Hello dear friends and family,
My intentions were to blog frequently and capture my adventures here in Ghana. As life goes, I've been so bogged down with work and travel that I've not taken the time to keep you all updated.
The biggest loss however is the moments I will forget if I do not write them down. Yes I am taking pictures and experiencing the new and exciting, but I know that if I don't record my thoughts now I might forever lose some of them.
As I embark on my blog challenge, an attempt to record one account every day for the remainder of my trip-for my own benefit as well as hopefully for your enjoyment- I am also reflecting on the fact that my stay is coming to an end. I knew when I arrived that I would be looking back in a few months, wondering where time has gone. The people I have met, the lives that have touched me, the stories I have heard- these meaningful interactions are why this internship and the work JHR does has always meant so much to me- the idea that one story can creative effective change. Some of these stories have certainly changed me.
Going forward, I sit contemplating my next steps and often stress about where my future lies. And yet I have met so many people who have faced hardship and against all odds, are following their passion.
Like Walisu, a man who lost both parents at a young age and thanks to a little bit of help from a stranger, now runs a charity educating women on their rights and provides scholarships to students who can't afford secondary school.
Like Peter, who quit his job cooking on a cargo ship to live out a dream and open his own pizza place, and though he lives apart from his wife and kids and faces the challenge of erratic customers, stays open for business because he has been featured in Ghana's top travel guide- "If it wasn't for being in the book I would have closed long ago".
Like Ivy, an elementary teacher living in the mountain-top community of Wli Todzi (a 3 hour steep climb from the village below), who has returned to teach in her home community because she is invested in helping the children of Wli succeed.
Like Nii, who despite growing up in one of Ghana's largest slums now works for a not for profit defending the rights of the LGBT community, alongside writing plays on human rights abuses in his own community.
These are just some of the people who have inspired me to not only follow my own dreams, but to also believe that I will succeed. In my most recent lecture at a journalism school in the North, I was asked to talk to the students about how to build up the courage to interview others and write a story. I told them that courage is passion. If you can believe it, you can achieve it.
My passion is writing, so I am setting out to prove to myself that I can follow through with whatever I set my mind to. My next month of blogging will be filled with the stories and observations of life in a country whose cultural customs have both caused me to cringe and opened my mind to a life where we make the most of what we have.
And in some ways, it's a life we all should want.
Until tomorrow..
