Day 13 (May 31)

Contributed by: Berai

Huge! Unimaginable! Says, David at the completion of the first day of construction on the water plaza design when I asked him what he thinks. It was indeed huge and unimaginable, but it wasn't easy. I myself wasn't involved with the construction of the 30ftx12ftx14ft canopy foundation, but I did witness something incredible.

The beginning of the day started off meeting with the six people chosen to be our core helpers with both the water plaza and solar power for the school along with an entire sleuth of others ready and willing to help us with the task at hand. The dimensions were setup using local wood and string to ensure that as the 14 foot posts were hoisted into the air they would be straight, level, and structurally sound or panga (“strong” in Fra-Fra). After the meeting Jared, Matt, and David headed to Bolgatonga for more supplies and the rest of us stayed behind in Yua helping where needed. The men and Olivia started work on digging the footers while Dani and I went with women to fetch water. Let me tell you, fetching water is not an easy task and requires a lot of strength. Dani and I tried putting the large basins of water on our heads, however, we couldn't keep them on long because they were extremely heavy and could have squished our necks. Dani did carry a smaller of bucket of water on her head for about 1km and she was exhausted by the end. Lesson learned: never underestimate the energy required to fetch water.

As the day progressed the men and Olivia kept working on the water plaza design while waiting for Jared, Matt and David to return with the “goods” from Bolga. Then finally the guys returned from Bolga with the gigantic polytank, 160 cement blocks, and tons o' wood. There was a battery crisis for a moment and if you saw John Campbell's face you may have thought the world was going to end. The crisis ended when the batteries arrived, well it almost ended since the batteries were gone and the “goods” didn't arrive until a couple of hours before sundown,so everyone was nervous that the six 14 foot posts would not be up before daylight was lost. Getting the posts up before the next day was crucial because if not it would set us back a day and we don't want to be behind.

Now, this is where amazing happens. Everyone: EWB, Medical Hands For Healing, and the community of Yua became one unit and worked as fast as possible to get cement ready for mixing, posts in the right position, rebar cages fabricated, and getting the security posts ready in the amount of sunlight left. But naturally, the sun went down and we only had one post hoisted in cement. Instead of stopping we pulled up the two vans and used the headlights. Everyone kept on working at rapid speed to finish (even though as Jared pointed out the sun is down there is no rush anymore), but everyone kept working calling out “mallet”, “nail it in” and John Campbell climbing up on Joseph's (one of the six picked to work with us) shoulders to nail in the security boards I honestly wish that everyone could have been there to see how amazing everyone worked together, it was one of the most incredible things I've seen happen between a group of people. Amazing.

Day 12 (May 30)

Contributed by: John Yatsko

The ceremony was electric. We could hear the drums and chants from a half mile off. We felt like royalty as they escorted us to the front row of chairs under a shade awning. The Yuan people surrounded the entertainment, a thousand deep. Across the wide circle of villagers sat the elders of the community. One by one, they introduced themselves and thanked us personally for our efforts. Most didn't speak English, but the sincerity in their eyes said enough.

David began by introducing each of the ten of us to the crowd. Every introduction was followed by uproarious cheers. Many of the upstanding members of the community commended us for our efforts and urged the people to support our needs for the project. The “Elders” of our group were then presented with custom made scarfs, handwoven by the people of yua. Pictured below is Professor Trotta (Prof Prof) with his sheepish grin. The ceremony was then opened up to all the performing groups that had anxiously awaited our arrival.

One after another, the singing groups danced their way around the circle. One group of girls from the junior high school actually wrote us a song and performed it in front of everyone. At the end of each performance, the singing groups would form a smaller circle in front of us and then throw down in a “dance off.” It was incredible to watch. The groups would begin with a steady clap before breaking it down to a fast paced rhythm that I could reproduce if I tried. People from all around would jump into the circle and begin dancing violently. Everyone did this. Elders would dive in and rival the intensity of the youngsters. A few brave members of our own crew even jumped in and threw down. The crowd exploded.

As a musician myself, I found the drummers particularly impressive. They would put my high school drum line to shame. Their style was so abstract, for the life of me I couldn't figure out how they stayed together. They didn't appear to be counting or following any repetitive pattern. They just felt it. Their was no beginning or end to it; even when they left the circle, we could hear them in the distance. The sound of drums carried through the night air. We could hear them from Sirigu that night as we went to sleep.

Day 11 (May 29)

Contributed by: Berai

Today I went with Dale Gray and Ken Baillie from Medical Hands for Healing and Dr. Trotta to visit the Municipal Health Center in Bolga and Afrikids Medical Clinic. We gained great insight into the true health status of the Upper East region and further established the link between health and engineering.

Our meeting with Dr. Alexis Nang-Beifubah from the Municipal Health Center was honest and alarming, but equally helpful and productive. For more than an hour Alexis painted a picture of the reality of the health in the Upper East through statistics and anecdotes. There are a lot of opportunities for EWB-NAU and Medical Hands for Healing to collaborate health and engineering to improve the quality of life in the Upper East. Alexis responded positively to Dale and Ken with their potential plans to return to the Upper East with a surgical team and supplies to alleviate some of the stress on the doctors in the Upper East. The surgical team would also be able to train and educate local doctors to do procedures with the equipment they bring, so they can provide more services to the citizens of the Upper East. Alexis said it best, “health is not medicine.” This is when engineering and EWB jumps in because health is related to water quality, infrastructure, waste water management of a community----medicine is merely a response. Alexis' point was if engineers can come to the Upper East and improve the aforementioned then his medical staff can have time to focus on patients with other ailments that are not directly related to water or infrastructure because everyone else would have good health, thus improving the overall quality of health in the Upper East.

After meeting with Alexis we drove over to meet with the staff at the Afrikids Medical Clinic. This portion of the morning was heartbreaking. When we entered the clinic there were a good number of people: men, women, and children waiting to be seen by the doctor. Despite the look of being overwhelmed and exhausted, the doctor and nurse expressed their desire to improve their clinic so they can continue to help people. The doctor expressed that he is overwhelmed with cases relating to malaria, and diarrheal diseases that it is difficult for him to help others who may be going into labor or have other illnesses. He also mentioned that his clinic needs more space for beds, but there is a problem of staffing more doctors and nurses as well. Some roofs within the clinic were leaking---a great place to have some engineers or construction management folks come in and do some repairs. The need for additional medical equipment is there as well.

By the end of the morning my heart was saddened by the health conditions of the Upper East, but simultaneously my heart was uplifted because EWB and their partners can bring positive change to many peoples lives.

Day 10 (May 28)

Contributed by: Danielle

Following local protocol, we went to Bolga to meet with the District Chief Executive (DCE) for the Kassana district, Hon. Emmanuel Chegeweh, to inform him about our work in the area. Last time we visited the district he was very supportive of our work and even agreed to help us by providing some tools if needed. Indeed, it went very well, Jared led the meeting and explained the projects we would like to implement in Yua and expressed our excitement for being in the area and working with Yua again. Dale Gray also had the opportunity to talk about his feasibility study with Ken for Medical Hands for Healing. The Hon. DCE was again very supportive of our plans and thanked EWB-NAU and Medical Hands for Healing for our efforts in the area. He also kindly updated us on the events and developments that the district has experienced in the last year. Notable were the floods that occurred last August (only two weeks after the last team had gone home), which he concluded left 50,000 people displaced and destroyed 9,000 homes. Since then, much new construction has taken place, some of it to replace fallen homes and some is the result of development. There have been two new primary schools built in Yua and the important concrete bridge between Yua and Sirigu (which began 6 years ago) will finally be finished after two months time. The DCE also agreed to let us borrow some useful tools we need for the project including wheelbarrows, hammers, pickaxes, and shovels.

We were invited and took lunch by the DCE at his wife's restaurant in Bolga. Afterwards we raced to Yua for an equally important meeting with the Yuan chief and elders. We brought them the traditional gift of Koala nuts, tobacco, and Schnapps and asked for their blessing to do this work in Yua. Embarrassingly, we discovered that one of the Schnapps bottles had been broken after we gave it to the chief, later I joked that it was indeed David who had secretly drank the Schnapps! Despite this the chief and elders gave us their full blessing and thanks.

With the appropriate blessings given, we were anxious to get started. We drove directly to the Yuan market, where the drillers had just begun their work. A group of people were already gathered there and many jubilantly called out “Yua!” to us as we walked closer.

For me, actually seeing the drill rig working there was one of the greatest moments yet. It marked the beginning of what we all have been working towards for months. It gave me a feeling of great accomplishment to make good on a commitment to Yua. As we were all watching some of the elders would come up and shake our hands and some even gave us hugs!

As the sun was setting we got the opportunity to visit Mussa's house, a patchwork of circular homes molded together to form a large and beautiful complex. Before we got the chance to go inside we visited a shallow well nearby. To reach the water in this particular well they had to draw a bucket (another paint thinner can) down about 30 feet. Although, most of the adults know this water is dirty , they continue to use it because the borehole is too far. We all prayed that the borehole would indeed reach the water we had been promised to see!

Day 9 (May 27)

Contributed by: Matt

Today I woke up with the sun, bright and early around 6 am. This was not so much because of the restful day we had had yesterday, but more because I was puking my guts out. Once everyone got up we compared sleeping stories and discovered that both Jared and myself had eaten something bad. Jared seemed to have the worst of it and he got progressively sicker until the afternoon. I was sick all night and morning but mustered the energy to go to Bolga in the afternoon. Because I am in charge of the keeping track of the expenses, I decided that I must go to the bank to see if our project money had transferred to Ghana.

Dani, John Y., and myself met the fellas, fresh from Tamle, at Afrikids headquarters in Bolga. There, we discussed our money transfers with Andy and Nich of Afrikids. Roughly half of the money had already transferred, so we could provide a down payment to the Adongo and buy some more supplies.

Day 8 (May 26)

Contributed by: Matt

Today was not only Memorial Day back home, but it was also African Union Holiday here in Ghana. Due to the holiday, our long day before, still adjusting to no AC at night (it's hot), and many other excuses, we took it easy today. We did some sourcing of materials in Sirigu, but with the banks closed we were too short on cash to make many purchases Pigs, goats, guinea fowl, and dogs roam the market and breakfast spot regularly. I'm not sure how the people keep track of their animals, however, it is a great social offense to steal an animal that is not yours.

After “window shopping” (there are no windows in North Eastern Ghana), we were tired and indulged in some drinks under a beautiful mango tree. The mango tree is an amazing gift to people who live in such a hot place. The canopy provides a perfect shade and the leaves seem to radiate a cool mist down on you. Leisurely, we discussed our plans for the next few days and how busy we would be for the foreseeable future.

We said goodbye to David and John Peter, who headed south to Tamle to pick up Paul Trotta (our faculty adviser), Dale Grey (our professional advisor, sponsor, and chair of Medical Hands for Healing), and Ken Bailey (a surgical technician also with Medical Hands for Healing). The volunteers ate dinner at SWOPA, where we will now be eating most of our meals. After tonight's dinner of flavored rice, goat, and guinea fowl, we are excited to have found such great place.

Day 7 (May 25)

Contributed by: Danielle

Today was a full day and our first one back in Yua!

In the morning we put on our best and went to church. The church was packed, people were spilling out of the doorway and gathered around the windows, peering in to watch the action. Today all the churches in the area gathered together to celebrate Corpus Cristi jointly. Even though we were late we were welcomed in and ushered to one of the benches inside. After a few songs the speaker asked us to stand. He greeted and thanked us for our presence in English and explained to the rest why we had come to the area, which was followed by applause. The rest of the service was given in FraFra, however, because it was a catholic church some of us understood the prayers being spoken. The service was full of singing and impressive joy, everyone stood for the songs and most danced along in the pews. After the service, we took part in a large precession to the market and back.

Later, we enjoyed a breeze with cokes and cookies under a mango tree and finally met Mr. Bernard Adongo, our driller. Mr. Adongo is a strong and confident man who also serves as a preacher in a church nearby. As we talked over the details of the borehole placement Adongo assured us that in fact he “does not drill dry boreholes.” He was so certain on his abilities that he explained he would take on the financial responsibility if the borehole should be dry. We were extremely satisfied with this as a dry borehole usually comes at a steep cost to the costumer.

Together with Pok and Adongo we traveled to Yua. My belly was shaking with excitement as we came into town and the faces I remembered began to line the road. Some of them shouted, “Yua!” to us as we passed. I chanted this to them during my speech last year and it was a compliment to see that it had stuck.

We arrived and Adongo pointed to the first spot he had chosen, about 30 meters to the east of the market, it was marked by a large stone. The stone was in the middle of a sizable field that had been made into perfect rows. Although it was very dry, green leaves persevered through the dirt. Mussa, the owner of the land, was among those now gathering to greet us. He explained to me that this was his land and made it clear he was happy to donate it for the plaza. We all took a photo at this spot and then moved on to another possible location for the borehole that Adongo had selected nearby. This one had lost its marker so Adongo demonstrated his dowsing skills of which we all had the opportunity to try. No one had much success detecting water, however, Jared played a joke on the community that he did. He pretended that he had detected so much water that the dowsing stick went out of control and hit him smack in the forehead- it was a successful comedy. After a short discussion and spontaneous vote of those community members present, it became clear that the first location was the best. With that settled, we drove to the clinic where Adongo located a great site that everyone was content upon. While there, we had the chance to talk to some women and elders who danced and sang a sweet welcoming song for us before we left.

We moved back to Afrikids place, collected our things and moved to SWOPA (Sirigu Women's Organization for Pottery and Arts) where our reservations were being held. SWOPA is a cooperative guest-house and successful income-generating project for local women. Each guest-house is built and painted in the tradition style and comes fashioned with two beds, bookshelf, mosquito net, and fan. There is one self contained room and the rest share bathroom and shower facilities. Staying here allows us to show our support for a great local project while being very close to Yua.

Contributed by: John Campbell

Yesterday, Joe invited us to go to church. We were unsure that we should because of all the preparation we need to do for the project. We haven’t bought a lot of the stuff that we need for both the projects. Joe insisted that we come because today was Corpus Christi. We all got ready and headed off in the van with Benjamin, (the driver, who is awesome. He is always so jolly, and wears sun glasses all the time. We are not even sure that he has eyes, but he is always wearing a smile). We went to breakfast at little stand in Sirigu. The place looked a little sketchy but the breakfast was excellent. They made these egg sandwiches that were awesome. So far this little place was my most favorite food. We were almost late as we rolled up to the church and there was a crowd outside of the church. Joe had told us that there were two services, and so I assumed that the first service was not quite out yet. We got out, walked up to the building, and as we did, you could hear the rhythmic beat of drums. We waited outside for about five minutes while David went in and soon we were escorted inside and were sat down in a completely empty row (in hind site they must have cleared some people out to make room which didn’t make me happy but what can you do). The place was packed. The first service was finished and the second had already started. There were probably 400 people inside and at least that many outside of the church. The worship music was absolutely incredible. Because of the holiday, there were people representing the seven villages in the eastern corridor and each village had there own section to lead worship. This consisted of only percussion instruments (mostly drums, but there were a variety of shaker style instruments as well) and people singing. Most of the women and some of the men also were dancing at their seat. I couldn’t help but start to dance a little, but had to restrain myself. We stuck out already, and I didn’t want to draw too much attention. Beside the music, the service was a traditional catholic service held partly in Fra Fra and partly in English. After the service, there was a parade and each band and its singers lined up for the march. There were seven groups all playing different songs and marching in the parade. There must have been at least a thousand people there. It was incredible. After the parade we went to Yua for the first time. As we drove there the people seemed to be more welcoming that the other villages we went through (which I didn’t really think was possible). Almost every person we drove by was waving and some were running along side of our van. As we pulled in to the market (Yua is pretty small so the market isn’t big at all) we got out and greeted all the elders that were there and everyone that came up. We met Adongo, the well driller to check out the two possible well sites. We went to the first possible site and it was marked with a stone. We then went to the second spot, and the marking had been moved. Adongo the called for a “dowsing” tool, and David got him a forked stick. The then walked back and forth and the stick seemed to rise when he got over a certain point. I couldn’t believe my eyes! This is how a hydro geologist picks a well site! John Yatsko wanted to try and Adongo said that he had to have type A blood, and Yatsko said he did. He walked back and forth for what seemed like a half an hour and couldn’t get it. The whole thing seemed a little hokey pokey to me, but Jared assures me that there are all sorts of accredited journals on the topic. I still don’t know, but I won’t say that there is no way it could work, it just seems EXTREAMLY unlikely. After that we went back to AfriKids to get some dinner. We ate on the roof (because it was cooler) and that is the end to a very great and long day!

Day 6 (May 24)

Contributed by: Olivia

We walked to the Sirigu market at 9 am the next morning. We had egg sandwiches and tea at a local eatery for breakfast. Danielle and Berai adored a caramel-colored puppy napping under the table by our feet. We watched the townspeople stroll by leisurely to watch the “Solmisi” (white people) eat breakfast. A little boy with a handmade, full-brimmed straw hat walked by before sitting nearby. When we drove out of Sirigu, we saw an old man with a pile of these same straw hats on his bike. We asked the driver to stop so we could all purchase one. There was a flurry of excitement in the car when we pulled off to the side of the dirt road and the David asked the old man to sell his hats to the Solmisi in the car. Each person tried on a hat for the rugged work to be done in the hot sun until everyone was satisfied with the size and style of the hat.

We reached Bolga in its prime of the day. It was very alive with activity. We witnessed the daily orchestration of shopkeepers, consumers and street peddlers haggling for the best price of their wares. There were trenches parallel to the road that were carelessly littered with empty water satchels that sold for 5 pesowas (5 cents).

We kept notes of prices for tools and material in our moleskine notebooks. Photos were taken of the shops that offered the lowest price for the items. Other items were sourced to be borrowed from the District Chief of the Kassena-Nankana region. Some materials were priced higher than what we anticipated but it was offset by other items that were deleted from our Bill of Materials or modifications made to our designs in-country.

David took it upon himself to scout restaurants that practiced Solmisi-caliber food preparation. We had lunch at a restaurant next to a television station. There was a party of UK FSA workers celebrating a birthday beside our table. Our server was a young man about 20 years old. Traditional Ghanaian food was ordered because each plate was 4.50 GHC in contrast to other dishes that sold for 6.50 GHC. We had our first taste of banku, a thick white maize sour porridge served with the main dish.

After lunch, David haggled with more shopkeepers about the items still unpriced from our Bill of Materials. Each shop we visited was nestled between two other shops that sold a different item. Finding the right wire size and light bulb socket was a challenge. After visiting more shops in our taxi in a 1 km radius, we found what we needed and drove back to Afrikids.

The heat from the sun left its imprint on our weary bodies. Upon seeing our tired faces, Joe offered to have dinner prepared and delivered by a relative from Sirigu. The rooftop patio was revisited a second night. Joe had Aaron Denham's bag of inflatable mattresses and sheets. John Campbell took one mattress to sleep on the rooftop patio.

Everyone felt upbeat when David's boyhood friend asked John Yatsko if his daughter could join him on his morning run. She trained for us, running in circles outside and we cheered from the rooftop each time the little girl ran by the porch of Afrikids. The father would stop her to pour a bucket of water to cool her down.

The nightly meetings was beneficial for the volunteers to discuss the next day's events with each other, our shareholders, or other VIP crucial to the success of our projects. The Bill of Materials was consulted on many occasions for our financial standing. We discussed the feasibility of next summer's implementation projects after dinner with David and Joe.

Day 5 (May 23)

Contributed by: Olivia

We had breakfast at 6:30 am and left the hotel at 7:30, an hour later than we had planned. We stopped in Tamale for lunch at the Marian Hotel. We watched a Nigerian drama while we ate our jollop rice and chicken. By 3pm, we were on the road again. We stopped a couple more times to refuel and stretch before we arrived at Pok's house, Ghanaian People's Network (GAPNET) representative in Bolga and also an agricultural extension worker. We introduced ourselves and then followed him to our lodging at Sirigu. We trailed his red truck with green canopied truckbed with our rattling taxi over dirt roads. Each time there was a heavy thud above our heads, we hoped that the metal rack would not fall off the roof with our cargo. It was noticed from the first stop outside of Accra that the rack's supports bent from the heavy cargo.

We drove in the dark and could see only what the headlights could light on the road. The traditional maroon, white, and gray chevron patterns on the cement walls could be seen by the lights from the open shops. It was market day (Friday) in Sirigu. Vendors sold their wares by the light supplied by expensive grid power.

We arrived at Afrikids new office and guest facility around 9 pm. We met Joe Asakibeem, Afrikids Sirigu Operation's Manager who worked alongside EWB-NAU last summer. He greeted us with a big smile and a strong handshake. A quick panoramic view of the area hinted a handpump nearby under the trees, children pumping water, and passersby on their way home. Pok and Joe gave us a tour of the new building. It includes a library, an administrative office, a boy's room, two bathrooms, two showers, a kitchen, a supply room, and three bedrooms. We were told that we were the first guests to stay in the rooms.

The rooms were outfitted with two beds on wooden frames, a ceiling fan, a desk, and curtained windows with wire screens. Immediately, the fans were set to high. After settling into our rooms, we congregated on the rooftop patio because of the cool breeze and open air. We watched two children study by porchlight. We heard a processional of singing from people returning from a funeral. The stars could be seen very clearly and children were heard singing from a far off distance.

Amidst the local sounds, a scream was heard below the rooftop patio from one of the rooms. It was the sound of a man shocked by sticking a key into the outlet. Jared sheepishly admitted to unsuccessfully grounding electricity while we laughed at his unfortunate consequence of conducting electricity. We sat and talked before we had a meeting in one of the rooms. After the meeting, we retired to our rooms for the night. The children outside had unrolled their mats and slept on the ground under the porchlight.

Day 4 (May 22)

Contributed by: Olivia

We left Afia Beach after our luggage had been tied to the roof of our taxi by the driver and several helpers. We settled the tab with the hotel owner, Kofi, and packed into the taxi for the trip to Kumasi. We left the city in the late afternoon after we made a stop at Interplastic for the polypipe. A 150 ft-45 mm polypipe was purchased and tied atop our heap of panels. At the next stop, we purchased 6 batteries for the schoolhouse PV system. They were plastic-wrapped in case of rain during the drive. We left Accra around 4 pm in the afternoon. Oh, and just to give everybody an idea of how the shopping goes around here, it took an elapsed 4 and ½ hours to by the $90 worth of polypipe, after we had found the place that sells it.

The weight of the 12 packages of 30 kg solar panels punished the rack when the taxi dipped in the dirt potholes or swerved to miss them on the paved roads. Immediately after we'd left the city, the volunteers fell asleep when the air conditioner was turned on. We stopped on the way to have coconuts. Several young boys used their machete to cut the coconuts for us at 10 pesowas (10 cents) per coconut. We drank the water and ate the milky inside. At our next stop, pillows were bought from an Ashfoam vendor. The driver set the radio dial to news or played his tape of American R&B music artists. Beyonce was heard many times over before we arrived at our hotel in Kumasi at 9:30pm. We checked into our rooms and had a late dinner. I was very excited to watch Battlestar Galactica in an air-conditioned hotel.

Day 3 (May 21)

Contributed by: Berai

After waking from a deliciously cool sleep we met David (see photo) again and had some breakfast. Jared, John Campbell, Matt Moan,David and Isaac headed out for the city in search of materials for the project. While Dani, Olivia, John-John and I stayed at the hotel to work on project logistics. Once the guys returned from shopping we all went out into the city together and had dinner at Papaye (or Popeye's as Dani would call it) for some Guinness or fanta, fried chicken and rice. After, Papaye we went to the airport in quest for our luggage. The awaited football (soccer) game between Manchester United vs. Chelsea was on a TV outside the airport. Everyone was standing in front of it tense, excited, and yelling as the match continued. Ghanaian's are extremely excited for the World Cup 2010 to come to Africa. We got our luggage (phew!), it took awhile, but everything arrived safe and sound. Afterwards we traveled to Afia Beach and had a meeting with ourselves, David, Isaac and Akunz. Again, it was an exhausting day and after the meeting we hit the sack to get rest before our long haul up to Yua.

Contributed by: Danielle

We spent our first day in Accra shopping and planning for the project. Jared, John, Matt, and David were designated as our shopping crew and went out to battle the bustling markets of the big city. The rest of the crew stayed behind and organized the community health and project assessment plan. Later Olivia, Berai, and John Y. took a stroll to a nearby market, not entirely prepared for the advanced style haggling they met. They survived and John Y. (who had been referred to as “Peter Pan” by a local merchant boy) came back with two beautiful oil paintings at a good price. For dinner we tried the local fare and ended up at a very busy fast food joint called Papeye's (Which means “we can do it” in Twe). We were served a very delicious dinner of chicken and rice with a spicy black sauce called “shito” which provided us with laughs for the rest of the evening (our team has become very easily entertained). It stormed hard this night, the sound of the thunder and rain mingled with the frogs and ocean, made an exciting new sound, even more calming than sleep. Olivia and Berai giggled at Ghanaian TV and went out to briefly play in the warm rain.

Day 1 & Day 2 (May 19 & 20)

Contributed by: Berai

We made it! All seven of us and roughly 2,000 lbs of luggage. While at Phoenix Sky Harbor we had been carrying the weight of our tremendous amount of luggage in fear that we wouldn't pass inspection. We knew that British Airways may have easily taken one look at our load and said, “No way.” Thankfully everyone was extremely helpful and let us and all our bags on board for the long journey to Ghana. While on board, we were all entertained by the personal screens equipped with TV, movies, and radio stations for the lengthy flights. The transfer in London was a breeze minus the mad dash sprint through airport to our connecting flight. Luck or something was on our side because we made the flight when we were told we had no chance. Finally, at 8:15pm-Ghana time we arrived tired and stiff, but smiling. We were greeted at the immigration line by Akunz's delightful smile and warm hug. He helped us figure out our luggage situation (since we arrived late in Heathrow our luggage didn't make it on our connecting flight),we had to take a moment... a long moment to fill out the necessary paperwork, so we could get our luggage the next day. Finally, the moment we were all waiting for happened, we stepped outside (and for some of us) saw Ghana for the first time. We were met there by David and Isaac, our guides last year on the project. It was dark which didn't allow us to see the city and scenery quite yet but we hopped into the taxi and headed for Afia Beach, our hotel located right next to the Atlantic Coast...awesome! John Yatsko, a.k.a “John-John” had never seen the Atlantic, so in true John-John fashion he took a little swim. We were all pretty exhausted leading us to pack it in pretty early. Olivia and myself were highly entertained by Ghanaian television,but I of course fell asleep in a heartbeat and didn't open my eyes for another 11 hours. Oh, I haven't mentioned that it is H-U-M-I-D here! Fortunately, Afia Beach had AC which was nice for us “dry-heaters”.