Goodbye Tamale Hello Cape Coast

Goodbye Tamale .April 5th
The past three months have been one of the most fulfilling and amazing that I have ever spent.
I have thoroughly enjoyed working in my four schools, teaching the children and sharing ideas with the teachers and heads. It has been such a privilege and I think deeply appreciated on both sides. Getting to know volunteers from so many different countries and backgrounds and sharing a house for 3 months with Tim, Fred, Kim, Nina and others who shared our spare room briefly, has also been a delight; we have all had so much fun together.

I have made some really good friends here and shared amazing experiences so it was always going to be difficult in my final week to say ‘Goodbye’.

Three months just did not seem to be long enough for all I wanted to accomplish and embed and I just ran out of time at the end. Even during my last week I was still delivering phonics training to one school. Time was so tight that Helen, Early Years co-ordinator for the GES, came to my house the day before I left so that we could work together. However I did manage to watch class teachers deliver phonic sessions with the laminated cards I had provided and talk to the staff in each school about any
impact my visit had made. The answers were sometimes unexpected. One HT said that her school now valued punctuality as I was always on time for the training and refused to start until everyone was present. Other teachers told me they now used some of the alternative ways of discipline covered in our workshops, rather than the cane. The two schools I had visited late in my stay said that they needed more time with me. I agreed with them. Next time..?
In my final week I visited my schools to say Goodbye. I had bought them footballs from the UK and other small gifts. The children jumped for excitement when they saw the football. The game was now back on the curriculum! To my surprise and delight the schools also had gifts for me. One school even had a gift for my husband Ken. Eloquent thanks were expressed, not just for me but also for those who sent me including my family and school. It was very emotional and humbling. I shall never forget just how hard life is for many of the people I have met and also just how generous of spirit they are.

I asked volunteers, Asma and her deputy Zanabu to meet for supper at one of our favourite venues the Wednesday before I left. We all had a great time, managed to get home before the electric storm was in full flow but the next day I had food poisoning! .Not quite the exit I wanted from Tamale!

Hello Cape Coast!
The usual way of travelling from Tamale to Accra is by the STC bus which takes at least 12 hours! Fortunately I had decided to fly. This was not without its own difficulties as there is only one, very early, flight a day. Fred nobly got up at 4.30a.m in order to help me ferry my luggage, in the darkness, to the main road so that I could get a lift with the airport bus. He then waited with me until dawn. I was still suffering from food poisoning so everything was difficult.
I then need to get from Accra to Cape Coast, a three hour journey by STC. I wasn’t well enough for this so splashed out on a taxi for the 100 mile journey instead. The only alternative was to stay the night in Accra which would have been more expensive. I finally arrived at my friend’s house and went straight to bed and slept. Bliss!

Patricia and Bill had generously offered me the use of their house at Cape Coast and it has been an unusual experience to stay in a house without the host. However I have enjoyed every minute. The climate here is much kinder than in Tamale. It is still hot but their house is on a hill overlooking the sea and catches the cooling breeze from the Atlantic. The garden is a delight: green grass, birds and butterflies. Such a contrast to the dust of Tamale! There is both a day and a night watch man so I have felt very safe and well looked after.
I have spent the last two days having a wonderful rest at the Coconut Beach resort at Elmina. The ocean here has dangerous currents and a strong undertow so with red flags everywhere, swimming is out of the question. However the beach is enchantingly beautiful; white sands fringed by coconut palms and the food and service are excellent. This is a 5 star resort but the pool and all the facilities are open to all for a fee of 5cedis (about £2.50). Excellent value and a wonderful location for some r and r!

Tomorrow I leave this lovely house and move further down the coast with my HT friend Maddy at Anomabu. I haven’t seen Maddy since she dropped me off in my house in Tamale in January. She has been staying in Wa in the Upper West; eight hours by bus from Tamale. She leaves Kumasi, where she has visited friends, on the 4.00am bus tomorrow and we meet at eight. We will have lots to talk about.

From there we travel to Accra for our exit interview and then home for Easter. What does chocolate taste like- and bacon again!