Still in Accra!

Sometimes things do not go according to plan.

Yesterday I spent the morning in Accra, visited the Tomb of Nkrumah and had my first fresh coconut. I had a very pleasant afternoon at Coco Beach with Behi and Hilary. We walked on the beach and watched the crabs scurrying across the rocks. As a last day treat we had cocktails overlooking the Atlantic.

This morning I was one of the small group that saw off the main group heading north on the Tumu school bus. They will not reach their final destinations until sometime tomorrow after a night in Tamale. We were relieved not to be joining them. The small group going to Wa have now been told they will not leave until tomorrow and nobody is saying when Dan and I will go to Koforidua. Currently looks like tomorrow rather than today, but we will see...

The in country training is now drawing to a close. We have spent a morning cooking outside the VSO office, familiarising ourselves with the gas burners and loal produce. The results looked remarkably like the dishes we have been served at the hotel. Some of the existing volunteers set us a task to buy everyday items from the shops around the hotel. This demonstrated just how friendly and helpful Ghanaians are. I cannot stress this enough. Wherever we go and whatever we do, we are met with courtesey and good humour. For example, on the tro tros (minibuses) other passengers make sure we get the correct change.We have had three lessons in the languages most commonly spoken in our placement locations. Fortunately, mine is Twi, the most widely spoken, used in much of the south of the country including Accra. My attempts to use it meet with mixed results at the moment.On Sunday a lot of us went to one of the local beaches. The sun shone all day. There were beer and snacks and musicians and acrobats. The rainy season is upon is however and on Wednesday, Sarah and I got completely drenched in the centre of Accra. The roads were awash with water but once it stopped it soon vanished. The drains are more capable of coping with this than those ar home. We ae slowly finding out how about our placements. Yesterday Behi, Dan, Virgil and I had a brief meeting with representatives from the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment and the Ghana Federation for the Disabled. This will be my last blog entry from Accra. From Thursday we all (with the exception of Steve) leave the capital. We will be equiped with stoves, water filters, bedding, mosquito nets, first aid kits and equipment grants to furnish the accommodation that is being provided for us. I hope to be able to write again in the next week or so.

Only the third morning here and none of us are much nearer knowing how we will actually do our jobs when we reach the our placements. We do appreciate that this is very much a transitional phase. At the moment our Ghana experience is a very cossetted one. All the hotel rooms are air conditioned, the meals are regular and formidable. Even the coffee breaks (beside the swimming pool) are accompanied by sandwiches or spring rolls. The electricity has been on all the time we have been here (and the only upside of the northern floods is that we may get a more regular supply from the hydro electric plants for a while. The toilets are all European style and flush. When we venture out to other locations, it is by private bus (air conditoned, of course). Not for us the taxis or tro-tros. All that's missing is the onboard commentary and we could be a tourist party. This is not a complaint, but we know to make the most of these things while we have them.

Tim, if you are reading this, you on in the VSO picture near the entrance to the building.

Second Posting in One Day!

Don't intend to do this regularly, but the free wireless won't last.

You may be aware of the appalling rain that there has been across Africa in recent weeks. It has briefly featured in the British media. VSO are not saying much about it but the local press is taking about evacuations, relief supplies washed out roads and crops. Those volunteers travelling north next week are expecting to go and but it will not be directly affecting Koforidua directly. I guess it could affect supply of food in coming weeks.

Other than that, the one member of the group was reunited with his luggage today and another has had a very efficient piece of Accra dental treatment after he broke his tooth at the VSO offices yesterday during lunch. This afternoon we have covered etiquette and in particular the huge importance of greeting friends and colleagues.

Another of the unexpected byproducts of preparing for VSO has been the IT I am now using. I wouldn't say I was completely backward in this area, but I now have an MP3 player, a mobile phone with a camera and radio and a lap top which is somewhat better than my 8 year old 9.5 Gb Time PC. However I had not expected that the first time I would use wireless broadband would be at the Sunlodge Hotel in Accra. This is the first such entry.

The picture is the VSO Office in Accra which we visited yesterday.

Accra, Ghana

Finally here!

Steve and Lucy took me to the airport yesterday morning along the M3 from Bracknell through the foot and mouth zone. Met up with the majority of the Ghana group in Terminal 4. Arrived after dark last night after a good flight.

Staying in two hotels in the outskirts. This morning we started the in country training. We were given 20 new cedis - the currency lost 4 zeroes in July. We then visited the VSO Programme office, had lunch and a brief presentation from the British High Commisssion.

A lot of pressure on the internet machines now so better stop.

Last entry before I leave

On Tuesday I visited Hookstone Chase Primary School and talked to Mr. Hirst's and Mr. Parker's classes. They asked me some very interesting questions and were very helpful indeed in suggesting things I could put in my suitcase. I now have a long list of things I need to find out about while I am in Ghana on a range of topics including school hours, chocolate, football, food, toilets, animals and sweets!

My passport and e-ticket details are now back from the VSO Travel Unit and I have the itinerary for the first block of training in Accra which starts on Monday. We will cover culture, languages, money, security and food. On 26 September I will be going to Koforidua.

My cases are nearly packed and the house is virtually ready.

It really does seem quite close now. I bought milk today which will be fresh until the day I leave for London and then Accra.

I've begun the farewells now. Today I had lunch in Harrogate with Janet, Marie, Susie, Gillian and Debbie. Most of the admin is out of the way. Tax forms have been sent and I've been to the optician's. I'd been hoping that the the 2007 edition ofthe Bradt Guide to Ghana would be available before I left. It is the only guide which deals solely with Ghana. The new edition was due out in July but it has been delayed several times and will now not be ready before I go. The publisher says it is still on a boat somewhere. I have had to order the Lonely Planet West Africa guide as a stop gap.

Next Tuesday, I will be going to see Mr Hirst's class at Hookstone Chase Primary School. I think we will be talking about the things you need take when travelling to Africa and how you can use e-mails and blogs.