Blogs from Mpraeso, Eastern, Ghana, Africa

Ok, so i'm alive! Only just. When we got picked up from the airport and the bloke said the roads may be a bit bumpy as there are roadworks, what he actually meant was that the roads hadn't been built yet, and the 4 hour journey would be horrific, especially in the middle of the night. Hey ho, I am here now and loving it. People here are amazing. They shout 'obruni' which means white person, as they never see them. Don't think this would fly the other way round in Brixton, but when the kids do it you kind of laugh. I went for a run the other morning and they followed me all the way, they are just so happy. The school I am teaching in is not as good. Its a desperately poor ... read more

Hello I am now heading towards my last 24 hours here in the Kwahu region of Ghana as I leave for the airport tomorrow at 1pm.I have mixed feelings about my departure but will probably not fully appreciate what I have learnt etc until I have settled back home. Last Wednesday I went to Kumasi with Susan and I collected my passport with my extended visa.We were lucky to find a taxi driver who took us all the way to Kumasi for the same price as a tro tro.This meant a comfotable 2 hour journey straight through instead of a stop start one. Thursday and Friday I went into school and we finished the PE lesson on Friday with over 100 kids doing the Hokey Cokey - what a brilliant sight.The lessons go really smoothly now ... read more

Hello again A funny week as everything was geared up for Easter.A lot of people in the Kwahu region actually live and work in Accra and Kumasi but they own properties here so everyone heads back for Easter.The local population increases by about a million people who come to party so it is like New Years Eve and Notting Hill Carnival all rolled into one. On Weds I turned up at school to be toled it was a holiday as the teachers all needed to apply for identity cards,it is all so random ! On Thurs,Katie and I took the older kids for P.E. again and had another great hour or so with them.Katie warmed them up with a rendition of 'heads,shoulders,knees and toes' and the we did the balloon 'over and under' game in teams.This ... read more

Sorry for the delay but the rain has started and we have had so many power cuts that internet access has been patchy to say the least ! I had managed to weigh myself while on my week off and converted the kilos into pounds last week.I weighed 8stone 12pounds so I had lost about 11 pounds,hence the title of todays blog !!I am pleased to say that I am now eating more and , touch wood, I feel fine so I might even make it over the 9 stone mark before I come home. I have now been here a week and a half and it is so different from Ashle.First of all,there are so many volunteers but they definitely fall into 2 camps-the first who are here to test out careers or share their ... read more

Hello. I am writing from Africa. Right now - I'm writing by hand and then e-transposing - I am surrounded by banana and plantain trees riffling in the breeze; the smell of goat is in my nostrils; there is sun on my face and mud on my shoes; and free-range chickens are ranging pretty freely. (But before I continue: thanks to everyone who has written me since my first journal posting: family, friends, a couple strangers. Respectively, I love you, I like you, nice to meet you. Sorry I haven't responded to most people who are not my parents. Internet here is a fair bit slower than a slow boat sailing all the way around the world twice carrying bowling balls. It's slow. Three sent e-mails in an hour is an accomplishment. If you wish to ... read more