Ivey is headed back to Ghana! Our team might be a little smaller this year, but what we lack in numbers we certainly make up for in passion and enthusiasm. We couldn’t be more excited to embark on this exciting adventure.
After a lovely few days in Amsterdam, we landed in Ghana on April 29th and our week here so far has been a whirlwind. Francis – our ever-gracious host – has been sure to keep us well fed and always entertained. Landing in Accra at 8pm we didn’t see much of the dark city as we sped down winding roads toward Koforidua. We woke up Wednesday morning however to a kaleidoscope of sounds and sights; market hawkers selling their wears, Muslim calls to prayer, honking cars, clucking chickens. All presided over by the ever-present heat!
Mid-morning Francis took us to Koforidua Polytechnic, a neighboring post secondary school, to promote our case program to its students. We then travelled to the student radio station where we tested our chops as local radio stars, promoting the case program from the studio! Thursday featured an interesting engineering competition being held on campus and a delicious lunch at LindaDor, a local restaurant favorite. Friday we focused on getting down to business, preparing the case materials for class on Monday and meeting the students that came to register. We also made one more trip to the radio station to promote our ongoing registration. Despite a generous invitation to attend a staff wedding in Accra, we decided to take the day off on Saturday to prepare for the upcoming week; we needed to sort out phones, groceries and other essentials as we settled in to our life here in Ghana and unwound from an action-packed week.
Sunday morning mass was a wonderful end to our first week in Ghana. We had the opportunity to attend two church services – one at each ANU campus – and were warmly received by the congregation. There was much dancing, singing and socializing with our new Ghanaian friends. Our first week in Ghana really was baptism by fire but it has only increased our excitement about the weeks to come. We are eager to meet our students tomorrow morning and begin our case teaching program. We really cannot wait to learn more about this beautiful country from the amazing people that live in it.