When I gave my daughter a Ghanaian name 2 short years ago, I did not think that we would be visiting the country any time soon! But here we are, almost ready to go, and the giant pile of stuff to pack that is taking over my apartment is making it feel very real.
Why am I going to Ghana? There are many very good reasons to visit Ghana, but I am going as part of the "teaching across boarders" option available to teaching students at the University of Calgary. This allows students to complete their last semester abroad, volunteering at a school or education-related institution while completing course work online.
I had mentioned this opportunity to my mom last year, and she gave me the necessary push to look into it further (trust me, I don't need much)! While in Accra during my last visit to Ghana, I met Jeffrey Witte, who is the director of the organization Amend. He has since been nice enough to take me on as a volunteer, and I am very excited to start!
www.amend.org
Amend works to prevent traffic related childhood injury in Ghana. Part of what they do is go out to schools and teach children about traffic safety, and I will be working with this program for the duration of my stay. I will expand on what that will actually look like at a later date, as I am not entirely sure yet (as with everything else)!
I think that this will be a fantastic opportunity on so many levels, and I am confident that we will fully enjoy ourselves and learn so much more than if I had decided to stay here in Calgary (no offense Calgary). Not all people fully understand this though, and I have received a wide variety of responses when telling people I plan to take my 2 year old to Africa.
Unfortunately, many people are completely horrified by the idea (thank you to those who think its great, or at least pretend), which is part of my motivation behind creating this blog. All you nervous folks can keep tabs on us, and know that we are just fine, and hopefully better! Perhaps I can even make you a little bit jealous along the way.
Don't worry everyone, I fully intend on bringing that little maniac home in one piece!
