Howdy! I finally made it to Accra, Ghana! My journey was very smooth, and I got all of my luggage easily, including all of my eyeglasses and surgical supplies (thank god!). The heat hit us instantaneously as we stepped off the plane, and it was a nice feeling after the cold North American winter. But man is it HOT and HUMID!
Jerome, one of the general nurses at the UFS partner Crystal Eye Clinic, and Bismark, the UFS driver, gave us a warm welcome at the Kotoka Airport, and took us to the Telecentre Bed & Breakfast in Accra. This is where I will be staying this week and during my third week in Ghana. It is a lovely guest house with very nice rooms (we are quite spoiled actually!). After settling in, the other volunteers and I ventured out into Accra to check out the money exchange bureau and the Bank of America ATM. Getting there was interesting...we basically had to run across three busy streets with "high-speed" (all relative, of course) traffic, and we had to jump over these cement walls to get across the three roads. For Indiana Jones, this might have been a piece of cake. But for some of us jet-lagged travelers, it was mildly terrifying. But we made it!
For dinner I had a taste of Ghanaian fried rice, which was really delicious. Being a vegetarian traveler in West Africa is definitely going to be interesting...asking for meals with no meat is quite strange to waiters in restaurants and chop bars. But I think I'll definitely manage, and there are a lot of interesting meatless Ghanaian dishes that I'm very excited to try. I've heard that fufu, jollof rice, and plantains are very popular.
We also had orientation today with Jerome and Ernest, two of the staff members from Crystal Eye Clinic. They're absolutely fantastic, and loads of fun! I can't wait to get started this week at the clinic. It seems that our schedule permits us to go touring on the weekends, so we all have plans to do some exciting things while in Ghana. We're hoping to do a jungle canopy tour, possibly go to a wildlife reserve, visit a mushroom-shaped waterfall, visit the slave castles, a monkey tour, and a Ghanaian drumming jam session at the Accra cultural center! I hope there will be enough time to do at least some of these amazing things.
Days 1 & 2 in Accra have been amazing so far, and I'm excited to get started in the clinics and the village outreaches. Stay tuned for some more adventures (I'm sure you'll all enjoy reading my post about the Canopy Tour...yes, I'm afraid of heights, but I'm going alllllll out!). Next week I will be going on a 5 day overnight outreach to an area called Jasikan. We will be living in the village with the local people, so it will definitely be an adventure!
-Indu
Jerome, one of the general nurses at the UFS partner Crystal Eye Clinic, and Bismark, the UFS driver, gave us a warm welcome at the Kotoka Airport, and took us to the Telecentre Bed & Breakfast in Accra. This is where I will be staying this week and during my third week in Ghana. It is a lovely guest house with very nice rooms (we are quite spoiled actually!). After settling in, the other volunteers and I ventured out into Accra to check out the money exchange bureau and the Bank of America ATM. Getting there was interesting...we basically had to run across three busy streets with "high-speed" (all relative, of course) traffic, and we had to jump over these cement walls to get across the three roads. For Indiana Jones, this might have been a piece of cake. But for some of us jet-lagged travelers, it was mildly terrifying. But we made it!
The Telecentre Bed & Breakfast, Accra, Ghana.
My bubble for the trip.
For dinner I had a taste of Ghanaian fried rice, which was really delicious. Being a vegetarian traveler in West Africa is definitely going to be interesting...asking for meals with no meat is quite strange to waiters in restaurants and chop bars. But I think I'll definitely manage, and there are a lot of interesting meatless Ghanaian dishes that I'm very excited to try. I've heard that fufu, jollof rice, and plantains are very popular.
We also had orientation today with Jerome and Ernest, two of the staff members from Crystal Eye Clinic. They're absolutely fantastic, and loads of fun! I can't wait to get started this week at the clinic. It seems that our schedule permits us to go touring on the weekends, so we all have plans to do some exciting things while in Ghana. We're hoping to do a jungle canopy tour, possibly go to a wildlife reserve, visit a mushroom-shaped waterfall, visit the slave castles, a monkey tour, and a Ghanaian drumming jam session at the Accra cultural center! I hope there will be enough time to do at least some of these amazing things.
Sorting the hundreds of eyeglasses we brought from North America.
Days 1 & 2 in Accra have been amazing so far, and I'm excited to get started in the clinics and the village outreaches. Stay tuned for some more adventures (I'm sure you'll all enjoy reading my post about the Canopy Tour...yes, I'm afraid of heights, but I'm going alllllll out!). Next week I will be going on a 5 day overnight outreach to an area called Jasikan. We will be living in the village with the local people, so it will definitely be an adventure!
-Indu
Welcome to Ghana Amazing Indu. A little correction, Jerome is a General Nurse with UFS.thanks,jeromeberyl
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