31st
Hello! Stress has been horrible lately, probably only made greater with the knowledge we’ll be leaving soon. (I’ll be on the plane in 17 days!) So, last Saturday, Fiona and I decided we had to get out of Ejura, just for a bit. We ended up chancing it with this place the Bradt Guide mentions, Operation Hand In Hand, in Nkronza — just 45 minutes down the road. I’m so glad we did! It’s a small community set up for mentally handicapped kids, with 10 guesthouses on the 24 acre grounds. There are about 20 caretakers and 30 handicapped residents — aged maybe 4 to 25 or so, with everything from Downs to autism to cerebral palsy. They all go to the adjoining government school, and the older ones, as well as handicapped folks from surrounding villages, work in “sheltered workshops” where they make beautiful beads from recycled plastic and really nice kente cloth, designed and woven on-site. These are available for sale there and at stores in Holland, where the founders are from. The grounds, adjacent to the hospital, are beautiful. Tons of green, great rock formations, and hills and hills. All the buildings, from the restaurant to the residents’ houses to the guesthouses, are whitewashed stone and very nice. Our room had 2 comfy chairs, which might not sound so exciting, but I haven’t sat in a comfy chair in 3 months. Flowers everywhere, donkeys, chickens, and guinea fowl mulling about. The kids were all really sweet and welcoming. Sunday morning, we got to meet Bob, who helps run the place. Fantastic, fantastic guy from Chicago — this 77-year old Jewish guy, very well read, very hilarious. He showed us around his house and was so welcoming. He’s married to one of the project’s founders, Dr. Ineke Bosman, who’s actually been honored by the Pope for her contributions to the Ghanaian National Health Insurance Scheme. Anyway, it was fantastic, and it really got me back in love with Ghana. I’m definitely volunteering there…maybe 5 years from now, maybe 20. But I’ll be back. Check out their website: http://operationhandinhand.nl/engels.htm
