Friday 13th.....Unlucky for some!!!

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Hey everyone!!!

Well....what a week!!!! There won't be any photos on this blog cos I'm at an internet cafe but will try to put some in the next one!

On Monday night we went out for a few drinks to a bar about 20 mins from where we're living...it was pretty much like being in Spain or Greece drinking outside and its still so hot at 1am its crazy!!! Plus its like 1.5 cedis (75p) for a pint so it makes it even better!!! Anyway I didn't think I was too drunk but we left for the academy on Tuesday and on the 3 hour tro tro ride up there I felt soooooo bad!!! I had to hang out of the window to get some breeze cos I felt so ill!!! Lesson learnt there....don't drink the night before a tro ride!!! Anyway the academy is based in a village called Dawu in the hills just north of Accra. The scenery up there is amazing so it was wrth it in the end! To say the accomodation I was staying in was basic is a bit of an understatement....let me go through the main points....mattress on the floor, no running water which means washing myself by getting water from a bucket and pouring it over my head...it also means getting water from the bucket to put into the toilet when you want to flush it (usually happens about once a day if you're lucky!!!) Anyway dispite being pretty dirty for a week, I had an amazing time. The kids there are brilliant....so motivated and focused. My daily routine basically consists of getting up for football training at 7-10 then the boys have school 11-4. The two boys that came up with me from the program taught a couple of english classes because the english teacher has just left to come back to England but I've been tutoring 3 boys who are doing exams in a week. They're at a level just below English GCSE I think and these are the boys that are going to be big! Two of them have just signed for Everton! Its so enjoyable because they actually want to learn because they know if they pass these exams then they'll be able to have a better life! Anyway after school they have personal training where they go out onto the football pitch and run drills without a coach working on their weaknesses for example one of the boys was crossing with his weaker foot. It really is amazing how motivated all these boys are...if it was England, the kids would just shoot for a bit then talk and muck around whereas these boys are running proper drills and some of them just do fitness for the 2 hours!!!

After personal training in the afternoon its dinner...I'm sure you're all aware that I can't eat rice or beans so I've really struggled this week! I've been to see the cooks a few times and I think I've finally got them to understand...or remember! The first day I got there I wasn't feeling too good anyway but when they put a bowl of rice and beans infront of me it was all I could do to keep my breakfast down!! All in all though it was a really good experience and I'm looking forward to going back! Physio-wise, I'm limited as to what I can do because they have NO equipment but I'm managing! Got a couple of boys with groin strains, one with fractured metatarsals, and one with a knee muscle imbalance....giving exercises is easy though cos I now they're going to do them because all they want to do is play football!!!

Right now onto Friday 13th!!! We got back from the academy (because I'm staying in Accra on the weekends) and there was a message saying we had an urgent meeting that night...no-one seemed to know much about it so I went on the internet and checked my e-mails and I had an e-mail from someone from the company informing us that they had gone bust and we were advised to pay for the placement in country and then claim it back through insurance!!! Well when I told everyone about this there was pure panic!!! Some of the girls talked to their friends doing placements elsewhere and in South Africa apparently they were told to pay 500 pounds in 48 hours or get out. Well when Tom Vernon came over to the meeting he explained that their company (the company who run the placement in country and get the business from Global Experience) hadn't been paid since January so they were basically funding our placements. He gave us the option of paying our balance again or finding alternative places to stay...well the people who have been out here for 3 months just booked early flights home but apparently the prices have gone up to about 800 quid for a one way flight so me and a few people who came with me have decided to pay the money then we can claim it back from ABTA when we get home. It was a bit of a shock though.....you hear about the credit crunch and companies going bust but you never think its going to directly affect you....especially if you're in Africa!!! Anyway the good news is that I'm staying and it all should run as normal!!!! I'm not going back up to the academy till Tuesday now cos we need to sort out some money stuff out tomorrow but two more boys are coming up with me so it means I won't be on my own again!!! :o)

Will probably write more in a couple of weeks...just going to enjoy Ghana while I can now cos you never know when its going to end!!!

Hope everyone is well! Keep sending me messages cos its nice to hear from you!!!

Lot of love

Jane xxx

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Comments

[Melissa]

hey! Sorry to hear about the money stuff but glad that you're getting to stay. It really sucks about the economy but hopefully we've hit bottom and maybe it will start to turn around. Sounds like those boys are really motivated. I'm sure it's so nice to work with people that you know will actually do what you ask them to. It'd be so cool to see them succeed at this! Ok, this will probably show my American side, but what is a tro? Is it like a bus or train? :)