From July 6th to July 8th, all of the EWB volunteers working in Ghana came together here in Damongo for our mid-term retreat. We took some time to reflect on the work we had been doing, to rest, and to play tourist. On the Saturday, we took a bus out to Mole National Park to see the elephants and swim in the pool. Photos of our mini-safari are below. During one of the retreat sessions (about how to share your experience with people at home), we were asked to write a five-minute story about our shoe. Here is mine:
My right sandal:
Is a little too big – a size 40, when at most I wear a 39. But I had been looking for these exact sandals all morning, and dreaming of them for weeks. The formal black shoes I had brought from Canada were suffocating my feet and terrible smells were beginning to form inside them – I needed sandals that I could wear to work. I had spent over two hours stepping over spoiled tomatoes and sleeping goats in the crowded central market in Tamale to find them. The sun was too hot, the people were too loud, my backpack was too heavy . . . the sandals were too big. But the vendor assured me that the sandals he sold from a cardboard box between the oversized mangoes and assorted spices were “real Ghanaian made”, and he only wanted 30,000 cedis. Desperate for water, shade, and elbow room, I wasn’t about to refuse a deal. But now, as I walk uphill between the mango trees on the way to work, and I have to clench my toes to keep the sandals from slipping off, and the cross strap rubs the skin from the top of my foot because it’s just that bit too wide, I wonder if I should have sacrificed just a few more drops of sweat to find the right size.
My right sandal:
Is a little too big – a size 40, when at most I wear a 39. But I had been looking for these exact sandals all morning, and dreaming of them for weeks. The formal black shoes I had brought from Canada were suffocating my feet and terrible smells were beginning to form inside them – I needed sandals that I could wear to work. I had spent over two hours stepping over spoiled tomatoes and sleeping goats in the crowded central market in Tamale to find them. The sun was too hot, the people were too loud, my backpack was too heavy . . . the sandals were too big. But the vendor assured me that the sandals he sold from a cardboard box between the oversized mangoes and assorted spices were “real Ghanaian made”, and he only wanted 30,000 cedis. Desperate for water, shade, and elbow room, I wasn’t about to refuse a deal. But now, as I walk uphill between the mango trees on the way to work, and I have to clench my toes to keep the sandals from slipping off, and the cross strap rubs the skin from the top of my foot because it’s just that bit too wide, I wonder if I should have sacrificed just a few more drops of sweat to find the right size.
And now for the photos:
White people on a bus . . . we are such tourists!
The elephants from a distance - before we went on our safari tour
Turn your head sideways again . . . I still haven't figured this particular glitch out. But aren't the elephants lovely?
Me and some elephants . . . it was a walking tour, so we got pretty close!
A very elegant, very dead tree
Larbanga Mosque . . . the oldest in Ghana - built over 600 years ago!
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