Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Gcj'ers and friends-
All North American delegates arrived in Accra airport as planned! We had a reasonable night's sleep. Nex morning, we had a "country briefing' from Dennis Weller, the Deputy Director of USAID in Ghana. He was terrific--gave us much factual information about the country and US AID efforts esp in horticulture and some energy projects. After a quick lunch we visited the Archelogical Museum at U. of Ghana-Legon Campus--a university of about 37,000 students. We visited the Kwame Nkrumah memorial site---a beautiful area and monument honoring the father of Ghanaian independence. There we joined a small group of Ghanaians who entertained us with drums and taught us more about dancing! fun. We finished the day with a good Ghanaian meal and to bed.
Yesterday was the long drive from Accra to Axim, stopping along the way to visit the Cape Coast Slave Castle and Museum-beautifully and respectfully narrated by our tour guide. Then a brief visit with the Western Regional Minister, a position equivalent to our governor. We were warmly welcomed---he promised a visit without incident and expressed his appreciate for our efforts. Then on to Takoradi, and JamKay, James' factory where we met some of the Ghanaian delegates and took on some of the mattresses into our extremely crowded bus!
Finally, we are at the Axim Beach Hotel, have met all the Ghanaian delegates and at this very moment we are engaging in our first "circle time."
The beach is beatiful, the weather hot and humid, the hospitality warm and very friendly. We made it! Now to engage in the journey of mutual respect, friendship, projects. All is well!!