From Sogakope through Accra to Cape Coast

On Thursday morning, we left Shekinah Glory and traveled to Accra.  Our first stop was a fair trade store called Global Mamas.  We got several things there.  Then it was on to Rockefellers for lunch.  Rockefellers is an amazing restaurant.  They served buffet style hamburgers, pizza, macaroni and cheese and fried shrimp.  Delicious!

After lunch we went to the Accra art market where I got a drum and a Black Star jersey (the Ghana national soccer team).  There were lots of artists and everyone wanted to sell you something.  We bargained to get good prices.  It was fun.  Here I am with Joshua, the man who made my drum.

After the art market, we had a long drive (about 4 hours) to Kosa Beach Resort.  Everyone was hot and tired once we got there, so we ate dinner and went to bed.

On Friday we went to Kakum National Park.  It’s in the rainforest and there are eight giant suspension bridges strung from tree top to tree top. 

 At the highest point, it’s 40 meters off the ground (43.7 yards or 131 feet).  This canopy walk is the only one of its kind in Africa.  There are three others in the world.  We walked across the rope bridges and had to stay 20 feet apart from each other for safety. 

It was pretty cool, but kind of scary.  At the Kakum gift shop, I found an awesome slingshot which was overpriced but I got it anyway. 

 

This morning we are resting, enjoying the beach and will visit Elmina Castle in the afternoon.

 

Final Celebration at Bakpa Avedo

A thank- you banner we made for the school

 

Saying farewell to Clement








Students share traditional dances





and drumming

 

 

 

Christie Connolly tries the dance moves and she's actually good at it!

  Alex Levinson shares a signed picture of the BSC Soccer team with the school. Pictured with Alex are Madame Janet (headmistress) and Yao Amekor (our host).

Our time at Bakpa Avedo is coming to a close

Today was our last teaching day at the school. Tomorrow all the classes will share presentations on what they have learned and we will have to say goodbye.  Even though we are not leaving the country just yet, I will miss having kids running and playing and talking football all around. 

Taylor helps Clement learn geography.

 

Kindergarteners (KGers) greet Ashley

 

 On the bright side, over the weekend, we all took the fabric that we bought to local seamstresses and tailors and had traditional African clothes made.  I got something very special that I will wear on the first day that I go back to school at Stonecreek Montessori Academy.  I don’t want to post a picture until I show my friends and teachers at school but I will once I’m home.  It’s really awesome and fun.  We are all wearing our new outfits tomorrow to the school for the final celebration before we leave.  I’m looking forward to it! 

Here is a video of a song that each class has been learning called “Draw the Circle Wide.” 

 

 The lyrics are:

Draw the circle.  Draw the circle wide.

Draw the circle. Draw the circle wide.
No one stands alone.  We stand side by side.
Draw the circle. Draw the circle wide.

 

Sweet Home Alabama

One funny thing that happened this week is that the 7th grade teachers taught their class "Sweet Home Alabama." Here is a short video:

 

 



Ahhhh....the weekend!

This post marks the end of our long and tiring week at the school. On Thursday I helped in the seventh grade and the sixth.  My mom is taking pictures of each of the children and we are going to try to make a yearbook for the school.  Here are a couple of kids.



Bernice

 

Forgive

One of the BSC students made a bookshelf out of empty water bottle boxes.  We brought lots of books to leave with the school and these portable shelves will make it easier for the teachers to use them in the classrooms.

Yesterday (Saturday), we went on a LONG drive to Wli Falls.  It’s the largest waterfall in Western Africa.  We left the hotel at 7 am and got there at about 11:30.  After a quick lunch and a 30 minute hike, the falls appeared.  It was awesome.  There are hundreds of bats on the rocks by the falls.  Look closely at this picture (near the top left) and you can see them hanging out there.

Me and Tom at Wli Falls

There was a pool of water below it and even at 20 yards away from the falls, you could feel the mist.  We all waded in and took pictures.  It was a refreshing end to the morning. 

SMA Team at the Falls

Then came our long drive back to the Shekinah Glory Hotel in Sogakope.  Last night I had my first Ghanaian hamburger at “Somewhere,” a restaurant near the Volta River.  It was really good, but not quite like home!
 

Today we are planning for our last three days at Bakpa Avedo and going to the beach this afternoon.

 

We have had a very busy three days at the school.  Yesterday, we visited the elders in the community.  At each home, we greeted the elders and shared our plans to help out at the school.  The whole community has been very welcoming and it is fun to see the leaders of the community.




One of the village chiefs that we met

At school, I've been working mostly with 7th graders.   They are studying geography and I am helping them learn the continents. 

 

This is Clement  He is probably my favorite kid in the class.

 

Today, Tom and I hiked to this baoba tree.  It’s the largest tree in the village.  We wanted to get one of the fruits that was hanging from the tree, but we had to be careful to avoid the bee hives that were high up in the tree. 

 

 

Tom put his belt between two sticks and we were able to knock down a pod.  When we got back to the hotel, Tom cracked open the pod and removed some of the fruit inside.  He told me he was going to make ice cream out of it.  He said it was very sweet.  So he put some water and sugar with the fruit and we will see tomorrow how this “ice cream” turns out.

 

 

Here Tom and I are riding in the back of the bus on our way home from school.

 

 

I’m trying to teach Tom some card tricks.  He is very smart!

 

 

A Full Weekend

We’ve had a great weekend filled with many adventures.  We got to sleep late on Saturday and went to the local market, where you could find everything from fabric to dried fish.  It was very, very hot and many of us decided to buy fans made from palms.  My new friend Tom helped us find the short way back to the hotel where we boarded the bus for the hour drive to the beach.  At the beach, Tom and I played soccer with John Rogers, our guide.  It was great fun, but really hot. 

                                              

Me and Tom on the beach

Early this morning, Alex and Taylor and I got up at 6 am to meet John, who was going to take us to play soccer with a local team.
 

 

Unfortunately, John’s alarm didn’t go off and we missed the game.  We will try again next week. 

 

 

Later in the morning we went to the church that the Amekor family attends.  It was a long service and still very hot.  The students spent the afternoon getting ready for school tomorrow.

 

 

I’m going to help in the 5^th and 7^th grade classrooms tomorrow.  For dinner, we went to the Amekors house and ate spicy rice called jollof rice and delicious chicken. 

 

The food here is pretty good, but there is a lot of rice and chicken!  I am looking forward to playing soccer again tomorrow afternoon at the school. 

 

                                                                                               Thank you,

                                                                                               Graham

 

 

Today was a very special day at the Bakpa-Avedo School because today was the day that I finally got to play football with them.  Football is more than a sport in Africa.  It is a language.  It is a lifestyle.  People here love it!  The kids I got to play with were very physical and loved to play with each other.  They played barefoot on rocks where I used sneakers.  I have found that soccer is a very good way to communicate with the kids.  Overall, today was awesome!
                                                                                                  Thank you,
                                                                                                   Graham

Yesterday was our first day to go to the Bakpa Avedo school in the village.  All the children were very excited and loved cameras.  I met a boy named Clement who is in Form 1 or 7th grade.  He likes football (soccer). 



Morning Assembly

First Grade Classroom (P1)

Cameras are popular!

Everyone wants to have their picture taken.

A Street Scene in Sogakope

I uploaded a video of the sights and sounds on the streets of Sogakope.  Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfJ1jTS-MWM&feature=youtu.be

                                          Our host Yao Amekor tells us about Sogakope

Finally in Ghana!

FINALLY, our flight left for Accra from JFK International Airport at 12:30 pm on Tuesday, January 7.  As we arrived in Accra at about 2:30 am local time and you could immediately feel the air was hot and stuffy.  We took a two hour drive to Sogakope, a small town on the Volta River.  There we found our hotel in good condition (with air conditioning!)  That day after resting, we went on a tour of the town and to meet the family that is hosting us, the Amekors.  They welcomed us with a traditional ceremony where we learned special snapping handshakes and learned our Ghanaian day names.  Each person has a Ghanaian day name, assigned according to what day of the week you were born.  Since I was born on a Thursday, my day name is Yao, just like our host Yao Amekor.  Yao is the oldest of 6 children in the Amekor family and has worked with BSC grad John Rogers to build this partnership between the school in Ghana and Birmingham- Southern College.  Now we are resting in our hotel rooms, awaiting the adventures of tomorrow. 
                                                                                             Thank you,
                                                                                              Graham

 

As I am typing this, it is two-thirty in the morning at the JFK international airport. Our flight from here to Accra was delayed from 9:oo pm until 7:oo am the next morning. The students and I received food vouchers and ate at the closest fast food joint while we tried to keep up to date on the BCS national championship game (which is a pretty big deal). As soon as we returned to the flight seating area we learned their were no more hotel rooms available. So now it is two in the morning and we are all half asleep on the airport floor. YAY!!!
On a more serious note we are all happy to be here and eager to leave tomorrow. I will keep you posted and entertained.
                                                                                          Thank You,
                                                                                          Graham

As The group waits at the Atlanta international airport for our next flight to the New York JFK international airport we talk and share stories anxiously awaiting our arrival to our final destination, Accra, Ghana. I’m ready for my first international flight and the longest flight I have ever been on. I am looking forward to the airplane food (which I have been referring to as airplane steak).   In Atlanta I have purchased “Bacon Jerky” and it is literally heaven in a bag! Seriously it’s amazing. I have been requesting for one of those Jumbo Jets that have two floors of seating areas but as I was typing this our plane pulled up into the terminal and guess what, it is not a Jumbo Jet that has two floors of seating areas. Oh well, it’ll do.  I look forward to tomorrow when we arrive in Ghana and get to our hotel. I will keep you posted and entertained!

Thank You,                                                                                    Graham

A feeling of relief has come to the group as we learned that our flight was not delayed. We are on our way to the airport and I am preparing for probably the longest time that I've sat still.  We will be flying to Atlanta, New York City, and Accra, the capital of Ghana. I am very excited and I hope to keep you notified of my travels.

I am preparing for my trip to Ghana.  I am very excited and thrilled that I have this opportunity.  I met with the BSC students yesterday and we discussed our plans for the trip.  We are flying into Accra, which is the capital of Ghana.  From there we will take a bus to Sogakope, a smaller city about two hours from Accra.  For two weeks, the students are teaching at the Bakpa Avedo School.  I plan to help with PE and games with the kids in the village.  Thanks to our friends Steve Norris and Susan Crow, we are bringing many toys including soccer balls to play with.  I look forward to my trip and will keep you updated.  Thanks!  
                                                                                                               -Graham