Amsterdam

Well, it appears that I waited on the Ecotourism team update for too long. We're already in Amsterdam on the way home.

The major project of the Eco-Team was to conduct Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, & Threats (SWOT) analyses for a number of Ecotourism sites in the Brong Ahafo Region. The sites included but were not limited to: Mole, Mognori Eco-Village, Kintampo Falls, Fuller Falls, Mim Mountain, and a few more.

Life blew by during the last two weeks of the trip. Vincent and myself were busier than one-armed paper-hangers with you-know-what, working on the greenbelt research; while others were involved with their own equally important projects. The Health team had a very sucessful showing for their HIV/AIDS Forum, while the Environment team planted 50 trees at SPoly to reduce erosion around a stream located on the SPoly grounds.

Our piece-de-resistance was a one float parade visiting three of the GCPEE partner communities; Chiraa, Abesim, and Fiapre. The float was well recieved by all the community members who came out to the event for some learning and knowledge transfer. It was a rewarding experience for everyone who was involved.

Vincent and I had the opportunity to go out into Ayakomaso, the village that has been chosen to be the pilot community for the greenbelt research. Our meetings with the villagers was very promising and quite possibly a life-changing experience for me.

All that aside, the team had a safe trip from Sunyani to Cape Coast, with a nice reprieve in Kumasi thanks to Sam's mum. We enjoyed a couple of days relaxing on the beach debriefing the experience and getting some more education in the form of tours and museums (not to mention some more experience with hawkers). At Cape Coast we said goodbye to our superstar Amanda, as well as Matt and Sabrina; who were continuing on to the Green Turtle Lodge in eastern Ghana.

The rest of us left for Accra and boarded our flight to Amsterdam, where we said goodbye to Jenn-squared. With our team now diminished to five members we did our best to stay cheery and made the most of our day. Rick and Ken relaxed in the airport catchng up on some much needed rest, while myself, Maggie and Aggie ventured into the city to see some of the sites.

What an incredible city it is, such a stark contrast from our experiences of the last month. Strolling down alleys with 400 year old buildings towering above us. Now compare that to the dirt tracks and curbside vendors of Sunyani.

Now were are safely back at the airport, impatiently waiting on the airplane that is to take us home to our loved ones and our hometowns. I wish the updates for this blog could have been more consistent and reliable; but such is life in Ghana. It was very important to keep the words of Danny Archer from Blood Diamond in the back of our minds when things either didn't go as planned or were significantly delayed:

"This is Africa"