Pre-trip Musings

This is where I'll be.

I leave for Ghana tomorrow.  I’ve decided to try blogging.  No idea what I’m doing but thought I should make an attempt to actually practice before I leave.  Honestly, this may be my only blog entry.  I have no idea how available the internet will be once I am in Ghana.  My goal is to post an entry once per week.  We’ll see if that goal is realistic!!

I’ve been encouraged by many friends to create this blog to document my trip and keep them up on what I am doing.  I went through that stream of “negative self-talk” that most of us do:  I’m not smart enough.  I’m not good enough.  My writing is, at best, amateurish.  I have nothing to say. No one will be interested……  All that may be true but so what?!!?  As I learned from Nike, “just do it.”

So let’s see: 

Reference Materials

Passport and Visa √ 
Yellow Fever Vaccine √

Malaria Meds √

 Bug Spray 

Bird Book √ 

Binoculars (oops, just a minute), OK  √ 

Camera √

MP3 Player √

Flashlight √

Map and Travel Guide √

Clothes √

I’m ready. Now just have to wait for the plane!!

So, why am I traveling to Ghana for 8 weeks you may ask?  I travel.  That’s what I do.  Call it a bug, an itch, a compulsion, an obsession, a passion, wanderlust, lunacy, whatever; I just need to experience, first hand, as much of the world as possible.  Whenever I see a jet trail I look at it wistfully wondering where it’s going and when I’ll next be on a plane to, well, anywhere!  BTW, last time I was on a plane guilt finally caught up with me and I “bought” four trees to be planted in Costa Rica in an effort, perhaps futile, to counterbalance the negative carbon footprint.  

This trip is more altruistic in nature than my previous trips. Two years ago I entered a Master of Social Work program at Portland State University.  I just completed my second year of a three year program.  This trip to Ghana is not just about “What’s in it for me?” or a means to satisfy that wanderlust; although there are elements of both of these in my decision to embark on this journey.  This time I will be working for a social service agency in Ghana.  

The agency I will, more than likely, be working at is a called the Hopeful Way Foundation; a NGO that focuses on recovery from addiction.  I don’t know exactly what I’ll be doing, where I’ll be doing it, or where I’ll be staying.  I just have faith that when I reach Ghana I will be doing something somewhere and have a place to lie my head down at night!  Hopefully, I will be able to share what I discover with all of you.

I am going with an open mind and an open heart.  I have very little in the way of expectations but have faith that everything will work out and I will make a positive contribution.  

I look forward to this chance to enhance my education, experience another culture through the “lens” of a social worker, and, hopefully, achieve some personal growth.