly also memories of times when people in the organisation seemed to lose sight of the fact that people working in it are their greatest asset, and maybe the fact that once again I am feeling at a low point because of 'organisational' insensitivity was the real cause of my wakefulness. ... read more