Three days in Ho

 We have been back at home base for two days now. Internet has not been cooperative!! Here's an attempt to get caught up on what happened over the weekend. I will try to post photos later, but the system is not cooperating right now...

Day 5 - Friday,  June 22nd

The girls all gathered together to put together these thoughts:

Group: We had to wake up super early this morning to leave by 7:00 AM.  We got on the bus for a three hour bus ride to Ho where we will be staying for two nights.  Along the way we stopped at a gas station, Sarah and Molly had the privilege of being the first to experience a true Ghanaian “rest stop,” in the U.S we would call this bathroom a platform behind a wall (see picture below).  Some of us went in the general store and bought a lot of cookies, sort of like the sugar wafers in the U.S.  As we continued our bumpy journey we headed to the New Seed International Orphanage.  When we were welcomed to the orphanage the kids performed multiple dances for all of us.  This orphanage cares for kids who are infected with HIV/AIDS however they do have children that are not infected.  The orphanage does not house the 200 children, instead they are distributed to families in the village.  The orphanage does provide lunch for all of the children and free education up until the 6^th grade.  After we talked about leadership with the headmaster of the orphanage we got to play with all of the little kids.  For the first few days we were not allowed to take pictures, so today we took so many pictures with the little kids and they always asked to see the photos.  When we left the orphanage we were on our way to the Village Exchange which deals with influencing pregnant teenagers.  This facility also cares for the children of the mothers that use their services.  Along with daycare and a learning environment women create fabrics and jewelry.  The type of fabrics they make are called batik and we had the opportunity to make our own designed fabric as well. Then we boarded our busses and went to the hotel that we are staying in for the weekend. We got our rooms (all air-conditioned) and have been spending the evening relaxing and some of us went to the pool. We have to wake up very early tomorrow as we have a lot of things to do. So good night from Ho!




Day 6 - Saturday, June 23rd


Our second day in Ho through the eyes of Sarah and Mary:

  Today we woke up very early (before 6!) and ate our breakfast at the hotel. We hopped on the bus and headed to Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary. Here we walked through the forest in search of monkeys that we could feed. We encountered a few, but were told not to feed these ones, so we continued on our journey. After what seemed a long time searching, we finally came upon a group. In order to feed them, we held the banana firmly in the center and they would peel it and take the fruit out. It was really cool to have them jumping from tree to tree all around us and come so close to get food. Unfortunately the monkeys weren’t very hungry, so some of our group did not get to feed them. We went back to the information center and once again boarded the bus. From here we went to lunch at another very nice hotel. Molly, Ali, Gray, Karen  and Sarah all tried some grass cutter, which is a large rodent. Finally the moment came to depart for the waterfall and we were so excited. We reached the bottom of the mountain where the waterfall was and could see it on the side of the mountain. As we hiked up the trail, our guide kept stopping to show us different plants and the anticipation was building. When we got to the waterfall, it was even better than any of us could have expected. It was one of the most amazing things that any of us had ever witnessed. From over a hundred yards away, the wind was whipping our hair and mist was blowing on us. We have never changed clothes faster and we ran to the water, all worries of a potential parasite pushed to the back of our minds, ready to jump in. Everyone on the trip was splashing around and yelling in the water. It was one of the coolest experiences we’ve had and as we played a traditional game in the water, we didn’t want to leave. Sadly we had to eventually get out and hike back down. At the bottom, we shopped at a craft market and all bought lots of things. We all tried out our bargaining skills, which most of us do not have, so we relied on Dodzi to help us. He even got into a heated argument with a vendor because he refused to lower the price. Back on the bus with all of our purchases, we were all exhausted. After a three hour ride back to the hotel, we all ate dinner, relaxed and we are going to sleep very soon. Tomorrow should be another fun day as we head back to home base!


Day 7 - Sunday, June 24th


Molly and Sarah were the group leader's today and provided the following:


  Today we woke up in Ho and got ready for our adventures around Ghana. We left the hotel after breakfast and headed to the bus for a 2 hour ride to a Kente weaving village. Here we learned about the history of their craft and how the Ghananians idolized spiders and their intricate webs. The studied these webs and used them to develop their craft. We went into the factory where they made the fabric and were shown how to use the looms. It was then our turn to give them a try. Some of us were offered a six month job to stay and work - we were that good!! We were extremely proud of our weaving accomplishments. Our next stop was for lunch in Ho, this time at a hotel on top of a mountain overlooking the valley. The view was beautiful, like nothing we'd ever seen before, and the lunch was delicious.  Then back on the bus for a bouncy ride back to home base. After picking up some snacks we arrived back home and played games until dinner. A storyteller from the community came and taught us the history and importance of storytelling in Ghana culture and also told us two stories. We ran out of time for the GLA students to tell one of their own, but we will use the techniques we learned to bring stories back home. After a long day of traveling (total of 7 hours on the bus) we will be heading to bed soon. Night night!!