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Our time in Ghana was amazing. Kwame, our newest foreign grandson met us at the port and spent four days with us. He is 24 and taking an accounting course in hopes of becoming a chartered accountant. He is very good looking, smart, polite and gentle. He has had a very challenging life but it does not affect his outlook for the future.He took us to meet his mother and sister.They all live in a two room house with no running water and not much to eat. It was one of the hardest things to see.The family is educated but there is no work available. The mom does have a job as janitor at a school and makes about $100 a month.That is what they all live on. I assume this is just one of many stories along this line.
The first day we visited Sister Helene at a covenant in Takoradi.She is our connection from the states. She provided us with a nice lunch and wonderful visit.
The next day we took a public van to Cape Coast about 2 hours drive.This is where the British slave castle and dungeons are.We visited that sight and saw the "Door of No Return".They estimate more than 11 million slaves left Ghana for the Americas. It was quite moving.We spent the night in Cape Coast in a nice looking hotel. The water was a trickle, the air conditioning was poor and the internet did not work.Oh well!
The next day we boarded a local bus for a 3 hour ride to Kasoa where Kwame lives.We visited a Catholic School where Sister Helene use to be. We toured the school and then went to the convent for lunch and conversation. The Sisters all think the world of Kwame. Next, was the visit to Kwame's home and the market.We have been to lots of markets, but the is the best one we've seen.It was very big, with unusual things. We spent the night in Kasoa. In the morning we took a taxi to Accra, the capital of the area. We were looking for the internet to download some things.It was so slow even in the best place. We toured the town, some real nice building, some not so good. This night we had a hotel in a more touristy area. Everything worked and we even had pizza for dinner.Kwame took my computer someplace and got the downloads done. He had not seen a mac before, but after working with it all day he caught on to the differences
About 10am we boarded a air-conditioned but for a 4 hour ride back to Takoradi. It was very comfortable and even had movies. We had to leave Kwame and walk about a mile back to the ship as it was a secure pier and we were at the end.I think we will see Kwame again in the future.
I am sorry about the unusual style. It is very difficult to get internet on the ship and download things. On to South Africa
- comments
Hank i am glad you had a good time in Ghana, we Love Kwame too. We all miss you Mom and Gary