Welcome to Ghana

I know I have not been in touch for a few days- had to Internet sorry.

We moved out of our hotel on Saturday and were all shipped of to various regions of Ghana ready for our placements. Some of the new recruits had 15- 18 hour journeys.

The 7 of us staying in Accra still had no idea where our accommodation would be or who we would be sharing with and no-one could tell us. Whenever we would ask we would be told tomorrow you will be told and tomorrow never came. Apparently this is the Ghanaian way if they don't know they will never admit it they just say I'll tell you tomorrow - taxi drivers do it too no-one will admit they don't know - Welcome to Ghana as one of the existing volunteers here said when she was explaining this to us, but not everyone gets the British sarcasm as someone got up at this point and said thank you and genuinely meant it.

Any way got to my apartment finally. The water was off (no running water), the gas cylinders were empty and apparently you have to go and get them filled up, no more AC and to top it all the electricity went out- Welcome to Ghana for real.

So to make up, some of us spent a girlie day on Sunday at a really nice hotel lounging by the pool. Ahh this is the life.

Today first day at work, I traveled in on a Tro Tro, the only way to explain a Tro Tro is that it is a bit like a minibus that drives past and the 'mate' shouts out the window the direction or uses hand signals which I am just about learning. You then get on this Tro Tro and at every stop depending on where you are sat you could end up having to get off to let passengers on and off. It is the cheapest form of traffic and great fun as long as you have sense of humour and don't mind hitting your head- which is what I seem to do every time I get off.

I thought I would have a nice easy day the Ghanaian way, it was all going well I arrived at 8.30, was told to wait in the lobby and met my Line Manager (at 9am), who had just flown back from the Philippines the day before and he said he would see me around 10 -11am. Yes a nice easy day I thought and then I would go for some lunch.

Oh no he met me at 10 on the dot, and has now sent me 8 large documents to read and he wants to meet tomorrow at 1pm for my initial thoughts and ideas. I really have been thrown in at the deep end - I suppose this is Welcome to Ghana.

But not to worry I am still having a great time managing to laugh and hopefully will be making you all laugh. I will try and update more regularly as I now have access to the Internet again, and get some photos on, which is proving difficult for security reasons we have been advised not to publicly display goods such as cameras.

A trickle of water

The start of our third day of In Country Training. I thought I would get some exercise (after last nights "Heavy Load" comment). Also a good idea to make the most of the hotel facilities before we are placed in our permanent accommodation.

Unfortunately the pool was being disinfected and therefor out of action. So I decided to go for a run. I wore my bright red VSO t-shirt out on my shorts and trainers and was off.

I thought I would try out some of our new Twi (the local language), greetings on route. Unfortunately I had said good evening to everyone instead of good morning, no wonder I got such funny looks, (only found out later in the day).

Managed a good run and avoided all the taxis that kept stopping to ask if I needed a lift. It was very hot even though it was only 7am.

I got back to the hotel and got in the shower to disciver the water was off and all we had was a tiny trickle. Well by now I was red in the face from the heat and really needed a shower. I couldn't even go down to the pool shower because I had managed to get shower gel everywhere.

Oh well the joys of being in Ghana, but am still loving it.

Arrested on the third night

A few of us decided to go out for drink tonight. Well we had a lively drink in a bar - yes I do mean lively. The bar consisted of a fridge on the side of the road, with garden tables and chairs.

There was very loud music pumping out of huge speakers, and every so often a person would just get up and dance on the makeshift dance floor (the pavement between the fridge and tables).

On the way back we got stopped by the police and nearly arrested:

There were five of us and we tried to get one taxi back to the hotel (normally the maximum is four). Once in the car we got stoppped and a couple of police officers shined a torch into the taxi, asked the driver to get out and open the boot. After what seemed ages the driver came back with one of the officers and said we would need to be locked up as "We were a heavy load" YES because we were too heavy. I really need to get back to the gym, I just burst out laughing and so did the others, which really defused the situation and we told the police officer we will eat less tomorrow!

Arrived Safely

What weekend, started packing on Saturday I know a bit late, but where's the fun in packing early, you only have to recheck everything.



Couldn't shut my second bag, suppose I don't really need 12 pairs of shoes, so took out the kitten heels! Still the bag wouldn't shut, so had to take out a couple of outfits, how is a girl meant to look good?



Met by brother and his family for brunch, my Babhi (sister in Law) packed more food in, so decided to take out another skirt. They better have some good shops in Accra.



Journey was smooth, didn't have my special meal that I had pre-ordered, so yes Deb they made a big fuss and got me a special meal from Business Class.



We are in a hotel for a few days, looks really nice, room has a balcony overlooking a pool. Will take some pics later. Don't you be working too hard now my VAC chummies.

3 DAYS TO GO

There are just 3 more days before I fly out to Ghana (this Sunday) for my short term VSO placement. I still have so much more to do. Medical clearance seems to be the most anticipated at the moment.

Must carry on as if all is going to plan. Should know by Friday !