A Little Slice of Heaven

Last week was a bit of a dream – I was in Accra (Ghana’s capitol) for a week-long conference. We’ll come back to the conference, but let me first share some of my simple joys with you from that time “away” that I had been looking forward to for months. Before even arriving for the conference, I met with Melissa to go to a church recommended to us – it was great to sing worship and hear doctrine that I am used to, but I still miss my church back home. Then, we adventured... to the mall! What simple joy we took from shopping in a “westernized” grocery store, seeing other white people, and eating Chinese food and Frappuccinos. Then, we stayed at a friend’s house – this friend, a nice French guy we met at the beach a few weeks ago, is living with his parents while they are all working in Ghana. His dad just happens to be the general manager for one of the largest banks in Ghana... so let’s just say it wasn’t only a house. I will simply share a photo of his family’s kitchen (where their personal chef cooks) to paint a picture: I was drooling over this kitchen. It was the nicest house I’ve ever been in! And I’m in a developing country! Such a strange paradox. I guess it gives a good image to the concept of “poverty gap.” However, it was a nice retreat for the night. Then we went to another mall to hang out/get more (real) coffee! Finally, we checked into my hotel for the conference.

This is my dream kitchen... and I found it in Ghana?

So many obroni hair care products! Our excitement all weekend.

This hotel wasn’t anything super fabulous, but it was nice (shout-out to the parents for sponsoring it!). My room had air conditioning, hot running water, electricity (all the time), a mini-fridge, and a TV! I know, you’re thinking “well, duh, doesn’t every hotel room have those things?” Well, not in Ghana – this was high class, and those items were definitely a luxury that I realized I too often take advantage of in the developed world. I even got to eat KFC and (my fav) wild berry Skittles! It was like being back in the States. Now here I am, back in my village, sweating while simply sitting and charging my phone constantly because I am unsure when the next “lights off” will be. But then again, I knew the nice retreat had to come to an end, for this African experience wouldn’t be complete without the lack of those luxuries we all take advantage of in the developed world. You could think that I am “suffering” through it, but I really don’t mind not having running water or AC in my home here: they are just nice things that I enjoy when I am able to access them. Plus, I was glad to get home to Felix, my new cat.

Okay, now for the conference reflections. ECHO is a faith-based NGO devoted to sustainable agriculture. They held their first ever West Africa Anglophone Networking Forum in Accra last week, and I was proud to represent AgriCorps at the small, yet successful event. There were about 50 participants (lower than expected, but hey, it is the first time) from countries across West Africa, including: Nigeria, Liberia, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, and Senegal. Most participants were national development workers, so it was great to engage with Liberians, for example, who are passionate about progress in their own country. I don’t think I expected this –I guess I was hoping to see more white people, but this was a blessing in its own way! I am always advocating development as driven by local community members (and not by a temporary foreigner, AKA me) so I was thankful to see these participants who not only knew their culture and potential barriers, but were prepared to overcome barriers to reach development goals. It was so great to dialogue with people who are doing work in the SAME COUNTY that we were supposed to be in Liberia! I also got to watch one of the most entertaining people I’ve ever seen give a presentation about what he is so passionate about: beekeeping. Plus, he gave me some of his super delicious honey! It was a good time, overall. Hopefully, my connections will help 4-H (Ghana and Liberia) and AgriCorps continue to develop their reach for greater impact over the coming years.

A new friend from Nigeria, Lekam. He's a masters student in animal science!
He and Melissa had a great convo about cattle in the tropics! 

The conference was great, and I was able to end the week by hanging out with one of my few Ghanaian friends, Esther. She met me in the city and we toured Accra. I took her to the nicest hotel in Ghana where we enjoyed caramel cake and drinks (a milkshake for her and iced mocha for me). It didn’t matter that we didn’t look like we belonged; we felt special and that made it a memorable experience. Plus, I got tickets to go PARAGLIDING this coming weekend with John and Courtney! That’s right, I’m going to jump off a cliff in a developing nation because the tickets were so much cheaper than in the US... don’t worry, it’s run by foreign professionals. No deaths have occurred in the 10 years of running it. J Stay tuned!  

Esther and I, enjoying our fancy drinks at a fancy hotel after walking around the city.

And as a great “welcome home” from my 8 days away, my sweet corn is coming up! WOHOO! It should be ready right before I leave! So excited! Sorry, we ag development workers get excited about plants.

Check out that little sweet corn plant. He's so courageous!

P.S. My photography website is updated! Check it out to see what I get to see here in Ghana (or anywhere else for that matter) through the lens of Boaz, my faithful DSLR camera!