Our last days in Ghana

Day 12 - Friday, June 29th

     Today was a jam packed day.  It was our last day of service, which means the last day at our respective schools.  It was so satisfying to know how far we have come as block makers and to see just how many blocks were made over the past two weeks by both groups.  Our last day of teaching was bitter sweet. All the children were eager to learn, but also sad to see us go.  In Molly and Sarah’s class the children taught us some typical Ghanaian rhymes and songs, while we also taught them songs like Bingo and many different tongue twisters.  Mary’s class handed out friendship bracelets to each one of her students.  We al left class about 15 minutes earlier than normal, after taking class pictures of course, and had a talk with the headmaster of our school.  They gave us each a matching bracelet and necklace thanking us for the work we did for the school and each of the students.  It was a very sad goodbye. After we went home, hair braiders came to the home base to cornrow hair.  2 girls got their entire heads braided and Kevin got 4 braids in the front of his head.  Next, we went our host families.  At Mary and Molly’s host family, the headmaster of Ali’s school and his wife invited us to enjoy coconuts from their trees.  We watched as a boy from the community climbed a very tall coconut tree to knock them out and our host father opened them fro us to drink the milk and eat the coconut.  At Ali’s host family she learned how to play the Ghanaian form of Sorry (the board game) for an hour and a half… after that we went to our host family’s store and got ice cream and then took a photo of the “whole family.”  At Gray’s host family she originally went to one of our mentors, Fafa,grandparents' home, but this time she and her group went with another group to a secondary boarding school for boys and girls. While there, she was introduced to a several high school boys who talked about the school and what courses they take. Then she and the other girls in her group went to the girls only section near the dorms, where the girls were all outside doing laundry. Classes were done for the day and they had just finished napping. Gray had the opportunity to talk to a lot of the high school girls. She had normal conversations with them about their families and what they like about school. Later on, it was time to go and Gray and the rest of her group met up with the mentors who had dropped them off. Before leaving, they all got to watch some of the boys who go to the school, dance.  Our evening ended with a bonfire on the beach and dancing.

Ali and Karen's group posing in front of a stack of the
blocks we made over the week.

This little guy had the best dimples!

Ali and Kentucky Molly show how it's done!

I love this picture! The kids were so into watching our group dance.

Sarah gets a chance to hold a baby - Ghana style.

Bonfire on the beach.

Day 13 - Saturday, June 30th

  The last day in Ghana has come so quickly…way more quickly than any of us had ever imagined it would.  We got to sleep in this morning! Then we went to a high school to interact with students our own age.  After the high school we drove home, through 3 different funeral processions which was very culturally shocking, but we got to experience one first hand considering there was one for a young man held outside our home base.  We then went to one of 44 slave forts on the coast of Ghana.  The fort sits on the oceanfront, so some of it has been washed away, but what does remain was part of both the mens’ and womens’ quarters.  Next we returned home and had final group reflections where we all commented on what we learned from the entire GLA experience.  It was so different to hear each person’s perspective and what they thought was important about the trip.  We then had time to get ready for another drumming performance and banquet dinner.  During the drumming, we were encouraged to dance, and we most definitely drew a crowd of locals who wanted to see us attempting their dancing styles.  We had so much fun! We then walked to the other part of the hotel, a little ways down the street, to have our final banquet.  We ate a wonderful dinner followed by 3 desserts! Cookies, ice cream, and cake…we were very spoiled! Then the mentors talked to us, leaving final thoughts for our journeys home.  Then Dodzi and Fafa handed out gifts from GLA.  They are hand woven scarves with each of our names, “Ghana” and “GLA” woven into them, all in the colors of the Ghanaian flag.  Tears were shed as we didn’t want to leave our new friends and all the amazing experiences we have had over the past 2 weeks.  We returned home for a night that seemed to be just beginning.  We had a talent show, where we performed a dance from this years’ Brunch, and many people shared interesting talents from reciting monologues to rapping their own raps to rapping in Chinese.  We had so much fun having everyone share their talents.  We also got permission to stay up later than normal bedtime to play one of our favorite games, Village.  This game was bigger than normal and we had almost everyone participating! We finished the game with the villagers winning and the evil wolves being defeated.  Since we have to leave tomorrow morning for Accra we must pack quickly tonight and be ready to leave home base at 9a.m. tomorrow morning.

One of the many haunting messages written on
the walls.

Such sharp contrast - slave fort and all its ugliness
right on the beach at a beautiful cove.

Taken from the front of the slave fort.

Another afternoon of dance back at home base.

Looking good!!

A typical meal - we always had rice, chicken, and usually
pasta. The green beans and fries were popular treats.
(tough luck if you're on a low-carb diet!!)

Brunch dance makes it to the Ghana talent show :-)

Day 14 - Sunday, July 1st

     After packing and cleaning up, we were on the buses for our three hour drive to Accra. We stopped at the mall for lunch, visiting the same food court we were at upon our arrival to Ghana. It was amazing how comfortable we felt there this time compared to two weeks ago.  From the mall we made our way across the city to a craft market where we spent time working on our bargaining skills. Gray wins the award for driving the hardest bargain, but I think we all were happy with our purchases and felt like we had made progress in learning this buying skill. Next stop - the airport. Many tears and hugs later we all made our ways to our gates. It's been an amazing two weeks. Experiences and friends we will never forget. Thanks for following us!