Reintroduction

Day One & Two

Monday, May 18, 2015 through Tuesday, May 19, 2015

After a few delays due to weather and construction at JFK, our team was able to leave Boston and make our connecting red-eye flight at JFK to Accra.  Upon arrival, we made it through security checkpoints, where they checked our Yellow Fever cards and sent us to customs.  We moved along through a relatively easy security check, exchanged our dollars for Ghanaian cedis, and met with Sammy, one of our two van drivers.   We packed one van full of luggage, and the other full of us.  We began the 5 hour journey to our place of stay, a guest house at KNUST (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science) in Kumasi. 

A bird’s-eye view of Accra, Ghana from a window of the plane

After assigning rooms and settling in, we had a team meeting during which we assigned roles and overviewed our goals for the trip.  Our faculty advisor, Ben, along with ADE alumni Anna and Rosy, led the meeting.  Below are the roles assigned and the person(s) responsible for each:

     

-               Team/Site Lead à Kate

-               Sub-team Leads & Trip Note Takersà Rezzy, Ken & Kari

-               Trip Note Taker (additional) à Hayley

-               “Food Bank” Bookkeeperà Wendy

-               Photographers à Peter & Ambika

-               Blogger à Peter

-               Gifts à Annie

     

During the meeting, Asante made an in-person introduction, which for many of us was a first, before eating our first meal at KNUST at a nearby restaurant on campus.  Asante spoke to us briefly about his background and how excited he is to work with us.  We went to bed pretty early to sleep off our jet-lag and prepare for a busy two weeks.