We awoke on
Wednesday morning in Accra at the Niagara Inn.
Lest you conjure up images of the idyllic Canadian/U.S. honeymoon destination
with Jacuzzis in each suite, let me describe this experience to you. Our driver, Sylvanos, had not been familiar
with any of the three accommodations we had suggested, nor was he familiar with
the Baptist Guest House where Touch A Life had arranged a room for us.
He led us to
the only part of Accra he knew.
Think... uhm...
Harlem.
The first
place we tried did not have internet, and considering that we had no way to
reach any of our contacts other than internet, having internet access was
crucial. The second place he took us to,
the Niagara Inn, had internet, but charged ridiculous amounts for the
rooms. By this point, it was late, we
needed to reach our Touch A Life team in order to travel to Kete Krachi, and
let everyone back home know we were safe, so we agreed.
While we
were unloading luggage and arranging to pay the driver, Debra was accosted by a
man in the lobby of the hotel. He tried
to kiss her, which she didn’t appreciate.
Joshua wanted to defend her, but at 13 years of age and 5’9”, he would
have been overpowered quickly by this man.
The incident was enough to convince us to stay locked together in one of
the rooms that evening until everyone else in the hotel had gone to bed.
The rules in the hotel added to the
atmosphere, specifically the part about not “entertaining guests” in the
rooms. That, along with the dubious
stains on the bed, really added to the ambiance. Answering Joshua’s questions made for an even
more entertaining evening adventure. Sexual
education, developing world style. Nice.
We connected
with Touch A Life in Texas and explained the best we could where we were, so
that they would let the Ghana team know where to find us in the morning.
That
morning, we met the Ghana team at Touch A Life when they came to our hotel to
meet with us and establish a plan to get us to Kete Krachi. Since it was already morning and we would
have had to leave at 2am or 5am to get to Kete Krachi, we decided it was best
to stay in Accra on this day, and to begin our travel to Kete Krachi the
following night from the Baptist Guest House.
George Achibra Sr’s daughter came to pick us up and bring us to the Baptist Guest House, and helped us purchase a cell phone and find a place to eat. Then, we were on our own until 2am, when we would get picked up by our driver to take us to Kete Krachi.
That
afternoon, we took the opportunity to arrange our luggage so that the donations
for Kete Krachi would be in one suitcase, and the rest for our time back in
Accra at the other children’s home could be left behind until we returned.
The rest of
the day was spent showering, resting and getting in touch with family/friends,
as well as blogging.
