Last meeting

This weekend we met at the new region HQ in Preston, which is much more impressive than the old one! This was our final meeting before we go to Ghana, so we had a lot to prepare and finalise, including spending time eating cake in celebration of Emily's birthday! And the sun made it a better day as we were able to sit outside for lunch and soak up the rays! :) We needed a lot of sun preparation before we go, so it gave us a head start on our tans...

Unfortunately we still weren't a full team, as Leah was missing, so the first time we will be all together will be on our way to London, which brings us onto our first topic of discussion for our meeting today. We have decided to meet at region HQ in Preston rather than the airport, so we can all travel down together. Becky has booked a minibus and driver for all of us, so the wheels on the bus will go round and round!

We received our final kit list and itinerary so we are now looking forward to our shopping trips! As recommended by the orphanage, our accommodation arrangements for the time we will spend in Kumasi have changed. We will now be staying at the Mount Olive Retreat Centre. Besides this we also know where we will be staying on our return from Kumasi in Cape Coast, called Baoboe, where we will also be able to take part in a cultural workshop, for example drumming. Also at Baoboe, there is a shop where local people sell their crafts so this will be a good opportunity for some retail therapy!

We gathered all our equipment donated or collected from across the region. These include more pencils, parachute (signed by Endmoor Brownies), foam fish stickers, hand sanitiser and colouring books. Also donated was a twister mat, which we plan to play at the airport on our long wait. We also sorted what we still need to collect, so we leave the meeting with items to find!

The excitement is building, and we all can't wait to go!

Claire and Rebecca