Woezo! You Are Welcome Here in Ghana!

 We have spent nearly 16 hours on planes, 7 hours in airports, a few minutes on an airport train, and 4 hours on buses to get to the Kekeli Hotel in Ghana.  Riding in the van in Ghana is its own kind of adventure. I had the pleasure riding in the front passenger seat on our drive from Accra where the airport is located to the city of Ho where our hotel is located. I describe this drive as an entry-level review of Ghana as we will witness the large capital city fade into rural country and then grow into a city. The following photos are just a few of the sights while driving through Accra and Tema, a port city.

Although it was a grueling flight schedule, we spent our first full day taking our first forays into shopping at both artisan tables at the hotel and in the shops in the surrounding city. We purchased cloth and met with the tailor for customized clothing and sorted donations to prepare for our village visits.

Our group of nine is becoming a traveling family spanning three generations.  We have slept away the jet lag.  We are learning to navigate the hot water system, brushing our teeth with bottled water, and tasting the local cuisine.  For those of you who followed last year’s culinary adventure, I can happily report that fish is not overpowering the menu this year! The following photos are images from the Kekeli Hotel and include the Summer Hut, where we enjoy coffee in the morning and gather to reflect in the evening, and the Hotel block where some of us are staying.

We piled into our rented van this morning to shop for Ghanaian cloth, which is always an adventure. It is overwhelming to look at the wall of bright fabrics and try to select one for a customized shirt, dress or pants set.  There are so many patterns, it seems that everywhere you turn there is a new one you like!  After two trips, I have learned to choose the first one that I like, because it is impossible to look at and consider all of the options! 

Back at the Kekeli we had some time to explore our home for the next few weeks.  Many friends of the Patrick Morris Team visit with us at the Kekeli which helps us connect with previous mission trips and highlights the amazing work that we are privileged to represent this year.  It is a revolving door of introductions, shouts of Weyzu! (Welcome!) and Akpe! Akpe! (Thank you, thank you!) along with wonderful smiles when we recognize our friends from previous trips.  If you have contributed your time, donated money or goods, prayed for us or shared in the magic of our retellings, you are part of this incredible welcome and joy that we experienced today.  If you are first learning of our missions through this blog, Weyzu! You Are Welcome Here in Ghana!  

            Akpe! Akpe! Akpe! Thank you for your donations, your prayers and your support.  Amid the rest and reconnections, we also sorted and organized the donations overflowing from the 18 suitcases we brought.  Working in shifts, the entire team helped prepare donations for medical clinic, village schools, the EP church staff, libraries, and computer labs.  We filled 40 hospitality bags that will help us acknowledge and thank the local staff, guides and friends we make along the way.  We prepared over 50 new mother kits to welcome their new babies.  We sorted 10 first aid kits for schools, villages and children’s centers we will encounter.  Here you can see some donations in mid-sort and the suitcases lined up and waiting for their ride into the villages.

Although it is just after 7:00 pm on the east coast of USA when I am posting this, it is actually after 11:00 pm here in Ghana, so I am going to sign off, wish you all a blessed Sunday, and ask that you tune in tomorrow for photos and perhaps some video of worship at Dela Cathedral featuring the music of Jill Haley.  Expect that it will be late in the evening, as we have learned to expect our first mandatory black-out tomorrow, when the city will turn off electricity from 6:00 AM - 6:00 PM to conserve energy.  There will definitely be some reporting on that experience!

Mia do go! (We'll meet again!)

Jenn Hoffman, St. Paul's UCC ~ Fleetwood