April 25, 2010

Prepared by Kathleen

Patty arrived in Ghana safely Sunday morning and met Robb and me for breakfast at 8 a.m. at the hotel. We started our journey to Senchi Ferry at 9 – Esther, her son Yaw, niece Sarah, Patty, Robb, the driver and me.

Along the way we saw many beautifully dressed Ghanaians on their way home from church.

The highlight for me was seeing some baboons trying to cross the road.

We arrived at the St. James Guest House and quickly turned on ALL the fans and air conditioners, unpacked our clothes, and met with Esther to over our goals and commitment to working together as a great team!!

In the afternoon we attended a welcoming ceremony at the Palace hosted by the Queen Mother and a number of village elders. There was an oral telling of the village history and Scnapps were poured at the feet of the elders as a traditional gesture of welcome and prayer of thanks to the ancestral host for our safe journey. This was done with intriguingly loud chanting or “noise” in Twi. We concluded the ceremony with sodas and then ventured over to the new library. I think this was particularly exciting for Patty and Robb, who had worked on it in the early stages a year ago. Incredible to see the progress and BOXES & BOXES of books!!!

Had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner with Amo (Esther’s assistant) and finished the evening with a glass of wine and a game of Sequence. I triumphed with unquestionable skill and just a little luck. (-;