Our week in Accra

April 28-May 04

After a short layover in Lagos, our group arrived at Kotoka International airport in the heavy humidity of late afternoon Accra. Customs was quick and painless; baggage collection less so. At first, two bags were missing: mine and Rochelle's, with the explanation that they had been left behind in Legos, and would arrive the next day. My bag ended up showing up, but Rochelle's unfortunately did not. She took it like a trooper however, and made friends with Collins the baggage agent. This turned out to be handy when it was necessary to present a bribe in order to claim her bags the next day!
We met Samuel Anin, our Accra host and the chairman of YMCA Ghana. He very graciously hosted us on the YMCA Adabraka compound: most of us in the girls and boys' annexes, and the leaders and a few lucky participants in the (air conditioned!) guesthouse.
The first night was interesting, and overwhelming. In the annexes we had power and water outages, which made for a hot sticky night in the 80-90% humidity, 30 degree C weather. Nevertheless, I slept soundly, and Natasha and I woke early and easily to the sounds of birdsong and a rooster crowing.
The next day we visited La Beach- amazing! Beautiful warm water, and lots of friendly people who couldn't wait to touch us, talk to us, and ask about immigrating to Canada! We took it easy that day, splashing around, learning our first words of Twi and Ewe, and eating yummy Ghanaian food.
On Monday we had a welcoming ceremony, featuring prominent community members, and most importantly, attended by our 50 peer educators, who travelled hours from their respective homes in order to attend. The ceremony was wonderful- the Canadians presented an original song written by Karine, and a rendition of "Let it Shine" with the lyrics changed to reflect the purpose of our trip.
The rest of the week was spent alternately taking part in acclimatization workshops, and exploring Accra. The Makola market received several visits, as did 'Busy Internet', the ex-pat hangout/internet cafe. When it came time to leave Accra we were excited about the adventure ahead, but very sad about separating from our new friends, both in Accra and amongst the group. The 11 participants grew very close during the two weeks in Toronto and Accra, and splitting into two groups to be stationed across the country from one another was bittersweet. Nevertheless, we comforted ourselves with the prospect of a meet-up midway at Cape Coast, and with the excitement of the journey ahead.

By Michelle