Ghana
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How I Got There
One day in January 2002, several people and I where talking in our dorm about the places we wanted to go to abroad. I had stated that I always wanted to go to Africa. Then our campus minister, who was there, told us about her time in South Africa. This interested me and another woman who wanted to go to Africa, too. So, both of us planned this is where we would go. Unfortunately, as we were planning, the campus minister thought it was not a good idea to go, because women are targets for rape there. So, my planning partner remembered that the camp she worked at had a location in Ghana. So that is where we planned to go.
In January 2003, I went to Ghana, West Africa. I went there through my school, Berea College as a study abroad trip. This was a mission trip, as well as a sight-seeing trip. This trip was organized through the organization, Echoing Hills. Echoing Hills is a ministry that provides aid to physically and mentally disabled persons and at the same time spread the love and message of Christ. They own several residential properties in Ohio and a property in Ghana. Each summer they also conduct a camp! For more information on Echoing Hills please click the picture.
The Trip
The five of us left for Ghana on January 8, 2003. The trip there was long and exciting. From Cincinnati we flew to Detroit and from there we flew to Amsterdam. In Detroit, we met Brad Byer, our one of our American leaders from Echoing Hills. During our wait to Amsterdam, we planned our program. Our mission was to plan and run camps for the disabled in several locations. We planned the activities and the songs we were going to use and who were going to introduce the activity. After some time, we boarded our KLM plane to Amsterdam. This plane was huge! it was a doubble decker plane, but only the first/business classes were up there. It seats up to about 400 people. We left for Amsterdam in the evening. We arrived in the morning in Amsterdam.
Amsterdam is a nice place. It was a very cold place, too. Unfortunately, since we packed light and we were going to a tropical environment, we did not bring any coats. After walking around a bit, we felt like our hands had suffered from frostbite. But the excitement wore that off. The part of Amsterdam we visited was like an outdoor mall. There were so many shops for souvenirs, trinkets and clothes. One of our team mates, Clifton called Amsterdam the "European, Gatlinburg" because it was a tourist trap. While there we saw plenty of McDonald's and even a KFC! To see pictures from this leg of the trip please click here!
After about an hour or two, we left Amsterdam for Accra, Ghana! We arrived in Ghana around 10pm. It was extremely hot getting off the plane. My glasses fogged up. After going through customs, we left to go to our hotel, the Mensvic. This was a very nice hotel room! It even had a refrigerator and a safe in the room. Once arriving, I plopped to bed awoke up to see the Ghanaian sun.
The Mission
Our mission trip had two purposes: to provided mini-camps to the disabled and to do some work at Echoing Hills. We did three mini-camps while in Ghana. The first one (which was the longest) was at Cape Coast. Then we did a one day camp at Echoing Hills. Our last camp was at Kumasi. All the camps were different. The first one was very nice. It was held at the Nana Bina hotel. This hotel was set on a hill and over looked the city. The campers that came were very nice and resilient people. Many of them crawled. They would put shoes on there hands because they either didn't have or didn't use their feet. That was very hard to get over. Their strength made you feel weak. However, we all had fun together. We would have morning devotionals, create crafts, play games and have an evening worship service. This camp lasted 4 days.
The next camp at Echoing Hills was one day so we picked the best of the activities we did at Cape Coast. This camp was fun also. I enjoyed the Echoing Hills residents. They were used to this so, they were having a ball. The next day after this camp, We had a workday where we cleaned and painted at Echoing Hills. Some of our schoolmates who were also in Ghana came to visit us. It was cool sharing experiences with some one you know. I help paint and dust the gazebo (of course not in that order). The others helped with the chicken coop and painting the medical center. After, that day was done we got ready for our trip to Kumasi.
Our camp at Kumasi was great. By now we were old pros at this camp running thing. The only downside is that we had less help. But that was not bad. This camp had the Paralympics athletes. One camper Anita who I was close to is going to Athens this year (2004)! It was amazing to see the guys play soccer on crutches and in wheelchairs. They were good. They would even try to trip the others. One guy could pop wheelies on his wheelchair. That was neat. At this camp we had fun praising the Lord it was really amazing. I know one time it lasted for about 45 min. That was great!
Touring Ghana
Ghana is a beautiful place. To me even the things that are not supposed to be beautiful are. On the cost, it is so green. It is very tropical. In the mainland, the trees are taller and larger. You could tell the difference in environment from Accra to Kumasi to Mole.
There are many places to shop for great souvenirs. The best places to shop are at the markets in many of the cities. We went to a few different ones in the cities we went to. In the markets the local specialties are cheaper there. For instance, outside of Kumasi kente cloth is cheaper there because that is where the master weavers reside. I got two double woven stoles for 30 cidis. A kente stole looks like what you see on the side of this page. The great thing about the markets is that you can haggle for lower prices and even trade items. There were many times they would ask me for the bandana off my head or a pair of sunglasses to trade for an item. Actually, paying for it that way would have been a cheaper trade. Cloth here is so beautiful and cheap, so I recommend that you take some home. Other items you can purchase in the markets are jewelry, drums, wood carvings, clothes, shoes, and even books! Plan a good chunk of time to shop, because to get the best deals it may take awhile.
Another unique thing you would see while traveling through Ghana are the street vendors. These vendors come up to your vehicle while you are stuck in traffic or are in slow moving traffic. They sell everything from CD's to toilet tissue to sunglasses to food. Some of the tastiest foods to buy are tiger nuts, plantain chips, sugar bread and fan ice. The thing about these vendors is that they are really persistent, especially to foreigners. They know we have money.
We went to Mole National Park. That was up north from Kumasi. It was very secluded but nice. We stayed at the hotel there which was an experience. For one thing the electricity went out at 11pm there because it was on a generator. That made it scary because it was totally dark then. What also made my time scary there was that there was a bat right out side my window! I never heard a bat before. But that one sure kept me up all night long.
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