A HA 4

 

6 new volunteers, from the UK and Canada with four current volunteers with VSO Ghana.

The relative luxuries of a decent hotel, hot water showers, free wi fi and air conditioning were appreciated by all during the 6 days of training.

For Helen, Nicole and I, luxury did include a decent sized reclining seat each with adequate leg space for the 16 hour ride from Accra to Bolgatanga- about 300 miles along partly made roads. The benefits of generous seating space were somewhat diminished by ambitious amounts of luggage and cargo, including three office sized photocopiers placed in the underneath trunk, the entire aisle packed with boxes, parcels and suitcases while any smaller bags, including full sized rucksacks, were to be stowed around the passenger.

Although there were two designated stopping places, as the second sounded like a most uncomfortable “Comfort Break” (a wall, described as a urinal, unlit), for me there was only one.  The take-out meal of chicken and fried vegetable rice carried back to the bus and eaten out of a Styrofoam container was tasty and filling. And then, as the afternoon sun gave way to sudden darkness and gazing out at the African scenery was over for the day, the on -board entertainment began: two morality tale films, a Nigerian story of marital infidelity without the graphic details, a second from Ghana concerning an employee wrongly accused of stealing money were followed, inexplicably, by a Van Diesel gun-toting extravaganza. Then it was midnight- time for quiet, I wrongly thought. For the rest of the journey we had rousing gospel music.

A 4 am arrival at Bolga, several hours sleep at a volunteers house, then back in another taxi, arranged by Emma, our lovely house mate, for the last one hour drive, the car climbing over the many potholes in the road from Bolga to Zebilla.