Day 1 – Beginning the extraordinary
When one has experienced something before, or even many times before, the possibility of it becoming ordinary threatens the joy that may have come with the initial experience, now confined to the dust of the history books. If however, whilst repeating an experience, one surrounds oneself with 18 young people sitting in a bus, gazing out of the open windows in awe and wonder, the ordinary is forgotten and the extraordinary is present once again.
The visceral, life-changing and life-giving moment of immersing ourselves in a world totally different to our own fills us with vision, purpose – an unquestionably outstanding Geography, History, RS and Social Sciences lesson for us all, without any words, plan, assessment or tracking.
“Greater things are yet to come, and greater things are still to be done…”
The sights, sounds, smells and heat of arriving in Accra on a warm Saturday morning are utterly exhilarating for our band of excited and loyal travellers. Fresh from the comfort and convenience of direct flights from Heathrow and some muted yet relieved celebrations of Andy Murray’s late night victory, the group stumbled off the plane, taking their place in the longest and slowest immigration queue ever. If only the speed of the queue had matched the speed of the dawn, which arrived spectacularly and suddenly, sneaking up on us without anyone noticing. The atmosphere was warm, but superseded by the warmth of the welcome from Seth, Link Teacher and dear friend in the bustle of the airport arrivals and was followed by embarkation and the bouncy but purposeful journey towards Elmina in our raised platform military truck. The students simply stop talking and stare, smiling, giggling, surprised, shocked, confronted on all sides. We are here. The team has arrived.
Please visit Partner Ghana’s facebook site for photos! http://www.facebook.com/PartnerGhana