Here Goes...

So it's been a little over a week here in Cape Coast, Ghana and I couldn't be happier.

I'm here with the organization ProGhana and so far their staff has been extremely helpful and willing to bend over backwards to meet my needs. From the moment Sarah, the site director, picked me up from the airport after I had spent over 13 hours in an airplane, I knew she was going to be someone I could definitely count on during my stay in Ghana.

Since this is my first post, I'll take this time to explain how I got here.

As many of you reading this know, last December I was given a chance to go on a study abroad trip to Cape Town, South Africa. During that trip, I decided I would skip studying abroad in Spain and traveling around Europe to instead return to the amazingly wonderful Cape Town. After working things out with VaCorps, the internship organization I'll be working with in South Africa, it seemed as though I would have the month of June free. Meanwhile, I had been receiving emails and postcards in the mail from ProWorld, ProGhana's parent organization, regarding their sites in Peru and Bolivia because I hoped to expand my poor Spanish-speaking skills with them in the future. Out of nowhere, I got an email stating that they had just opened up a site in Ghana and were looking for volunteers. I thought about it but decided I should just stay around town and instead study for the GRE . The next day, I received an email from a representative from ProWorld, explaining that they would have a rep on the U of I campus the following week. I put it on my calendar and continued to contemplate.

I decided that I wouldn't commit to anything at the meeting but I would get as many details as possible and make an educated decision. After meeting with Erin, the super-nice representative, I was hooked. After speaking with my parents and asking my contacts in South Africa if the change in dates would be okay, I applied. And now I'm here...

I am the first individual volunteer here in Cape Coast and there has only been one group of volunteers that was here a couple weeks ago. For being so new, ProGhana is super on top of things and has been simply amazing.

Besides getting a little sick from the drastic change in food preferences and weather, the trip has gone perfectly so far. For my project, I am working at the Aboom Methodist School for Children with Special Needs. It is one of the very first schools for children with special needs in the area and there is a waiting list for pupils that are eager to be admitted. That takes up my week and last weekend I got to go with Lawrence, another staff member of ProGhana, to help build a school in a village outside of town. The picture below is of Charles, the brother of the founder of the school, and myself placing a palm tree post in a hole. It will support the roof of a temporary kitchen for the school.

Since this is the very first post, I'll keep it short. Still trying to get used to this but look for more pictures soon!