As anticipated, the last two days have been a whirlwind. We are now landed safely in Accra where we hope to connect with the head office of Ghana Water Company as well as do some sight seeing. Two of our members left us in Cape Coast to do further travel so we are now a team of four.
Tuesday was a big day for meetings. In the morning we held our Town Hall meeting where members of the community were invited to meet with us to discuss water and sanitation. It started off with a prayer, and was followed by an overview of our objectives when we started and some of our findings. We then broke into three smaller groups where we asked community members for specific input to help us identify their priorities as we work toward a solution. We came out of it with a Memo of Understanding listing their commitments as well as ours. Each and every attendee signed the document. We later included further commitments from the Municipal Chief Executive, the local representative for the Ghana Water Company, and our project partner, Western Heritage Home. It left us feeling very positive that while our role here is not simple, we feel a commitment by the community and its leadership and hope we can really help to make a difference here.
Tuesday afternoon two of our members gave a "lecture" to 600 engineering students at Takoradi Polytechnic Institute with members from Engineers Without Borders - Ghana. The dialog was well received, and we feel the prospects of establishing a student chapter in this community is very likely. This is very important, as these future engineers will be able to carry on this important work not only in Axim, but in other areas of Ghana as they become professionals themselves.
Tuesday evening we held a "thank you and farewell" dinner on the beach for our friends in Axim that were so helpful in our week there. At the end of the dinner, we were each "presented" with a shirt/dress in fabric that looks like the beautiful kente cloth that is so sacred here. We were very touched by the generosity of our partners with Western Heritage Home. Good byes were difficult, but we managed to wish our friends farewell with only a few tears.
Wednesday was travel day. After settling the bill at the hotel and loading our things, we traveled easterly and, after a brief stop in Takoradi to say farewell to our host James Kainyah, we traveled to Cape Coast where we had lunch with Kathryn Roe, a part-time resident of Ghana and Bellingham. We then proceeded to the "canopy walk" where we climbed to the top of the tree canopy of the forest 180 meters high, and continued through a series of suspension bridges. An amazing experience! We then returned back to Kathryn's place where two of our members left us for further travels.
That is about all for now. We'll try to post some pictures soon. TTFN.
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