First Steps in Ghana

We landed in Accra, Ghana around 12:30 pm local on Tuesday and managed to get out of the airport within an hour.  We were greeted by a man holding a sign with “Utah State” written on it and a big smile on his face.  This was our driver and new friend ‘Master Fufu’.  After loading up our luggage we headed to where we would be staying for the next few days to rest and battle the jet lag.  After a few stops, we got taken to what I can only call a compound complete with high walls topped with razor wire and a main gate that meant business.  Once inside, it felt a lot more comfortable.  Our host family has a son that lived in the capital and we were staying in his office (which had 6 bedrooms in the back) until a ride to Abomosu could be finalized.  Our first meal in Ghana that day… Chinese.

Friday we took off to Abomosu in a suburban with some of the luggage hogtied to the roof and the rest precariously balanced next to JD inside the vehicle.  3.5 hours of bumpy roads, mildly homicidal drivers, potholes, police officers unabashedly asking for lunch money with AK-47s strapped to their backs, bipolar road pavement switching from dirt to asphalt and back, street vendors, and driving laws that seemed to be guidelines at best made for an excellent adventure.  By the end we had arrived at our new home in the Village of Abomosu.

Stephen Abu, our new host, welcomed us with open arms.  He is one of the kindest men any of us have met.  His wife will be in Accra with their son for some weeks but we will see her soon. We got settled in our rooms and started going to work.

We met Douglas, the program supervisor, and had him show us our roles.  He introduced us to some of the loan collectors which in turn introduced us to many of the past recipients of the program as well as those who currently have loans out and are paying them off.  This was a great experience as we were able to learn what many of the people here in Abomosu and the surrounding villages do for business.  The humidity is heavy, the sun is hot, and our feet and legs are sore by the end of each day but we look forward to expanding the program.  We have already seen the goals of the program reached in many of the lives of the people we have met and are excited to bring it to many more during our stay here.