Blogs from Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana, Africa

"Akwaaba" means "Welcome"! Welcome to Ghana, which was among my top-3 countries I wanted to visit and finally I made it! My visit didn't end very well since I got my notebook stolen (Acer Aspire One) and that's the reason it took me much longer to write the blog. I prefer not to go into the exact details of how it happened as it would make the blog too long. It happened during my last few hours before leaving the country. Thank God I had all my photos somewhere else though, so I didn't lose any picture. The visit to Ghana started in the Netherlands, where I had to arrange my visa in The Hague at the Ghanian Embassy. I flew with TAP Portugal via Lisbon to Accra. During slavery many enslaved Africans in Curaçao came ... read more

As yesterday was a long day, we took some time to rest. In the afternoon, Frank went to run some errands, meet with an architect and a mason and who knows what. I stayed around and spent some time with the kids. We played all sorts of games. Alex and Rita taught me all sorts of new words in Twi. We had a lot of fun. They are both shy, but they seem to be comfortable with me now. As comfortable as they will be for a while at least. I packed most of my things and started to put Frank’s together. He insisted that he’ll do it tomorrow, but I bet I’m gonna end up doing it a few hours before we leave. Frank got finished with his errands a lot later than expected. This ... read more

Frank woke me up early and said the mechanic was here. I said, “I’ll hold down the fort,” and rolled back over to go to sleep. Once I got up, Frank and I went to get cash. On the way, we saw a woman dressed differently from the others. He said she is a refugee from Mali. There are several living here in our part of town. They have been here for a while but still have no permanent anything. From my understanding, refugees are allowed to live here, but no one is really helping them with anything. The mechanics came to the house and fixed the car. It cost about 15 bucks. It turns out the wheel on the spare tire was not the right size, so it was rubbing on the breaks. Even though ... read more

I woke up around 630, I think. I was cold, sort of. The overhead fan was blowing like crazy, and I liked the breeze, but I wanted a barrier between me and the air. (I’m just sleeping on a mattress- no top sheet or blankets.) I covered myself with a towel and laid back down I listened. To Africa. I love that sound. Birds chirped and leaves blew outside as people shuffled around in their flip-flops (slippers). The fan clicked overhead. Chickens clucked, and a dog whined. I smiled and fell back to sleep. A few hours later, it was time to get up for real. Rosemary made Frank and I porridge- roasted cassava, ground up and cooked in water. It was fine, but not my favorite, mostly because it was really hot. Alex and Rita ... read more

This was the fourth trip Kwesi and I did together to Accra. Kwesi has gone each year but I missed a few in between! The plants around Kwesi's mom's house are beautiful. We spent about ten days visiting in Accra with Kwesi's mom and also touching base with Faustina, the director of True Vision Ghana (TVG: www.truevisionghana.org). Fausti and I managed to get a shopping day in to buy crafts that I then help to sell in Canada to raise a bit of money for TVG.... read more