Meet Me in Accra

Benin has been my home for eleven months. I have traveled from the rocky bluffs of Dassa to the sands of Ouidah's beaches and enjoyed the hustle and bustle of Cotonou as well as cool, calm mornings by Lac Ahémé. Countless families and individuals at site brighten my day with their jokes, and our work together has developed from ideas into plans into missions. Work for me started to pick up last week as the farming season wound down a bit. Unfortunately in this regard, I had a commitment predating these eleven months in Benin, and that commitment was vacation. So I rescheduled some work plans, meetings, and training sessions for later in the month and left town for a needed break from the ordinary and in search of exploration.

My college friend Alexander applied to and accepted a position in Peace Corps Liberia before I had done the same for Benin. Once it became evident in the winter of 2017 that we would be serving in the same region, we set our sights on meeting up for a quick holiday. After assessing our training and work schedules last winter, we decided against visiting each other in our respective countries, and instead on meeting somewhere between our posts in the capital of Ghana, Accra. We applied for leave, booked flights, and figured out what weekday tourists can do in Accra.

As it turns out, there's plenty. This should come as no surprise: Accra is a bustling metropolis of 4 million people, roughly the size of the entire population of Liberia. Alexander and I delighted in the attractions, from beachfront castles and monuments to high-rises and museums. The weather stayed pleasant, many locals helped with directions and shared in kind conversation, and we enjoyed a week of sightseeing and good food, which itself ranged from KFC and Ivorian street food to sushi, gourmet burgers, and real pizza.

I for one reveled in the opportunity to order fried chicken. Whenever my diet at site wears on me, dreams of such well-seasoned gateways to high cholesterol brought momentary joy, tolerance, and even appreciation for what I was eating (probably rice). I'm lucky to eat well at site, and no one should ever complain of two years of good eating. The delectable variety afforded by everyone's favorite mascot colonel, however, was certainly welcomed. While satisfied after pigging out, I remarked that I hadn't missed such food as much as I thought. Perhaps I'm better integrated than I thought.

We started our touring with a dive into local history. Ghana was the first colonized African country to gain independence, which it did in 1957 under the leadership of President Kwame Nkrumah. His Pan-African vision for international collaboration and development found inspiration in American scholar-activist W.E.B. DuBois, who lived the last few years of his life as a Ghanaian citizen and confidant of the President. We visited the museums and mausoleums of both leaders within the first few days.

The Nkrumah Mausoleum & Museum

The DuBois Center for Pan-African Culture, Museum, and Mausoleum

Other visits throughout the week included the Peace Corps Ghana headquarters, the University of Ghana and its neighboring botanical gardens, and Labadi Beach. We shopped at both the Accra Mall, which would fit in any American city or suburb, and Makola Market, whose packed and frantic foot traffic reminded us of our Peace Corps homes. Such a contrast was common in Accra, a city balancing modernity and tradition as it grows, sprawls, and attracts enormous investment and tourism. Alexander and I did not have the chance to travel elsewhere in Ghana, but volunteers assured us that the rest of the country is not all too different from the villages we call home. We did visit the fishing village of Jamestown, a neighborhood of Accra. While downtown Accra boasts glassy corporate headquarters and stone halls of government, Jamestown is a collection of zinc-roofed shacks installed in the shadows of the old James Fort and Prison and Jamestown Lighthouse. These images of markets and neighborhoods illustrate Accra's challenge in planning for the development of an increasingly modern city and growing middle class even as it tackles entrenched poverty - not to mention the national perspective.

The University of Ghana

Makola Market

Jamestown shores

All this time Alexander and I were catching up, swapping stories, and telling jokes. It was a sincere pleasure to explore a charming and awesome city with a good friend. Eating out and relaxing served as welcomed breaks from the action and pace of work and life in Benin. A week was long enough, though, and I'm already pining to get back to work and enjoy the warmth of home and hearth at site. Ghana's national parks and Lake Volta will have to wait as, instead, the corn harvest and Lac Ahémé await me at site. And what a joy it is to return to community and work that matters. Until next time, Ghana.