West Meets West

I hope this post meets you well. It's well over due, but with dumsor dumsor (Light on light off) and the melting heat I've been unable to catch a good time or day to blog. It's been two weeks since I arrived in Ghana but it already feels like I've been here a month. I guess time goes fast when you're having so much fun.

Team Ghana is awesome and we've all bonded so well over the first week which sadly ended when we left to work within our businesses which of course is why I'm here.

But let me take you on a short Journey of how I left my humble abode in West Norwood to volunteer in West Africa.

Week 1

On the 24th January, I left for Ghana to volunteer as a Junior Consultant with a small to medium sized enterprise. I must say on arrival, apart from the hustle and bustle at the airport, we were pleasantly surprised when we reached our host home and met our Ghanaian counterparts.

The first week involved learning about business, finance, SMEs in Ghana, Marketing, Consulting  and about our roles within the business. As someone with a background in Law it was great to learn about other disciplines and how they would be implemented into my business over the next 8 weeks. I particularly enjoyed learning about finance which has come to great use within my business.The marketing lecture was also great fun thanks to Mr. Kwesi Dei who gave some 'creative' tips on how to best market our products.

University of Ghana, Team Ghana 

Marketing Workshop

However, the week was not 'all work and no play' and during the week we had a tro tro tour of some key sites in Accra. We visited Osu Castle, Independence square, kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and the Arts Market.

Tro Tro bus ride

Makola Arts Market

Independence Square (Black Star Ark)

On the weekend we visited Labadi beach where part two of the hustle began . Unfortunately, looking like a Ghanaian but sounding British did not make me exempt  from being identified as an Obruni (white/foreign person).

Fizz and myself

Change the world

Food

I actually almost forgot to write this section. I know such a surprise. The food in Ghana has been overall really nice and I've learnt that at the University of Accra 'tea' is a meal on its own, as awkward as it may sound. The other option was white koko which is made from maize , but after having a little taste I figured I wasn't missing out on much.

Nonetheless, I've had a fair share of interesting dishes here are a few :

Fufu with light soup

Banku and shito with pepper and Tilapia 

Chicken, rice, pepper and plantain

KFC

Rice Pudding 

On Sunday, some of us decided to end the week at church with our host uncle, Uncle John. The service was refreshing and ended and started my week perfectly.

Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God' Hebrews 12:15