Hilda sr., Hilda jr., Alice, Me, & Abe on my final morning in Takoradi, Ghana Hello!
I have been enjoying my past few days back home in Canada. I have been keeping pretty busy visiting family and friends. I am also enjoying the little things we tend to take for granted such as running water.
Now that I am back I have a hard time believing that I was actually in Ghana less than a week ago and that I lived there for three months! It is definitely the experience of a lifetime!
I really want to thank all of my sponsors one last time. I would not have been able to go on this trip without your generous donations! Medaase paa! (Thank you very much!) Also to all of my family and friends I want to thank you for always encouraging me to be myself, follow my dreams, and of course to go out and explore this big, beautiful world!
Below I have posted my final diaries from my time in Ghana. There are exciting stories from the clinic to swimming in the ocean to seeing elephants at Mole National Park!
This is my last post so it is time to say Nante yie! Farewell!
August 8th,
I went to work at the office today. I was hoping to work out with Kwesi a time and a place to do my school presentation but he still had not returned from Jomoro. One of the workers, Linda gave me permission to go out and find a school that was open during the summer so that’s what I ended up doing.
I took a tro-tro to Shama Junction and then back tracked from there. I had seen children on the tro-tros in previous weeks when I would go out to Shama so I knew there had to be a school somewhere in the area. I walked along the highway until I came to Inchaban. Then I went and talked to a few people who directed me to Pearls of Wisdom School. All the children there were in their blue uniforms like I had seen on the tro-tro. I went into the school and met with the headmaster, Gillian who granted me permission to do my health talk about malaria on Friday, August 12th. The oldest children at the school are 6 so I will have to tweak my presentation a bit to ensure it is age appropriate.
After going to the school I kept walking along the road. I was in no rush to get back to the office. Just enjoying walking and singing with the people I met along the way. I stopped and had a fresh glass of pineapple juice. I also wandered around Inchaban just to see the town. I would have kept walking but there was a police barrier at the town’s edge and they were all very concerned that I was walking. They said I would never make it because its too far to Sekondi so they ended up convincing me to take a tro-tro. It wasn’t hot out though so I was really enjoying walking!
Once I got back to the office I spoke with Linda and Kyei and told them my gameplan for my presentation this Friday. I then fixed up my flipchart and now I am ready to go!
After work I went for a walk to another school near my house to see if they had a summer program. The school is called Peter Piper’s. Unfortunately they are closed for the summer. After my walk I returned home and sat with George for awhile. Then I had supper and tea.
Now I am working on nursing modules that I need to complete for clinical. My internet connection is very poor though which makes this quite hard to do. Luckily my little sister Moe promised to give me dance lessons tonight as a break from these modules!
Until tomorrow! Ochena!
August 9th,
I went to the maternity site at the clinic today. The nurses were excited about my new hairdo. They were proud of me for taking a risk and getting “wine” coloured hair extensions.
During my shift today I took weights and blood pressures for all of the women. I also checked heights for women who were coming to the clinic for their first time. All of the women were sitting on the benches waiting to be seen by the midwife and I had to call each one individually to come have their weight and blood pressure checked. Every time I opened my mouth there were roars of laughter because I kept butchering the pronunciation of people’s names!
After I had completed the bp’s and weights and the women were registered I began giving the women who were due for their dosage of SP-Dox (anti-malarial medication) their pills and observed that they swallowed each pill.
There were 78 patients at the clinic this morning, therefore it was very busy for the midwife who had to see each one for palpation. After I finished giving out the anti-malarial medications and charting I proceeded to take patients for palpation. For each patient I measured their fundal height, spoke with them about how they were feeling and if they have had any malaise, and listened to the fetal heart beat with the peena stethoscope.
After the palpation was complete we did HIV testing. Then we all sat down and took a break after quite a busy day! 2 of the nurses, Eunice & Annette were doing counselling with women today regarding family planning. They allowed me to watch them insert a contraceptive implant. It went into the woman’s arm and it will last for 5 years. The insertion looked painful, although the woman didn’t seem to mind at all of because Eunice & I were singing and dancing the whole time! She was dying of laughter throughout the whole procedure!
After I finished at the maternity site I went and visited the nurses at the other sites. I love talking to each and everyone of the nurses. I don’t know how I am ever going to leave them and go back to Canada!
After I left the clinic I took a tro-tro back to Adiembra with Eunice. Before going to the office I went to see my friend Joanna who owns a small shop. I then went to see my rice lady. I also stopped to visit my seamstress Janet. I love going to the office just because I love walking down the road leading up to it and seeing all of my friends and their welcoming, smiling faces.
After work today Caro & I went to the gym with our big sister, Hilda. Apparently she goes everyday in the morning and evening. I don’t know what made us want to go workout but we were pretty tired afterwards! The gym actually had a lot of equipment and we had a lot of fun! We went to buy fanice afterwards though which may have counteracted our workout just a bit!
After the gym we returned to our house and sat outside with Emmanuel. We were talking and watching Chi-Chi, the cat, trying to catch all of the toads. She eventually caught one and ate it! Must me a good treat!
We had fried plantain and chicken for supper! It was delicious! We worked up an appetite!
Well, I better get to bed! I am going to the clinic again tomorrow!
Da yie!
August 10th,
I volunteered at clinic today. I started my day with a visit to Nurse Jessie who was helping run a clinic for chronic illness. During this clinic we worked with people who suffered with conditions such as sickle-cell, hepatitis, recurrent malaria, etc. Nana was interviewing the patients and I recorded all of their symptoms. Many elderly people visit this clinic so it brings me back to my geriatrics! There was even a 96 year old women who came in!
This clinic is short and since things were moving along smoothly we finished in the early morning. I had heard there was a delivery at the maternity site and I went over to take a peek. They had just delivered a beautiful baby boy! I wish he would have been born yesterday when I was working!
I went for a walk with Jessie to her house because there weren’t any admissions on the ward on the general health site and we had some free time.
Jessie taught me a Ghanaian song today which I sang for some of the patients. The song goes:
Yesu ka wo ho
Odzi menyim, Odzi mekyir
Yesu ka wo ho
Mamamse ho, mabebrese
Sa se ase am dare butu
BepÉw tutu kÉguu poo mu poa
Esuro, Esuro
Ékawo ho daa
The song is about God’s love and how no matter what troubles come your way God will be with you. After a lot of practice I ended up getting the pronunciation and I sang it for all of the nurses at the end of our shift.
After I finished at the clinic I went to the FON office. Donkris (the director of FON) and Linda met with me to discuss how they no longer wanted me to go to the school to do my health talk. They said the school doesn’t fall within their district although it is right near Shama where the clinic is. I did not understand their change of heart since they were both encouraging of my idea back on Monday. I held my ground though and told them that I worked hard on my presentation and that I am going to do it. I told Donkris that with or without his support I will be at the school Friday morning. He smiled and said that it would be fine. Caro & I were very frustrated because the organization has had minimal work for us all summer and when we were trying to organize something of our own they tried to stop it. Donkris is supportive of the presentation again, I don’t understand his motives for wanting to cancel it though.
Talk to you soon!
August 11th,
Today I worked at the maternity clinic. There weren’t any admissions when I arrived which made me sad because I hadn’t seen a delivery for awhile and I was hoping for one today!
I began my shift by taking the weights and blood pressures of all the women as they came into the clinic while Georgette took all of their names and registered them to be seen by the midwife.
After I finished checking all of the blood pressures and recording everything I proceeded to help the midwife with palpation. Aklatu, Felicia, and I were all helping Auntie Hannah (the midwife) with palpation as there were many people at the clinic.
After the 3 of us had met with many of the women we gave out malaria pills and Auntie Hannah finished palpation for the women who hadn’t been seen yet.
At 1030 in the morning we had an admission to the ward. It was a teenage girl. She was in a tremendous amount of pain and I spent the majority of my day sitting with her. She was vomiting and making very little progress in her labour. When she first came in she was dilated 2cm and at 230 she was only 4cm. We ruptured her membranes at 230 and then everything started to speed up. Around 4 she delivered a beautiful baby boy. He weight 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs). I cleaned him and cuddled him while the midwife assisted the patient back to a bed on the ward.
Reflecting back on my day I don’t know whether to feel happy or sad. Having a baby is supposed to be an exciting time and is usually a happy area of nursing but today I felt the opposite. The young girl who delivered today was not ready for a baby. She had not completed high school yet and told me she won’t be able to as she will have to start working as a vendor to support her child. Her partner is a fisherman and is not very supportive and also does not make much money. It will be such a hard road for her. I held her hand for most of the day and throughout the delivery. I felt very connected with her and just wish the best for her and her baby.
Aklatu was shocked that we had teenage pregnancy in Canada. When this young girl first came in she turned to me and went “oh sorry we see a lot of this in African Countries but you would never see this in your country.” I told her teenage pregnancy is common in Canada. She wouldn’t believe me. It is hard sometimes being an obronni because the stereotype here is that your have all the money in the world, your country is perfect with no problems at all, and that we live like the celebrities in Hollywood. I always have to explain that Canada is not a place where a bunch of rich people live. There are wealthy people but there is also poverty and a lot of people struggling to find jobs. There is definitely many cases of teenage pregnancy as well, although I don’t think nurse Aklatu will ever believe me!
After I left the clinic today I went to FON briefly and then went home. I checked with Donkris and everything is a go for my presentation tomorrow! Yay!
Bye for now!
August 12th,
This morning I went to the office and gathered everything for my presentation. Donkris was supporting my presentation fully now and arranged for the FON bus to take me out to the Pearls of Wisdom School.
I arrived at the school and both Caro & I met with the master, Madam Gillian. We then gathered all of the children into one of the buildings and I set up my flipchart. Two of the children came up to the front and sang a song to welcome Caro & I to the school.
I began my presentation by asking the children what they knew about malaria. Each one would stand up and say a little something. Then they would all clap for each other. It was so cute!
My presentation went really well! I ended it with a mosquito game. Caro & I went outside and pretended to be mosquitoes and chased the children. If we tagged them they too would be mosquitoes and have to try to tag the other children. The last person standing won the game. We played that for awhile and then it was time for us to go and for them to get back to learning.
Overall the morning was perfect and Caro & I really enjoyed doing the presenation. We got a kick out of the children and their cheer for their school which went, “ My pearls [clap, clap] oh, oh my pearls!”
The FON bus was elsewhere after we finished the presentation and it was pouring rain. Caro & I walked to a gas station (or the filling station as they call it here) and waited for the rain to stop. Then we picked a taxi back to FON. Everyone at the office was happy that the presentation went well and that we enjoyed our visit to Pearls of Wisdom.
Caro & I went over to CRC and sat with Shoshanna. Then we left for lunch but didn’t go back since no one was around the office anyway. We went to a chop bar called 11-11 which has amazing red-red! Then we went shopping in market circle for fabric. We went to Georgina but she wasn’t finished with our dresses yet. She had piles of fabric for different people so Caro & I went to find another seamstress to bring our other fabrics to. We ended up meeting Deborah who lives on our road, so now we officially have 3 seamstresses… our fabric addiction needs to stop!
This evening Heather, Robin, and Loretta (our friend from Australia) arrived from Accra and stayed with us in Takoradi. We drank sangria and went for a walk. It was a nice relaxing evening!
Good night!
August 13th,
This morning we woke for breakfast and then we left to catch a tro-tro to Akwidaa. September marks the arrival of the sea turtles but we won’t be here then so we were hoping there would be a few early bloomers this weekend for our stay at Green Turtle Lodge, an well praised resort and ECO-tourism area.
Green Turtle Lodge was not far from Takoradi at all. It took approximately an hour and a half including our tro-tro transfers. Once we arrived we checked in and got into “relax mode”. We decided that we were content to do nothing this weekend, just swim and read on the beach.
We had a nice lunch at the restaurant that was on site at the lodge. Then we went for a swim. The tide was high so our attempt at swimming was short-lived but hilarious to watch! We then went for a walk along the beach and wandered aimlessly until it started to rain. I spent the majority of my afternoon laying in a hammock listening to the sound of the ocean and playing beach volleyball with my American friends.
Our night got interesting once happy hour began! We met Damien, who is a man from Ireland. He travelled to Ghana on his motorcycle. He had it shipped over on a ferry and drove it down from Morocco. We spent the evening playing cards and Oware. Oware is a Ghanaian game played with a board that has 2 rows of six holes and seeds. You have to go around dropping seeds in the holes and try to take over the opponents side of the board by gathering enough seeds to fill the holes. When I play this game it appears to be a game of chance but when you really understand it and play it often like many of the Ghanaians I have met it becomes a game of strategy. There is a legend in Twi, the language of the Asante people in Ghana, that oware began when a man and woman played the game on end. To always be together and someday end the various games, they married. Hence its name, Oware, which means he/she marries.
We had many drinks tonight and we were all SUPER excited about everything!! Apparently all of us say that frequently, almost as often as we say eh which Damien found amusing and mocked us for all night!
That’s all for now!
August 14th,
I rolled out of bed this morning and went straight to the hammock with my book. Once everyone woke up we went to the restaurant for breakfast. Food preparation always takes a long time in Ghana so Loretta and I decided to kill time by taking a morning dip in the ocean. The waves were perfect and we stayed in the ocean right until we saw food on the table.
After breakfast Heather, Loretta, Damien, & I went for a swim in the ocean while Robin & Caro chilled in the hammock’s with their books. The waves were getting stronger at this point and we had a blast! Heather ended up getting stung by a jellyfish, but didn’t leave the water what a trooper!
We really didn’t want to leave today. Robin decided to stay another night because he has finished work and will now be travelling for 2 weeks. The rest of us were envious of his stay and had to start heading back to the city-life.
Since it was Sunday it was too hard to find a tro-tro so the 4 of us ended up splitting on a taxi to Takoradi. Once we arrived in Takoradi Caro & I went home and Loretta and Heather travelled onwards to Accra.
Although we did not see any sea turtles this weekend we were still very happy with our stay at Green Turtle Lodge! It was a relaxing and scenic getaway! Now I am just visiting with my host family and shaking the sand out of my hair. I relaxed all weekend but I’m feeling really tired!
Bye for now!
August 15th,
Caro & I did project identification for QPID today so we did not have to go into the office. We travelled to Tarkwa this morning where we met with WACAM, an NGO that deals with mining issues. Everything about the place looks great and it could be a really interesting lace for QPID to send cooperants to next year.
After our meeting Caro & I went to a chop bar along the road wherewe had chicken and jolof rice, our favourite! I’m really hoping to learn how to prepare jolof rice so that I can make it back in Canada! While sitting at the chop bar we met a really nice man who was concerned about how we were getting back to Takoradi. We told him we would take the tro-tro and he was shocked. The more he talked to us the more he laughed and told us we were almost Ghanaian women! That’s exactly what Caro & I are going for though with the fabrics and the hair braids!
After lunch we caught a tro-tro back to Tak and bought a fresh mango for the ride. Once we arrived at the tro-tro station in Takoradi we ran into our host brother George and chatted with him for awhile. All of the taxi drivers were trying to overcharge us or give us “Obronni prices” as we like to call it so running into George was a good thing!
Once we arrived back at our house Caro & I wrote up an evaluation about WACOM and then had a relaxing evening with our family.
August 16th,
Today I went to the maternity site at the clinic. It is my last week of work this week and I am really going to miss the clinic, the nurses, and all of the patients I have met through volunteering there!
I did my usual routine and helped with blood pressures, weights, and registration. There was a young woman on the ward who was very, very nauscious. She ended up needing to throw up. I tried to find a bucket for her. The midwife had one but charged her for it. At this moment I realized how much we take for granted in Canada. Our hospitals and clinics provide so many materials at our disposal. I just think of the way we use a new bedpan every time at KGH and this poor patient had to spend what little money she had on a pail so that she would have a place to be sick.
When I applied to be a QPID summer cooperant I had this vision of going to Ghana and being a part of an incredible project that would directly benefit the people. Now I feel guilty as I feel that I am the one benefiting. I have learned more from the patients and nurses at the clinic, especially the things you can’t always teach a person and I worry that I will not be able to do the same for them. Each day I spend at the clinic, I return with stories, new lessons learned, and incredible freindships made. I don’t think I could have asked for a better experience in the world!
I helped with some family planning today and also had another Fante lesson. Today the nurses were really insistent about me speaking Fante since it was my last week with them. “You have done well, oh you have done well” they would all say to me after my brutal attempts at having a conversation in only Fante!
After the clinic I went to the office to see what people were up to. I had to say goodbye to Kyei as he was leaving for a project in the Ivory Coast.
We had rice ball & light soup for supper tonight which is another delicious Ghanaian dish. It is actually really filling too because you have a big ball of rice that is all stuck together and then you pour the soup over it and scoop it up with your hands.
After supper Caro & I went to church with Emmanuel. He goes to a small bible study every Tuesday and Thursday. All summer we have wanted to go with him and now that our time is running short we decided we better go! The power was out in Takoradi for a little while (the power flicks on and off all of the time in Ghana) so the church was all in darkness except for a few candles. It was a beautiful night filled with song and prayer. Caro & I really enjoyed it. Moe came with us and was translating the songs for Caro & I since it was in Fante.
Well I am getting up with the roosters tomorrow to do an outreach program for the clinic! I better hit the hay!
Until tomorrow! Ochena!
August 17th,
This morning I woke up at 5 and left for the clinic. I went on outreach with Amelia, Anita, and Priscilla.
We met with 41 children this morning. We checked each one of their weights and gave immunizations. We also danced and sang and had a blast as usual!
After we finished the outreach program I went back to the clinic. I went around to greet everyone and then I went to spend the rest of my time over at the maternity site. I arrived at the perfect time to maternity! A woman was just beginning to go into active labour and start pushing! The woman had a baby boy! He came out with the umbilical cord wrapped tightly around his neck which gave me a scare but once we suctioned him he had a beautiful, strong cry. I cleaned him up and put him down while we tended to the mother. I gave him a vitamin K injection. The mother ended up needing an episiotomy from the tearing and her fundus was a bit boggy so we massaged it and gave her oxytocin to prevent haemorrhaging.
After a successful delivery the nurses made me sing and dance for them. My song of the day is “otoo otoo anantaa” although I have no idea what it means! They all laugh when I sing it so I can only imagine haha. One of the nurses taught me it though and begs me to sing it to everyone.
After I finished at the clinic (I left a bit early today), I travelled out to Cape Coast. Caro had gone there this morning to meet with an organization to discuss a partnership for next year. I met her at Oasis for a nice late lunch. I had a hamburger, mmmm Western style food! It was delicious! Cape coast is one of my favourite places in Ghana! After sitting by the ocean we went to a few souvenir shops and then travelled back to Takoradi. On the way back Caro & I sat beside two girls. One of them was playing music on her cellphone and we were singing and dancing around. We had a blast! I think Caro & I are officially Ghanaian since we break out into song and dance anywhere, anytime! We made it home before dark so all in all it was a successful day!
I am off to bed as I am going to go to outreach again in the morning. Tomorrow will be my last day at the clinic. I don’t know how I am going to part from that place!
August 18th,
I woke this morning at 5 and left to pick a taxi to Shama Junction. Once I got to Shama the nurses weren’t around yet so I went for a walk and chatted with people. I ended up finding a woman who was boiling dough balls. They tasted just like giant timbits! After I finished stuffing my face with doughnuts I found Eunice and the other nurses. We took a taxi and travelled out to a small community.
Once we arrived in the community we set up for our program. The people were not coming and Eunice kept announcing on the speaker (I wish small communities at home at a loudspeaker that we could make announcements on!) for mothers to bring their children to have their weights checked. Eventually Eunice got frustrated and shouted that they had an obronni with them and had me say good morning on the speaker. Eunice said by saying that the people would now come because they would want to meet the “white person”. She was right because before that we had seen 2 children and sat around but afterwards a flood of mothers came and we probably saw 50 or more children.
I was taking weights today and recording whether or not they were in the range for the child’s developmental age. I also gave an immunization to a baby. There was a baby there this morning named Blessing who was the most beautiful baby I have ever seen. Her mother kept joking that I should take her to my country and secretly I was contemplating it!
I was with Jerry, Maggie, & Eunice for the program today. They are some of my favourite nurses at the clinic so I was happy to be spending part of my last day with them out in the community. This past week a male nursing student named Isaac started at the clinic. He also joined us on the program. He is a very nice man but he got on my bad side once he started to mock my voice. Both mine and Caro’s biggest pet peeve is when random men see us and then proceed to speak in a really high-pitched squeely voice. We know our voices are higher than Ghanaians because Ghanaians speak so low and deep, but there is no way we talk like a squeeling pig haha. Anyway Isaac kept repeating everything I said to patients in a high-pitched voice. After about 2 hours of that he had gotten on my last nerve and I told him he needed to stop that because I do not speak like that. He laughed and then kept on doing it. I waited until Eunice and Maggie were listening because I knew they would find it funny and I told him he shouldn’t talk like that because he sounded like a prepubescent child. The nurses were dying of laughter and I felt bad for him but he got what was coming to him especially since I had asked him nicely to cut it out for at least 2 hours haha.
After we finished the outreach program we went back to the clinic. My plan was to spend my last day at the general health site however it ended up being spent walking in circles between the different sites saying goodbyes. I’d leave one site, go on to the next and then someone would come out and ask me to return to the previous one for awhile.
The nurses in the family planning office gave me a piece of Kente cloth. This is a thick, colourful cloth that they weave in Ghana. It was so sweet of them and I will always think of them when I look at it. We also had a small party on the general health site with coke & plantain chips! There was also a lot of singing! This was the last day for the nurses to hear me rap “that thing” so I had to perform it many times haha!
They had a meeting for the nurses after the clinic closed today. I ended up joining in the meeting since I am a considered to be a student nurse at Shama Health Centre and also because I really did not want to leave. When the meeting came to a close I said my final goodbyes. It was so hard to see my time at the clinic come to an end. I really enjoyed it there!
I took at tro-tro back to the office with Eunice, we had a lot of fun on the tro-tro singing songs. Most of the songs she taught me were religious but the people on the tro-tro were loving our singing, and many joined in so we started quite the party bus! Eunice got off the tro-tro to pick up her daughter Asabia from her brother and then she got right back on so our goodbye was quick, which was probably the best way because I know hugging her would have made me cry again!
Once I got to Adiembra road I stopped to visit my friend Ivy. I then went to the office for awhile before I went home for the night. Caro and I stopped at Deborah’s on our way home and collected our new dresses! They turned out really well!
Caro and I are going to start writing our final report for QPID this evening. I can’t believe the summer has come to a close already. 11 ½ weeks sounded like a long time and I was worried I wouldn’t make it through but here we are finishing our internship already! I only have one more week left in Ghana which I will spend travelling to the north. I wish I could stay for another 3 months!
Da yie!
August 19th,
Today was our last day at FON! Caro & I spent the morning typing our final reports for both QPID and FON about our experiences on this internship. Then we went for a walk down Adiembra road to start saying goodbye to our friends. We started with Joanna at the very end of the road. She normally has Obama cookies and Caro really wanted to buy some to bring home but she was sold out so we quickly took a tro-tro to Sekondi and found the cookies there. Then we returned to Adiembra road and said goodbye to our rice lady, the plantain lady, our seamstress Janet, Ivy and her children, and to all the friendly faces who passed us by.
When we returned to FON they had a small going away lunch for us. We had sandwiches and malt. Gladys gave Caro & I each a beautiful dress with earrings and a necklace. It was very sweet of her! After we finished our goodbyes we thanked them all for the summer and went to Market Circle.
At Market Circle we went to see Georgina to pick up our dresses however she wasn’t quite finished yet. We ended up cruising around market circle. Just observing the people, the food, the noise, and the smells. We then went to a few stores. I ended up getting a CD with my favourite Ghanaian songs! I am super excited about it!
After market circle we went home to drop off our things. My dress from Gladys was too long so I had to go to Deborah to have it shortened. Then I went to the internet café to finish some things for Queen’s so that everything is a go when I get back in September!
We had supper with the kids tonight and watched Gnomeo & Juliet. Once Heather arrived from Accra we took her to a nice restaurant at a resort called African Beach. We met Shoshanna and Sally who work at the CRC and had a nice evening sitting on the ocean chatting. This resort had a trampoline which I of course could not resist jumping on!
Well I’m off to sleep!
Bye for now!
August 20th,
This morning we woke up and had a nice breakfast. We had pineapple tea which was amazing! After breakfast Caro, Heather, & I travelled to Busea beach which was only an hour west of Takoradi.
The second we arrived in Busea we went running down towards the beach! We heard someone shouting “Caroline!” We looked up and saw our friend Alex who started working at CRC last week. His field work is mainly in the Busea area so he ended up getting a place out there and he will just go in to the office in Takoradi when he needs to. He was just coming in from surfing ( a stereotypical Australian) and was going for lunch. We joined him and had a nice lunch at Black Star Surf Shop. On the way to the surf shop we walked through this one resort that had a monkey. It fell out of the tree and ran after a wild dog on the beach. Caro went up close to it to take a picture and then it turned on her and we all went running! He ended up getting Caro’s leg but didn’t hurt her as the owner called him away!
Once we got to the surf shop we met Nick. He is from Switzerland but got a job at the surf shop for the summer. That’s an epic summer job if you ask me! We also met Yao who is a child that hangs around the shop. He was funny and he ended up spending the day with us.
After lunch we went to a nearby town called Dixcove. It was only a 25 minute walk from Busea. Alex heard that there was a festival there today so we decided that we would go for a walk to check it out! Caro & I decided that the festival in Dixcove was one of our favourite moments in Ghana! It was an annual festival where they carry the King & Queen of the town on floats and everyone dances. It has something to do with a thanks and celebration of the Gods; I never got the full story as we got dragged into the dancing right away!
The parade went down a long road. Everyone joined in and gathered around the floats as they passed by, dancing away. There were trombones and various other musical instruments leading the way. We had a blast dancing and meeting new people in the crowd! There was one woman in particular who kept coming to dance with Caro & I. She was the dancing queen if I have ever met one! I had so much fun I don’t even know how to describe how incredible it was to be walking with the people through the parade, singing, dancing, and celebrating the life we live! It’s a beautiful world and this was one of those moments where I was able to appreciate being alive and being in Ghana.
We lost Alex and Heather in the parade. We ended up heading back to the ocean with Yao and we met them back at the beach. We all cooled down our dancing feet with fan ice and then Caro, Heather, & I went swimming in the ocean. The tide was high and we had to battle with a lot of waves. We rented a body board and enjoyed ourselves gliding on top of the waves!
After we got waterlogged we went back to the surf shop and played apples to apples with a man named Saf from Israel. It was a hilarious game and we had a lot of fun!
As the evening was fast approaching we had to go catch a tro-tro back to Takoradi. We made it back in time for a nice supper prepared by my host uncle, Emmanuel. He is an incredible cook! I need to steal his recipes and get a few cooking lessons from him before I go back to Canada.
We went with Moe to Georgina’s house to pick up our clothing. We had a nice visit with her and finally met her 2 sons. One of them was 6’7 and startled me when he opened the door. I hadn’t met a tall Ghanaian yet haha!
Now we are back home and our plan is to unbraid Heather’s hair, watch house and
pig out on Kingsbite chocolate (100 % Ghanaian cocoa)!
Good night!
August 21st & 22nd ,
We woke up at 6 am this morning as we needed to get ready and hit the road to begin our end of summer adventure! We didn’t get much sleep as we were up until 2:30 am unbraiding Heather’s hair.
We left for Accra right after breakfast. We were all so sleepy and kept dozing on the tro-tro but none of us were able to get into a deep sleep because there was a baby who would let out a violent scream every time we would start to sleep.
Once we arrived in Accra we went on a mission to find a bus to Tamale. Taxis kept begging us to get in but we wanted to make our week long adventure as cheap as possible so we decided we would walk. The bus station wasn’t far away from the tro-tro station and we even found a stand with fresh pineapple along the way so we were off to a great start! Once we got to the STC bus station we learned that there were no buses to Tamale on Sundays (the Bradt travel guide lied to us) and no tro-tros either. Caro & I were really disappointed as we were to be in Mole on Monday and we would never make it unless we started heading north today. Heather said we could stay the night with her in Accra but at this point it was only noon and we still had the day ahead of us so Caro & I didn’t want to give up yet! We remembered that we passed by a church on the way to the STC station that had a huge bus with a Tamale sign in the window. We thought it was sketchy but we went to check it out anyway. It turned out that it was a man operating a private business. We decided we trusted him and bought 2 tickets for the bus to Tamale. It would leave at 4pm and arrive in Tamale at 4am. Caro & I had a room booked at the Catholic Guesthouse in Tamale and we phoned them to let them know that we still wanted the room but that we probably wouldn’t be there until dawn!
We had plenty of time to kill until the bus left so the three of us went for lunch at a chop bar. We ended up caving in and taking a taxi. It was hard to find a place that was open on a Sunday! We were fortunate that our taxi driver knew of a place. I can’t remember the name of it but the women preparing the food were very excited to have “obronnis” at their chop bar. Heather had rice ball with groundnut soup and Caro and I both had chicken with jolof rice. We love chop bars and will definitely miss them when we go back to Canada!
I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned the set up of chop bars in past entries but just in case I’ll mention it here! Basically they are small little shacks that are run by a woman or two. They are often referred to as “fast food”. They serve local foods such as fufu, banku, rice ball, and jolof rice as well as chicken, fish, and boiled eggs. They are located at the side of almost every road and have benches for the people to sit and eat. They always serve your food with a bowl of water so that you can wash your right hand before eating. They also never sit you at a bench alone, they always invite you to join others so you end up making friends every time you go for lunch! It is a fun atmosphere with delicious food for a cheap price!
After lunch Heather went back to her host mother’s place and Caro & I went to the bus station. We sat for a little over an hour and read the Bradt travel guide to pass the time and plan out our amazing adventure to northern Ghana! The bus left the station at approximately 4:30 but stopped down the road for almost an hour to allow more people to board. Caro & I were getting antsy because it was almost 6pm and we hadn’t started the 12 hour bus ride yet! We stocked up on biscuits and drinks from vendors outside the window because we knew this trek was going to be a long one!
The bus had a TV on it and was playing a TV series called Merlin. Caro & I ended up getting pretty into the show but I popped a gravol and before I knew it I was sound asleep! I woke up around 9 or 10 and Caro had just gotten off of the phone with her boyfriend. Apparently their was a tornado in her town, Goderich. This was a very scary moment for her as she couldn’t get a hold of her parents. She called her friends and eventually got in touch with her parents who were safe out at the cottage. Her neighbour told her there was a lot of damage but that her home was fine. After knowing that her friends and family were safe and that her home was fine she was able to get some sleep. Its scary to think that a tornado went through this town. The weather is getting really scary lately!
Our bus arrived in Tamale at 10 after 7 in the morning. There were 2 stops during the night that lasted over an hour. I slept through one of them thankfully. Apparently they were police checks but I don’t understand why they took so long. Caro & I were happy that we made it to Tamale safely as overnight buses are very dangerous, there are a lot of armed robberies so it wasn’t smart of us to take an overnight bus. Sometimes we get a little too brave!
Caro & I didn’t bother going to the Catholic Guesthouse. We went to the bus station and got a ticket for the bus out to Mole National Park. The bus was scheduled to leave at 2pm. We thought of going to the guesthouse since we reserved a room but then we figured we got enough sleep on the bus to carry us through so we might as well walk around and explore Tamale.
I was told that the northern region is very different from the southern region of Ghana and that the northern region is very poor. It was fun to see the differences in Tamale. The shocking sight to me was women driving motorcycles. The even more shocking experience was women driving motorcycles with a baby sitting on the front! I have only seen one woman driving a car during my time in Ghana at this point so it was shocking to see that this was more accepted in the north as women drivers were everywhere you looked!
Caro & I were wandering down this one road when a man named Jason ran up to us and demanded that we not go any further down the road as we would most likely get mugged. We appreciated his warning as we were just exploring and didn’t know exactly where we were going! We were hungry so Jason showed us to the cultural centre where we went to a restaurant called Sparkles. We ended up sitting there most of the day, eating and drinking tea while reading a book. We also explored some of the shops at the cultural centre. Caro & I found these hilarious t-shirts that say “make fufu not war” which we were really excited about!
We went back to the metro mass station shortly after 1 and waited for the bus to Mole. The bus ended up being late so we sat at the station waiting. Caro received a phone call saying that her house was damaged from the tornado. This news was very hard to hear, especially when she was so far away. After making a few phonecalls to her family and to the QPID summer director, Kira, she decided she wanted to go home and be with her family during this difficult time. The bus arrived at 5pm which I was thankful for as that gave me enough time to stay with Caro & ensure that she was on a bus back to Takoradi before we parted ways. She should get back to Takoradi tomorrow and have a day to pack and say goodbyes. Her flight is scheduled for Wednesday. I am really sad that she is leaving but I fully understand her wishes to be home during this time.
I got on the bus to Mole after saying my goodbyes to Caro. There were a group of Irish girls and 2 Americans that I met at the bus station on the bus so they all adopted me into their group. I had been talking to the girls at the station for awhile this afternoon and one of them asked me if I had ever been to Cape Coast. I said I had been there twice. She said I looked really familiar and that she was living in Cape Coast so she must have seen me there before. It wasn’t until we got on the bus and they all told me their names that I realized I had met 2 of the girls when I spent a long weekend in Cape Coast! There were 2 Fiona’s and I remember meeting them down by the ocean. They had just arrived in Ghana at that time. The second the one Fiona told me her name I shouted “I know why I look familiar I met you down by the ocean!” She then joined in my excitement and went “you were the girl in the purple bathing suit” and then it was just a moment of pure excitement that we had met before and that here we were again! The other girls in the group were Mary, Julan, and Elizabeth. Elizabeth is the only one in their group who isn’t from Ireland. She is from Abbey, England. The five of them are here for 6 months teaching in the schools in Cape Coast. I also met Kevin and Elyse who are free-lance photographers and journalists from Ohio and their Ghanaian friend Douglas. I was happy to have such a nice group of people to travel with!
The bus ride to Mole National Park is famous for being late and having breakdowns. We were lucky that ours didn’t breakdown at all but apparently when my friend Robin took the bus yesterday they had to stop every 15 minutes to cool down the engine. The Bradt travel guide describes this trip along the bumpiest road in the world as taking anywhere from 4 to 8 hours, depending on breakdowns. We arrived in Mole a little after 10. I met my friend Robin there. He was down by the pool with friends he had met during his travels last week. The group of girls didn’t book a room at the hotel and they only had 4 beds available so one of the Fiona’s joined Robin and I since we had an extra bed after losing Caro. Once we got rooms sorted out we sat down by the pool. Fiona and I shared a plate of chicken and jolof rice. We met all of Robin’s friends 2 girls from Germany, Pol from Barcelona, and Mike from England.
Now I am heading off to bed! We will go out to explore the park and find elephants in the morning!
Bye for now!
August 23rd & 24th,
We woke up at 6:30 this morning to go on the 7am safari around Mole National Park. Ghana unlike many countries in eastern Africa, such as Kenya and Botswana does not have a lot of animals. They have a few parks which they created to protect the species that they do have. There are 2 hippos sanctuaries, although one of them is being closed to create a dam. Caro & I were sad because we had wanted to go to that one! There is Kakum National Park, which is where the canopy walkway is. They have elephants and monkeys there (well supposedly, I didn’t see any when I was there haha). There are also 2 monkey sanctuaries, I visited one of them when I was in the Volta region. Mole National Park is home to the African Savannah elephant as well as warthogs, baboons, elephants, crocodiles and many birds & butterflies. Mole National Park is 4840km², which means there is a lot of space for the animals to roam! Our tour guide David was telling us today that they had a lion spotting in the park back in 2004. I will keep my eye out for him!
We started our walk with the sighting of antelopes. They were so beautiful! They would just stand there in the trees almost like they wanted us to take their picture. As we walked on we found all of the baboons and warthogs. The baboons were running all around. It was really neat to see how the mothers carried their babies. They would either sit on their backs or hang onto their mother’s belly which allowed the mother to have her arms/legs free to run and find food.
I decided warthogs are so ugly that they are cute! We found the majority of them picking through garbage at a landfill site from the nearby villagers. They have long hair and tusks and unfortunately aren’t as cute as Pumba from the Lion King.
The best part was when we fond the elephants! They are just so big! They live the simple life as all they do is stand there and eat grass. I can’t imagine how much grass it takes to fill one of their stomachs! Our tour guide David found a male at one point and deemed it necessary to point out how big an elephants penis is. He looked a us and said “just like women like big penis, elephants also like big penis”. We couldn’t stop laughing! Then David went on to tell us that when the male elephant impregnates the female he will abandon her. He said unlike our culture where the man stays with the woman and escorts her during the pregnancy the male elephant gets to move on.
We ended our walk down by the watering hole where we spotted a crocodile! I really wanted to go for a swim with the elephants but not now after seeing what is lurking underneath the water!
After our walk we went back to the motel where we had breakfast. We had sugar cubes on the table for our tea and coffee but a baboon came swooping in and ran away with the cup. One of the hotel workers had to chase him down. I saw them chasing baboons around all day to retrieve everything from bottles of coke to sugar cubes to bottles of ketchup! It must be exhausting for the workers to always be on baboon watch!
After breakfast we went and sat at a bench that overlooked the watering hole. Mole motel is on top of a hill so you can overlook the park. It is absolutely beautiful! We all sat and talked and watched the elephants cleaning off in the watering hole. According to our tour guide this morning the elephants in Mole are black in colour but the ones we saw were gray because they were dirty. When they were leaving the watering hole we got to see that they actually were supposed to be black in colour.
After watching the elephants for awhile our whole gang went down to the pool for a swim and we ended up spending the entire day there! We bought a case of beers from the restaurant and just swam and soaked up the sun! It was so much fun! We even had visits from baboons and warthogs while we were sitting by the pool. My friend Julann wanted to learn how to dive which she got very good at by the end of the day since we actually swam until we were waterlogged! The weather is a lot warmer in northern Ghana compared to the south!
After we finished swimming we went back to change for supper. There was a baboon sitting near the room with a bottle of ketchup. He was using a small stick to scoop it out. It is amazing how smart they are!
I chatted with Caro before supper and she made it back to Takoradi early this morning. She will go to Accra tomorrow morning and go to the airport to catch her flight home. I’m wishing her safe travels! <3
Our gang went to the staff canteen in behind the hotel for supper because we were craving a good Ghanaian meal. There was a woman named Janet working and she prepared chicken and jolof rice for us. As we were eating a rainstorm rolled in and we didn’t want to walk back to the hotel so we just ordered for a few beers and started a game of Kings under the tin roof at the canteen. It was Janet’s birthday so we bought her two beers (a beer bottle is 625 mls in Ghana). 10 minutes later Janet was suddenly speaking loudly and telling us to go to her house so that we could make fufu. She chugged both of those beers and was absolutely hammered! It was at that point that we decided to sing happy birthday to her! We had a blast under the tin roof!
Eventually we made our way back to the hotel. We ended up sitting out at the restaurant there and going for a night time swim which the people at the hotel weren’t happy about. We then went back to the room and continued to drink there. Before we knew it, it was 3:30 am and Pol, Robin, and I had a 4am bus ride to catch along the bumpy road back to Tamale!
The 4am bus ride was painful. The three of us weren’t feeling so hot! Each bump in the road, which was every 2 seconds brought a taste of beer into our mouths. Luckily none of us got sick though! We made it to Tamale around 9am and said goodbye to Pol. Robin and I went to find a bus to Kumasi. We found one and boarded it but we had to wait for it to fill with people before we could depart so we ended up sitting there for an hour and a half before we left. That gave us enough time to grab bread, water, and fanice from vendors passing by the window though!
The bus ride to Kumasi was the prefect time for me to unbraid my hair. I worked on that and took power naps every now and then. We arrived in Kumasi around suppertime and went to get a bed in a dorm room at the Guestline Lodge. Once we got to the lodge we reunited with Mike from England. The three of us went for supper at Vic Baboo’s Café. After supper we went back to the lodge and had a beer. I don’t know how Robin and I could possibly want one after last night but we drank it. We talked outside for awhile. Now I am going to bed. I am so tired after pulling an all nighter last night! I’ll be up bright and early tomorrow to catch the bus from Kumasi to Takoradi!
August 25th,
I woke up very early this morning! I was staying in a dorm so it was a room filled with bunkbeds. I was on the top bunk and my phone was down on the ground across the room charging. I had set my alarm for 3:30 but it wasn’t until 5 or 10 minutes afterwards that I realized it was going off. I struggled to find my way out of the bunk bed and found Robin standing near the charging cellphones going “it was my phone”. Somehow in his sleep he managed to turn off my alarm! I was happy I woke up though!
I got dressed and scooted off to the bus station. I made it on time to catch the 4am bus from Kumasi to Takoradi. There was a man sitting next to me on the bus who was driving me nuts. I kept trying to sleep because it was early and I was still tired but he kept hitting my arm and waking me to talk to me. He wanted to marry me and take me to the Ivory Coast. I told him I was married and had 2 children back in Canada so that he would leave me alone but he kept rambling on and on. Eventually he fell asleep which meant I could finally sleep. I was so excited when one of the seats across from me became free. I jumped up and told him I needed to sit near the other window to watch for my stop. He bought it and that gave me 20 minutes of peace on the 5 hour bus ride.
I jumped off the bus at the end of I Adu street. I stay at the opposite end of the road so I had a little walking to do but I stopped and bought breakfast along the way.
Once I got home I unpacked from my trip up north and began packing for home! It is hard to believe that I only have a few days until I go back to Canada! I had tea and lunch with Emmanuel. Then the children came to join and chat with us.
Afterwards I went down to Market Circle to walk around one last time and say my goodbyes. I went to my favourite fabric stores, where people were upset that I wasn’t buying anymore. I also went to Georgina’s and said goodbye to her. She had me sing “that thing” for her as my going away present! After leaving Georgina’s I found a supermarket and I picked up a box of fufu mix. The box contains pre-crushed cassava. I am going to bring this home and attempt to make fufu for my family!
I got back to the house in the late afternoon and did laundry with Moe. It took me a long time to scrub my white nursing dress clean!
For supper tonight I had my last bowl of fufu. The power went out for awhile so then I got to enjoy my favourite Ghanaian meal by candlelight!
After supper I washed my hair and got all of the extensions out of it. I am re-braiding it tomorrow! I visited with George and got a cooking lesson from Emmanuel so that I will know how to prepare groundnut soup to serve with fufu when I prepare it at home.
Well I am going to go do a bit more packing and then go to bed. Caro is in Detroit and should be home in Goderich this evening!
Ochena!
August 26th,
I didn’t want to get out of bed this morning because I knew that I would have to say goodbye to Emmanuel. He left this morning for the Ivory Coast and will not be coming back to Takoradi until Monday. By Monday I will be back in Canada which meant that today was goodbye. I was almost in tears. I will miss him so much! He has been very good to both Caro & I during our time here and we really appreciate him cooking for us and always working so hard to include us in the family and make us feel welcome.
Later on in the morning Moe and I went to God is Great Beauty Care where I had my hair braided one last time. It took 6 ½ hours this time but it was worth it! I had a lot of fun talking with the girls! This time I got the front corn-rowed but they twisted all of the bottom part instead of braiding it. Then they took several strands and made big braids. They dunked them in boiling water and then unbraided them. Now I have long, curly, braided hair! I am very excited to bring this style back to Canada! After the girls finished my hair we took some pictures and said our goodbyes. I’ve spent many hours in the chair at God is Great having my hair braided over the past few months haha!
I walked home and stopped at Deborah’s along the way to say goodbye. Then I went home. For my last night in Takoradi my family prepared a nice meal with chicken and jolof rice and sangria. Alice’s sister was there with her children (Grace, Joyce, Joycelynn, & Isaac). We had a wonderful dinner altogether. We sat and talked and watched football in the living room. It was such a nice evening!
I am now packing and I’m almost in tears knowing that I have to leave this incredible family in the morning! I can’t believe how good they have been to Caro & I over the past 3 months. I will really miss them and hope to meet them again one day!
August 27th,
I woke up at 5:30 this morning and finished packing. I didn’t do a lot of packing last night as I ended up falling asleep. I had a nice breakfast and then started my goodbyes. I went for a walk to say goodbye to the neighbours. Then I went back to my house where I sat and cried with Alice. It was a sad morning saying goodbye to everyone!
My taxi driver, James, who would take Caro & I to and from work everyday came to pick me up and brought me to the bus station. He wouldn’t let me pay him for the ride. He is so generous for a taxi driver and I am so grateful to have known him. He is a very sweet man! Hilda, Moe, and Alice accompanied me to the bus station. We cried some more. Then I had to get on the bus and let go of my sweet Alice who I know I will miss so much!
I slept most of the bus ride and also read some of my book. I arrived in Accra around 3pm and took a taxi to Pig Farm where I met Heather and Robin. We went back to their place for awhile. Then we went to Walker’s and ordered a Hawaiian pizza. We know that we can get pizza in Canada but we defended ourselves by saying that we can’t get one with fresh pineapple! We were still hungry after sharing the pizza so we went back to Robin & Heather’s place where we had a bit of “pottidge”. Their host mother Bernice prepared it. It was chicken with yam and then a creamy sauce over top. It was so good! I think this is another dish I will have to try preparing in Canada!
We went to Jamestown with Loretta and went to a bar or “a spot” as they are called in Ghana and had a few drinks near the ocean. It was a beautiful place and we had a great view of the ocean. I was happy that I was spending my last night in Ghana near the ocean as no matter where I travel my favourite place is always the ocean!
We got pretty creative with drinks tonight. First Heather and I had vodka with coke. Than we had pear alvaro (a malt drink) with absolut peach vodka. Then we had bailey’s with strawberry vodka. A man was there selling popcorn. We took full advantage of that to get the taste of vodka out of our mouths!
A random man came and sat with us and kept singing this song over and over. He was clapping his hands and saying “crap,crap” we think he meant clap but after all of the vodka we thought it was hilarious and we just encouraged him to sing away. The spot closed at midnight and we went home but we had ice cream first, just to end the night right!
I received a phone call from both Abe and Hilda earlier on in the evening. We are missing each other already!
Bye for now!
August 28th & 29th,
We went for a walk around Pig Farm this morning after breakfast. It was nice to be out on a Sunday morning and see everyone dressed up on their way to church. There was a mosque nearby so I could hear the prayers. We also passed by a chapel and I could hear them all singing.
Bernice and her sister, Sophie gave Heather and I a cooking lesson today and taught us how to make red-red. First we boiled the beans. Then we peeled and cut plantain (like a banana) and fried it in oil. Then we prepared the sauce. After a few struggles with chopping plantain and having it slide all over the floor to splashing hot oil on myself trying to flip the plantain in the frying pan we had succeeded in preparing red-red!
Loretta came over and joined us for lunch. It was absolutely delicious! This week I had two of my favourite Ghanaian dishes: fufu & red-red so I was happy about that!
We went to Osu which is a region of Accra to walk around a few shops. Then we returned to Pig Farm and went for a walk. We then went for supper at a small restaurant. I enjoyed my last feed of jolof rice! After supper we left for the airport. Loretta came with us to drop us at the airport. I had a hard time saying goodbye because I really don’t want to leave Ghana. I am anxious to see my family but I love it here!
The airport was pretty hectic but we made it through in one piece. There was a cute elderly couple from Massachusetts. They had come to Ghana on vacation for one week. We were following them through bag-check and security but we got separated from them at immigration. Apparently our working visas in our passports were only endorsed for 60 days although it clearly states 3 months in all of our passports. The immigration officer told us the fine is 40 cedis each. We didn’t have a lot of money on us but once we combined what each of us had we were able to pay the fine. The past 3 months in Ghana have been all about bargaining as no mater what shop you go to you always have to try and get a lower price than what they ask you for, especially when you’re dealing with taxi drivers. I wasn’t thinking and decided to try negotiating with the customs officer. I told him that since he was taking all of our money away he should at least buy us a coke. He looked at me and shouted “ you want a coke? and I just replied “yes, I’m thirsty and there is time to kill before the plane”. Heather was standing beside me, nervous that I was demanding this from an officer but he looked up and said “here go get yourselves a coke” and gave each of us 5 cedis back. We were thrilled and we stocked up on snacks so that every last penny was spent!
We sat and waited for the plane in the boarding area. We each had an ice cream bar so we weren’t complaining! Heather and I played a few different card games and then before we knew it we were boarding the plane.
The first flight went from Accra, Ghana to Washington, USA and took roughly 10 ½ hours. I slept for the majority of the plane ride since it was overnight. I also read my book and watch the movie bridesmaids.
We landed in Washington right on schedule. The pilot had promised us that we did not need to worry about the hurricane the night before. He said the way is clear and there will be no delays.
When we arrived in Washington we had to check and re-check our bags and go through all of the fun airport stuff. Then we had a few hours on our hands before our connecting flight to Toronto. Heather and I went right towards Starbucks and got a chai latte! It was yummy!
Once we boarded the small plane to Toronto we were there in the blink of an eye! It only rook one hour! Once we landed we checked our bags and went through customs. We met my parents and Robin’s sister at the other side! We said goodbye to each other as we all had to go our separate ways. Robin and I will both returning to Queen’s next week but Heather has graduated and will be starting a full-time job as an engineer next week. She is from Vancouver but doesn’t have enough time to go home before her job starts so she won’t be able to go home until Thanksgiving.
I was excited to see my parents! We went to Whitby where I saw my uncle Steve and my cousin Stephanie. Then we went for lunch together at Montana’s. It was a slow drive back home because there was a lot of construction. I made it home around 7pm. I went to see my Granny and visited with her and my parents.
Well this marks the end of my journey to Ghana! I hope you all have enjoyed reading about my adventures and I want to thank all of you for supporting me to go on this trip. I had an amazing time and I learned so much! Ghana was a beautiful country with lush landscapes, delicious food, friendly people, and a lot of dancing! I have never been to such an incredible place and I will miss all of the people I met there, especially my host family and the nurses at the clinic.
Nante yie!
Farewell!
