"T-I-A" - This Is Africa! Ghana, You Were Great!

COUNTRY: Ghana
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Health
WRITTEN BY: Shannon Briscoe

For our final weekend in Ghana we planned a trip to the historic Cape Coast to visit Kakum National Forest and explore the historic Cape Coast Castle. We left Friday morning via Trotro for a short ride to Cape Coast, where we picked up a couple taxis to take us to the Baobab hostel just opposite the Castle. They relentlessly tried to rip us off, but we held firm.

Shannon and Sara were both unwell in the morning and deteriorated as the day went on. So, Dan and Shonae accompanied them to the hospital for a check up. Upon returning to the hostel, Shonae, unfortunately became unwell, with Dan and Laura also not quite up to 100%. The remaining two hopefuls (Imogen and Grace) couldn't escape the contagious gastroenteritis and fell sick within the next 24 hours. So, there we all were sick as can be curled up in our hostel beds trying to comfort each-other as much as possible. We were surrounded by wonderful, reasonably priced places to eat with no appetite or ability to eat and keep anything down. As Shonae pointed out, we missed an entire weekend of eating!

Saturday morning, we were all determined to make the trip to Kakum. We had made it this far and no amount of sickness would deter us from our goal and desire to see the magnificent forest from the Canopy Walkway; a unique feature to Ghana as it is the only one in the entire African continent. At 40 m (130 ft) height, the visitor can approach the limits and view plants and animals from a vantage point that would otherwise be inaccessible to people. The canopy walkway passes over 7 bridges and runs over a length of 330 m (1,080 ft).

Shannon spent Monday in Accra with her host mother Florence, who works as a community health nurse in Swedru, shopping for donated medical supplies with money raised back home. The day was busy visiting multiple suppliers and negotiating fair prices. Supplies purchased included infant and toddler weigh scales, blood pressure cuffs, thermometers, stethoscopes, etc...

Back in Swedru, the final week found some volunteers, unfortunately, home sick (Dan, Shonae, and Imogen). The hospital volunteers had a nice day on Thursday saying their goodbyes and donating their scrubs. Grace did have a wee fright as one of the nurses grabbed her and hugged her with a needle in hand - eek! As the group has grown fond of saying, "T-I-A" This Is Africa! The hospital staff expressed their thanks, leaving us volunteers with a sense of closure after 4 emotional weeks of challenging work with extreme highs and very low lows.

That Thursday night, Dan, Shonae, and Imogen's host family welcomed the other volunteers for a Christmas/farewell dinner of pizza and pasta. Seth picked up the group Friday morning and dropped us off back in Accra at the hostel coming full circle from the first night of arrival.

It is time for us all to pack up and depart Africa to go our separate ways, but as a group, this experience will bond us forever. We were told that no one will be able to understand the experience quite like our group members can and that really couldn't be more true. We often laughed together, sometimes cried, occasionally vented our frustrations, but always ALWAYS provided support for one another. We all stocked up on wonderful souvenirs but what we're really walking away with is the friendships formed and the memories forged.