Takoradi

Well here we are in our last day of the homestay here in Takoradi. It has been a fun two weeks for many of us with the ups and downs of figuring out the ins and outs of our host families. I think one of the most interesting aspect many of us have observed about our families is their fierce attachment to their faith, churches, and prayer. In fact just as I was entering the internet cafe today a man asked me if there are Christians where I come from and that is why I've been blessed to come here. Many of the people who visit my host family are delighted to know that I have accompanied them to church. In fact my host family not only goes to church on Sundays for about 4 hours, they have also been attending all night prayer vigils from 10pm to 3am since my arrival while still getting up to go to work in the morning. All in all they are good people with good intentions.

The sense of family is also very strong here and my host mother, although she only has four biological children has many other people who refer to her as their mother. She has even taken in a girl from an Nzima village to the west of Takoradi so that she may get an education. The children in Ghana are expected to stay at home until they marry. Thus, you will fnd many people in their late twenties and early thirties still living at home.

Takoradi as a town is fairly small and I think everyone knows just about evey last nook. There is a lovely beach where the experimenters as well as locals frequent to have a coke and relax. Tonight we will say our formal goodbyes to our families as we attmept to pull off the various African attire we have each gotten the past two weeks. Tomorrow we start on the final leg of the trip as we travel to other regions of Ghana, starting off with Cape Coast, followed by a visit to Kumasi the heart of the Ashanti region and then a long trip east to Ho and the hydroelectric dam and waterfalls in the Volta region. Our last stop will be Akosombo where we will see the highest mountain in Ghana. If I have my way we will climb it... :)

Abruni

Well here we are almost 3 weeks in. It's been a while for an update as we spent 10 days in the village of Akwamu, (about a 3 hour drive from Accra) completing a community service project. The village was smallish with a population of approximately 1,000 people. Our work was to paint and lay cement in several rooms of an orphanage.

We were greeted on the first day by a celebration of thanks for our coming to lend a hand. But each day of our stay in Akwamu was filled with energetic children excited to have the attentions of the experimenters. During our time in Akwamu we had the opportunity to interact with the community as everyone was excited to be a part of the project and helped with the work we did. We also organized some family visits in the evenings where the experimenters practiced their Twii/Fanti language skills and also tried a hand or two at making Banku and Fufu (traditional Ghanaian cuisine). We tried our skills in soccer but could only keep up with the younger kids. I think Ghanaians learn how to play soccer about the same time as they learn how to walk.

In this short stay many friendships were forged and 10 days seems like an eternity. It was sad to go. Our last night we enjoyed a clear sky and almost full moon where three of the experimenters sang, providing a nice ending to a wonderful experience.

We traveled to Takoradi about 200 km away on Tuesday July 15 to start our 14 day homestay experience. So far things are going well, I hope to update soon...

The first days in Ghana

Well have spend almost two full days in Ghana and I think everyone is having a great time. We started the first day with a quick lesson in Twii (the main language here in Ghana) and sent the experimenters off to the open air market in smaller groups to pick some necessities and local fruits and spices based on some basic vocabulary and greetings. Everyone was successful finding their items and seemed invigorated by the experience. Many of them were relieved to find the Ghanaian people to be so friendly and helpful as they searched the market for various items. We finished the day with a lesson in Ghanaian political history and another lesson in Twii.

Today we went into Accra and visited a more touristic artisans market where the experimenters found some souvenirs and they experienced more of the Ghanaian hospitality. This evening the experimenters have enjoyed a lesson in traditional Ghanaian dance. All in all we are having a great time and will try to update the blog soon and I hope to include some fun pictures!