Hi All,
Here is my 1st blog ever!!
I’m leaving very soon and I wanted to share some details with you all. First of all I want to thank everyone’s support and all the donations I received. I really appreciate it. It feels great to have so many good friends who care about me and help me with this amazing trip.
My flight is on Saturday – March 1st at 10PM from JFK. I’m going to switch planes in Amsterdam and fly another 6 hours to Accra, Ghana. Someone from the organization will be waiting for me at the airport and take me to a hostel where I’m going to stay for a 5-day orientation. I just found out that there is a couple from NJ is going to volunteer in Ghana at the same time and we are flying with the same flight.
After the orientation in Accra, I will take a bus to Kumasi which is the second largest city in Ghana. It’s a 5-hour bus ride – supposedly in an air-conditioned bus! There I will meet a counselor name Helen who will take me to the family where I’m going to stay for 8 weeks. The town I’m staying called Mampong – 1 hour from Kumasi. Here is a map so you can see what I’m talking about.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Ghana&ie=UTF8&z=7&om=0
Here is what I know about the family I’m going to live with. They are an 8-member family – 5 males and 3 females. They are farmers and live in a compound building in Mampong. I will have my own room; the house has a kitchen, a main living area, bed rooms, and a bathroom. Not sure about plumbing but looks like they have electricity 
.
I will be walking distance from the orphanage I’m going to work at. The orphanage called Mampong Babies Home. There are about 50 children – ages between a day old and 4-5 year old. I will be helping to maintain children by giving them the necessary care and attention as their mothers would have given them. I will help with feeding, bathing, and ensuring general cleanliness of the children. There are only 6 staff members working at this orphanage – it does look like they need help all the time.
My town, Mampong has an internet café, a bank, some stores and a bar! I’ll have access to email probably everyday and since my weekends are free I can travel and explore as much as I want.
I’m very excited but I’m also getting a little nervous. I can’t believe it’s coming up so soon!
Thanks for reading and I will write again shortly!
Agi
