What a journey! I honestly try to come up with unique ways to share about trips to Ghana as I'm sure they all run together for those who read along here. But for me, each trip really has been a completely new experience; the food, travel, bucket showers... those all become old hat, but the people and places are ever changing and providing new insight. While I didn't journal as much as usual this trip (shocking, I know) due to the busyness and time spent with the group, there are certainly some events worth recounting. This trip was honestly groundbreaking in so many ways for us at Mercy Project. All that said, a few words to describe trip #5 (Type A, much?!):First, ADVENTURE. Traveling to Ghana is always an adventure, but this time I feel like it was even more eventful than we bargained for! (Perhaps the 2-hr plane delay in DC should've been the first indication.) We seriously had the best group on this trip; everyone was laid-back, flexible, and so positive. Our crew of 18 arrived in Ghana on Friday and drove to Kumasi for the evening. Saturday was spent finishing out the drive to Yeji. Driving in Ghana is quite... nerve-wracking? scary? suicidal? Let's suffice to say we were glad to arrive and start our time out on the lake.
The countryside is oh-so-beautiful though. Here's a glimpse: (I had fits getting the video to upload, so just trust that it's a lot better quality than it appears! You can also click on the images for a larger look.)
We spent time in Adovepke, allowing our group to experience village life and our Ghanaian friends time to adjust to having 17 O'bruni's traipsing through their space. Work on the fish cages began, and Chris and I started interviewing trafficked children with Fred's help.
We visited Makongo, where our group got to see the land we bought for the missionary/guest house... and Chris bought a cow. That's right. And not just any cow, but the scrawniest, most pathetic bovine you've ever seen.
The next morning, we returned to join a tribal celebration inducting Chris as an official Sub-Chief of Makongo. If that's not legit adventure, I don't know what is. I should also mention here that the ceremony included the slaughter of aforementioned cow (6" dagger, Ghost-in-the-Darkness-style), tribal dress, the Makongo village warrior shooting a rifle (and wearing baseball cleats), and lots of drumming and dancing. Those people know how to throw a party!
The drummers and many, many children led us parade-style down to the boat while the villagers lined the streets to get a view of the new Sub-Chief. And the children ran around carrying chunks of meat from the slaughtered cow. All before 11am. Adventure.
We visited Makongo, where our group got to see the land we bought for the missionary/guest house... and Chris bought a cow. That's right. And not just any cow, but the scrawniest, most pathetic bovine you've ever seen.
The next morning, we returned to join a tribal celebration inducting Chris as an official Sub-Chief of Makongo. If that's not legit adventure, I don't know what is. I should also mention here that the ceremony included the slaughter of aforementioned cow (6" dagger, Ghost-in-the-Darkness-style), tribal dress, the Makongo village warrior shooting a rifle (and wearing baseball cleats), and lots of drumming and dancing. Those people know how to throw a party!
The drummers and many, many children led us parade-style down to the boat while the villagers lined the streets to get a view of the new Sub-Chief. And the children ran around carrying chunks of meat from the slaughtered cow. All before 11am. Adventure.
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