At the Beach in Africa's Oldest Country

The other day Megan and a friend came down from Akropong and we spent the day in Accra. First, we visited the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum, the burial place of Ghana's first president. Trained in the US, for ministry among other things, he returned to Ghana and became the prime minister of the Gold Coast and then president of newly-named Ghana (named after an ancient African empire) when it became a full democracy in 1960. Nkrumah did much for development in Ghana but in 1966 just a few weeks after completing a major achievement, the dam that created the largest man-made lake in the world (Volta Lake) and supplied Ghana with electric power, a coup d'etat removed him from office. Ghana came under military rule, only to see stable democracy again in 1992. Today, Nkrumah is honored in Ghana.

Then we went to the beach!

Oh, I see.

Okay, that's better. After the initial shock I finally saw Ghana in the daylight. My host arranged a comforting breakfast with some Americans the next morning, and we went to an engagement party. Even though I was jet-lagged I had fun meeting people and recognizing that I'm on the same planet I was before I started this journey. The party reminded me a lot of parties we have in the US, actually.

Oh my gosh, I'm in Ghana

Arriving here was nerve wracking. It is harder than I expected to be in a part of the world about which you know almost nothing. Everything is a potential danger; nothing feels secure or familar. I didn't get much sleep that first night. I lay in bed in my my warm, humid room, listening to all kinds of strange animal noises I couldn't identify. Roosters started crowing about when it was probably daylight in Japan, meaning it was the middle of the night in Ghana. It was a night of lots of worries, and lots of prayers.

Here I go

I'm furiously doing a little last-minute packing. Yesterday I talked to my supervisor; he's in the States right now. I had lots of questions for him, but his overall message was clear: "In Ghana, we don't plan things because things don't go the way we plan them." Looks as though my pace might have to change a little. When I finally told him that I'd plan to just take it one step at a time, he seemed to like it. "You're already catching the spirit of Ghana."

Countdown

Welcome to Robert in Ghana! On June 14th, I'm scheduled to start my 10-week trip to Ghana, in West Africa to work at a church. I'm looking forward to sharing it with you.