From Garstang to Ghana...

Hey there! Leah and Ellie here with our weekend update:

Emily is now officially integrated into Family Ghana. We're having a great and silly time planning our trip on our briefing weekend, not only have we come up with loads of amazing ideas but we've tested some out too. The photos are to follow as we most definitely had to take advantage of some English sun by playing games (duck, duck, goose; stuck in the mud; ladders, traffic lights) and singing some songs (Quartermaster's stores; have you ever had a penguin come to tea and others). We carried on the singing in the kitchen too while washing up which ended up becoming a cheesy song session with plenty of dancing, party songs and the Spice Girls.

We started our meeting with a special guest, Sue who has lived in the North of Ghana working at a secondary school and has travelled to Kumasi and Accra. She brought along with her a road map of Ghana which we found very useful to plan our journeys between Accra, Kumasi and Cape Coast. She also brought photo albums of time at school and of the places where we might want to visit. She also answered some of our questions we had that we wouldn't have known otherwise, like our worries on food and transport and cultural aspects of Ghanaian life.

In a more serious manner, we have decided the itinerary for when we're at the orphanage in Kumasi. We have decided on the first day to have lots of fun and meet and greet the children to help us understand what they already know and what games and plans we may need to alter that Thursday night. We've also decided to have a day dedicated to the Olympics and sport as well as a cultural exchange, sharing some of our interests such as food, fashion, music etc.

On a touristic level, we've discussed what we'd like to do and places we'd like to visit when we're not in Kumasi. This is a draft of our itinerary;

Sunday- GirlGuiding NWE set off!! Destination: Accra via Gatwick and Casablana.

Monday - 5am- Land in Accra!
-Guided Tour around the capital.
- Visit a place of interest we've seen on our tour or a cultural workshop

Tuesday- Undecided

Wednesday - Take the  STC to Kumasi, maybe visiting the botanical gardens and a cocoa research plant on the way. Check in at the guesthouse.

Thursday- Orphanage meet and greet.

Sunday- Possibly attending a church service

Wednesday- leave Kumasi. Visit Kakum National Park. Go to Cape Coast.

Thursday- Visit the castle in Cape Coast that shows the history of slavery
- Go to a cultural workshop in Cape Coast.
- Travel back to Accra

Friday- Maybe shopping and/or workshops in Accra and seeing something at the National Theatre in the evening.

Saturday- Leave Accra and say goodbyes to Ghana to head home with all our stories to share :)

This is just a draft plan, more details are to be decided :D

What we can say is this... We're so excited now plans are being put into place!! :D

Garstang weekend

POSE!

Playtime!

Enjoying the park.....

Update from Claire

This weekend, Team Ghana (or, ‘Family Ghana’, as we have become accustomed to calling ourselves) will be meeting up again for another briefing weekend, but just because we haven’t seen each other since February doesn’t mean that we have forgotten about our trip in the meantime!

We have welcomed a new team member, Emily, who will be the third leader for our trip. Emily is an assistant leader of a Brownie Unit who is training to become a Primary Teacher, and she loves travelling. We are looking forward to meeting her this Saturday. 

There have been a number of exciting updates about the trip itself, most importantly, the flights have been booked! We will fly from Gatwick to Casablanca, then on to Accra. The first flight will take 3 hours and 15 minutes and the second will take 4 hours and 25 minutes.

We have all been turning into human pin cushions as there are lots of vaccinations recommended for travel to Ghana. The most important is yellow fever, as without a yellow fever certificate you are not allowed into the country. The recommended inoculations include Hepatitis A and B and rabies. For protection against cholera, rather than an injection, the vaccination needs to be drunk (apparently, it tastes horrible!). 

We are all looking forward to the project work at the King Jesus Charity Home, and in preparation for working with the children there we will all be organising activities for our Guides, Brownies and Rainbows to get used to managing groups and to check if our ideas will work. In addition, we are beginning to collect some items to take with us when we go. Laura wrote to the Derwent pencil company, who donated a huge box of pencils. Her Brownie unit have also said that they would like to buy a parachute and book of parachute games for the children at the orphanage. Also, a lady in Nat’s village has given Nat some knitted soldiers in their bearskin hats – very British looking and very cute – which we will also take to Ghana with us.

So, with the briefing weekend coming up we all look forward to seeing each other again, coming up with more ideas and planning the trip together.

Claire