Coming Home

Hey everyone,

I can't believe this will be my final entry of my Ghana journey.

The next couple of weeks are extremely busy with travel and fun, so internet visits will be very low on my priority list as I wrap up my stay in Ghana... Here is what is planned.

This Thursday is the graduation ceremony for the school I have been teaching at. I will be installed as Queen Mother of the school [the first!] (which means I'll be wrapped in traditional kente cloth with large beads and a crown - I shared this experience last week at the graduation ceremony at the school that my friends are at in Sega - it was quite the experience and the pictures are phenomenal!).

Friday/Saturday is a festival in Big Ada which will commemorate the people who fought for this tribal existence and culture over the years through Nigeria down to Ghana.

Then on Sunday, 3 of us from the group will head North to a place called Kumasi. We will go visit some beautiful waterfalls as well as a monkey sanctuary (where people and monkeys live together).

On Tuesday or so we will head further north to a place called Tamale and to Mole National Park (where you can get within 20 m of elephants and other large and small animals! A real African safari!!!!) We'll spend a few days there then head to a place called Ada Foah (closer to home) where we will relax on the beach for 2-3 days to unwind. I will go back to Kpong on the 15th (Wednesday) to say my final goodbyes and then I fly on the 16th. My 'husband' will escort me to the airport from Kpong and I will meet up with the rest of the group there to get ready for our long journey home (*note* I arrive at 3:45pm in Toronto on a Friday afternoon... by the time I get my bags and the car it'll be closer to 5pm... on a Friday, driving north... rush hour is going to be brutal... especially after all those hours on the plane and the 7 hour layover in Frankfurt - I'll probably pass out in the car - that's my hope at least, or be so driven by adrenaline that I don't notice the 2-3 hours it'll take to get home!)

Like I said, it's going to be busy, but lots of fun.

I'm excited to pack so much into my last final weeks here, but no matter how much I pack into this end of the journey, it does not distract me from the sadness that accompanies my leaving this place and these people that have affected my life.

It's hard to put into words how it feels to be leaving. I have been trying to talk about my departure without 'leaving before leaving', meaning, my head and heart can't be gone quite yet from this place, there is still so much to discover, but I have to acknowledge that within a few weeks I will be getting on a plane and leaving this place.

The hardest part is answering 'when will you come back?' I don’t know, and I can’t promise anything because life gets in the way of some of the things I’d really like to do. It’d be so easy to promise to be back, to send supplies, to do all the things I would love to do, but realistically it just isn’t so. I’ll try, I’ll hope, I’ll do my best, but I can’t guarantee anything. It’s so hard.

I just want to say thank you to everyone who has read my blog over the last few months, it has been quite the journey and I feel so lucky that you have all come along for part of the ride. I appreciate it greatly and can’t wait to get home to show you the pictures that are associated with all the experiences I have had – which are countless at this point. I know that this has been a journey of a lifetime and although it hurts so much to leave, it will be part of me for the rest of my life.

Today is a busy today – I visited Akosombo dam, which is the main source of power generation for the country, I am currently at the internet café, and then I have a wrap-up debrief meeting with Youth4Change this afternoon. Tomorrow is a packing day and Thursday is graduation… it’s moving so quickly that at times I lose the hours as they pass by, but at the same time try to take in as much as I possibly can. What’s that old saying, you don’t truly appreciate something until it’s gone. I’m trying to acknowledge that and take advantage of what I have now before it really is gone.

I’m going to go on my way, back to Kpong and enjoy the rest of my experience here in Ghana as it comes to an end. If anyone has any dire messages for me, please call mom and she’ll pass the message along – if there isn’t anything else I’ll see a great majority of you when I return in a few weeks.

Wa ma kpe (We shall meet)

Rasta (after 7 hours of getting my hair braided!) Dede xox