I am a couple days behind in my blogging as I am currently back in the south of the country but I was out of internet contact for the last several days or so. In this post are some images from my last few days up north and from our time in Mole National Park (pronounced ‘mo-lee’), which is back up north. We learned about some sacred crocodiles in a small northern village and the students were able to get quite close to the creatures, as you will see from the photos. In Mole we went on a safari but I didn’t really see many animals up close. I’m hoping that I will have more time to see some critters on one of the programs I will be leading in the coming weeks.

The people in this small northern town traditionally believe that the crocodiles will not hurt them because they are so protected. It is actually illegal to harm a crocodile.

Our safari guide in Mole National Park. He is actually the father of Moses, one of our local guides who was with us during staff training but is currently running Rustic Programs in the Volta Region. You may remember Moses from the blog post where we took him bowling.

Elephants keeping cool in Mole National Park.

This elephant, named “People’s Friend #2,” was hanging out outside our motel room. The building behind the elephant is actually where our rooms are. The hotel is within Mole National Park and the creatures are not fenced in so we are forced to keep a keen eye peeled for wildlife while transiting from our accommodations to the dining area. Visitors are warned not to carry food back to their rooms because of the aggressive baboons that will run up and steal it.

We are in the far north of the country, in a town called Bolgatonga, near the Burkina Faso border. We have completed nearly all of the service work we will do on our trip. Over the last two days we have moved concrete blocks by hand that will be used to lay the foundation of a school, handed out “Tom’s” shoes, and played with school children. The best part of the service work was the dance breaks! Ghanian’s take breaks from working by getting in a circle, making a beat with their hands and then taking turns dancing to the beat. We had an amazing time dancing with the village people and helping them build their school. They were very grateful as well.
Handing out the Tom’s to the schoolchildren was a good experience as well. I took a group of students to a school for the deaf, where we fitted the children for their feet size and handed out corresponding shoes. They were very grateful and said “thank you” in sign language over and over again.
We also had the opportunity to climb the Tongo Hills, where we were able to get an amazing view of the Bolga savannah lands of northern Ghana. Gallery below.

We have now finished our staff training and moved to another hotel. This hotel is nicer than the last and will be an easy introduction to the students to Ghana before we send them out into more “rustic” venues. Over the last couple days we have all bonded as a staff. We went bowling as a group and our local guides had never seen bowling so that was a fun experience. As leaders we have really developed a close relationship with each other and I am confident in our ability to lead our students safely and provide them with a fun and hopefully a life-changing experience. For the first group of students there will be four of us guiding. Once the programs begin to overlap and more kids arrive there will be three of us per student group and we will divide the responsibilities between us (daily budgets, arranging transport, etc).
I have included some more general pictures of the Rasta-themed hotel we were staying at last week in a slideshow below, along with pictures of bowling and our staff group at dinner. I’ll try to get some pictures up of the place we are currently staying at, but with the arrival of new students I may be even more pressed for time in the coming days.

Our country director getting his hair trimmed by a fellow staffer.

Moses, one of our local guides, is a transportation expert. He can rustle up a taxi, bus or a “tro-tro” out of thin air within minutes and always bargains for the lowest price. This was his first time bowling and he was a natural, breaking 100 with each game. He also has some of the coolest clothes made of African fabric, like his pants in this picture.

Some of my fellow staffers at dinner on the water.

View of the ocean from the restaurant. Photo was taken after sunset in the dark.

I am safe and sound in Accra, Ghana. I traveled through Casablanca, Morocco, on the way to Accra and was able to go out in Casa and check out the sights. Pictures below. Myself and my fellow staffers are staying at a Rastafarian-themed hotel on the beach for our staff training and will move to a nicer hotel on Tuesday in preparation for our first group of students.
Yesterday we went to a market to pick up some soccer balls, notebooks and other supplies for our students. Shopping in Ghana is not at all like shopping in the US, if you want a soccer ball, you go to the ball store. If you want permanent markers, you go to the pen store. There is a stand or a store set up for everything imaginable. Pictures and gallery below.

Casablanca, Morocco. The mosque in the background is one of the tallest structures in the city. More pictures in the gallery at the end of this post.

My room at the hotel we are staying at for our staff training in Accra, Ghana. More pictures in the gallery at the end of this post.

The view of the ocean out the door of my hotel room in Accra, Ghana. More pictures in the gallery at the end of this post.

Gallery

Creighton beat Illinois State 83-79 in overtime to become the Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball champions Sunday, March 4 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

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Creighton beat Evansville 99-71 during the semifinal round of the Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball tournament Saturday, March 3 in St. Louis

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Illinois State upset Wichita State 65-64 during the Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball tournament Saturday, March 3 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis

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Evansville beat Missouri State 72-64 during the Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball tournament Friday, March 2 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

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Creighton defeated Drake 68-61 during the Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball tournament Friday, March 3 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis

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Illinois State beat Northern Iowa 54-42 during the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference tournament Friday, March 2 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

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