Day 11: Friday July 19, 2009

We woke up Friday morning to an overcast coast (surprisingly, reminded me of Oregon). Lori and Brad took off for an early run, as Molly, Alicia and I assessed our stomachs. It had now been about a day since Alicia or I had really eaten anything substantial, so breakfast was sounding like a great idea to me. While enjoying the roof top view and attempting to eat a meal, it dawned on us that Lori and Brad had been gone quite a while. It seems some how, their “loop” run turned into an hour and a half lost sight-seeing adventure around Cape Coast, ending in a cab ride back to the hotel.

Alicia, Brad and Lori then went to Cape Coast Castle. This is one of the old castles used in the West African slave trade that now runs guided tours to the public. One week prior, President Obama had visited and presented a commemorative plaque to this castle. They then met Molly and I at the Coconut Beach Resort. Here we all enjoyed lunch on the ocean.

That night, the fearless three, headed out to Kakum National Park to spend the night on a tree platform in the Ghanaian rainforest. Unfortunately, Molly and I were still not feeling great and made the executive decision to spend another night in the beautiful Sammo.

When in Ghana….

Casey

Day 5: Saturday, July 11

Greetings from the Obama-mania capital of the world today! Everyone is thrilled to death with Obama’s choice to visit Ghana for his first visit to Africa as U.S. President! We decided to head to the beach last night to mostly avoid the mass hysteria and absolute pandemonium that was expected to ensue as Air Force One hit the ground. Literally, every single Ghanaian we spoke with had planned to head to the airport to greet President Obama and his family.

We got to watch his helicopters fly overhead from the beach during our African dancing lesson. We danced for him, and I am confident that he enjoyed it! His message to Africa was simple yet inspiring and reflected the values of the Global Autism Project. Obama, like the Global Autism Project feel that there is a great amount of potential and promise in Africa. We particularly enjoyed hearing him say, "But the true sign of success is not whether we are a source of perpetual aid that helps people scrape by — it's whether we are partners in building the capacity for transformational change." in his speech to Ghanaians today.

The Global Autism Project is committed to being not an AID organization, providing a simplistic short term solution, but in building the capacity for transformational change for the lives of children with autism, not only in Ghana and Africa, but all over the world as well. It was refreshing and inspiring to hear these ideals that guide our work from arguably the single most popular man in the World today.

In other news, today CASEY ARRIVED via Cairo!! Not many people can get off a plane still smiling having just ridden through the desert on camels that morning, and having slept through the night for the last time about four nights ago, but the new Country Director of the Global Autism Project did indeed! She was greeted at the airport by our amazing team of volunteers and we're hoping that her four months in Ghana five years ago will make up for the fact that she's joining us all a week later. So far, it seems that it has. We're delighted to have her here and can't wait to introduce her to all of the staff and children of the centre on Monday!

Signing off,

Molly Ola