We are in the Ghanaian Times!

Picture 1. The group in Washington DC ready to go!
Picture 2. The group with host Vivian in Accra and friend Collins outside the Sight for Africa Eye Clinic.


We made it! We stayed with friends, Kofi and Vivian Ghartey, in their lovely home in Accra. They were very welcoming and fed us a lot. On the first day in Accra, we visited the central Sight for Africa Eye Clinic, which provides ophthalmic services (optometrists and opthalmologist on staff) for half the price of the private clinics in Accra and has branches in rural and hard-to-reach areas of Ghana. We spent the rest of our time in Accra exploring- exchanging money, bartering at some markets, trying new foods, meeting local people. In the market, James and Brian were given 'tiger nuts' by a stranger. Our host Kofi told us that they were given to men when their wives were not pregnant after one year of marriage...

One special experience in Accra put us in the news and local paper (The Ghanaian Times, we all got copies the next day)!! We spoke about our trip and our lives to 200 students in a government-sponsored youth employment program.After they all wanted our pictures and our email addresses or our hands in marriage (especially James!). We met with national and local directors of the National Youth Council and student unions in Ghana- all were interested in partnering with us in future trips so we exchanged contact info.


We met up with the local Gustie senior, "BF", Baffour Appiah-Korang, at a beach resort to appreciate the Ghanaian nightlife.We are now visiting the Cape Coast slave castles and staying in the Anomobo Beach Resort, where we have had the opportunity to boogie board and swim in the warm ocean water. Some of us got up for the sunrise... but the chronic haze prevented us from watching it.

The traffic is awful. Few roads are paved, and all roads are congested and have large potholes that are unavoidable. Our drivers have been impressive- fast and aggressive in the heavy traffic. And it usually takes between 1-5 hours to get anywhere.


We all have been sick. Textbook traveler's diarrhea, despite our best efforts to avoid contaminated food and water. But we're all in this together. James got bit by a fish and has a nice bite mark in his foot.

We have some new nicknames. James= Prince. Brian=Glitter-burger.Alex= President Pretzel. Bri= Beth. Courtney= Stripes. Kendra=Kenjer.

We have all had to be very patient. At restaurants, regardless of what you order you never know what you are going to get. Spaghetti= french fries. Typically we wait about an hour for our food.

Some of our friendly driver/guides/friends includes- David, Collins and Joe. We are often in the left side of the road...

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. We are having much fun.