Gone to Ghana: My African Adventures

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Welcome to my African adventures. After a whole weekend of bus rides, plane flights, and airports I got to Ghana extremely tired. The hot humid air hit me the moment I stepped of the plane and since then I’ve been constantly sweating. It took a bit of help but I eventually found the Dream Africa Care Foundation people at the airport. One of the other teaching volunteers came to pick me up. Samantha was very nice and helpful and told me a lot of stuff in the car. The ride in the car (without seatbelts) was over bumpy roads that had recently weathered a storm; June is the wettest month here. When I got to the volunteer house there was a power outage, which happens a lot here, although Jamal turned the generator on after that. Prince Jamal Isaaka is the founder of the DACF. Samantha told me that prince is both a name and a title. Apparently he’s next in line for one of the tribes, but I don’t know too much about that yet. I also got my first bag of water to drink before I settled in. Soon I’ll be a master of tearing the corner off with my teeth.



This morning I woke up, climbed out of my mosquito netting, and looked out the window and I saw a palm tree. At breakfast I saw a lizard lounging on the wall outside. They let me have the day to chill out and tomorrow I’ll be starting my orientation. The generator is turned on again and the power has officially been down for over 24 hours. The one upside is that it is unusual for it to be off for this long. However, when the generator gets turned off later then the fans get turned off as well.

I’ve been hearing a lot about the different projects from the very friendly volunteers. I make 15 volunteers in the house and most of them are from England right now. There are a couple others from the US and other countries. I can’t wait to start working with the children.

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Comments

[KitKats]

Great to hear your news
Great first blog post, Laurel. Guess you are getting right into it with the power outages and all. Very good description of your surroundings. Can't wait to hear all about the kids when you get to meet them! Love from Mom and Dad

[Chuck McCammon]

Great Adventure!
What a great adventure! We all hope this is the adventure of a lifetime! I think the trip alone would be! Jane & I are thinking of you and wishing the best!

[Gale Rawson]

terrific!
Dear Laurel, I note that you are another of the many excellent writers and observers in the Rawson Family! We all look forward to reading your entries and keeping abreast of your Ghana adventures.

[Katie]

Hi Laurel, Thanks for the interesting description of your first day in Africa. Can we see pictures of the house where you are staying?