Written on July 15, 2019
Hello everyone! Welcome, or welcome back, to SHEISALLIN! I hope that you are having a beautiful summer and that you are overflowing every single day with joy.
I am so excited to update you on what i’ve experienced and learned while here in Ghana in part one of my first blog! I had to break weeks one and two into multiple parts because there was just SO. MUCH. for me to share with you. My mind has been blown in so many ways, and of course, I wanted to take you with me on this journey while giving you as much detail as I could.
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During week one, we spent all of our time in Accra, the capital city of Ghana. I landed at around 5am Ghana-time on Monday, where I met Nia, one of our mentors. We took an uber (under the most beautiful red sun that I’ve ever seen) to the Sleepy Hippo Hotel where I was met with an outdoor eating space and a rooftop lounging area. Look at how beautiful the hotel was!
Views from Sleeping Hippo
I remember settling my bags down, and heading out to the rooftop lounging area, where I took time to thank God for all of the ways that He has met me and orchestrated this trip for me. I remembered my plans of not coming, but knowing in my heart that this was where I was supposed to be. I recalled all of the moments of fasting and praying with others for God to help me fundraise for this trip, and remembered the countless blessings of funds that rolled into my account. I wanted to acknowledge the many people that have supported me in getting here, either by donation or by prayer, and thank you so much for YOU!
Three days after our arrival date, our team was finally all together. In total, we have 6 college students and two mentors who created this program and are heavily engaged in their own activist work back home.
My team is amazing. We’ve got Anthro majors, Public Health majors, soon-to-be engineers, soon-to-be professors, Acapella leaders, whistlers (lol), activists… all of it. Trust me, they are a big reason why my trip to Ghana was as amazing as it was.
My Team!
As you can imagine our first week was filled with settling in, team-building activities, and readings for our course work. We did things like eat red velvet cupcakes for Juneteenth, visit the Artist Alliance Museum, the University of Ghana Legon, and more places that I will get into in the next part of this blog.
In the middle of visiting these beautiful places, we also got to eat some delicious, fantabulous, marvelificent food (Haha, if you’re a writer reading this blog, please accept all of the made-up adjectives coming your way). Over our first week, we ate local dishes like Groundnut Soup, Jollof Rice, Grilled Tilapia, and a crazy amount of fried plantains. I’m surprised we don’t have oil from the plantains oozing out of our pores by now. Let me tell you, even the mangos and pineapples are NOTHING like they are back in the U.S. I so wish I could send you some food via express mail but I’m not sure that’s the best idea, lol! For now, enjoy these pictures…
Groundnut Soup, Grilled Tilapia, Cabbage Stew and Jollof
So, let’s take a rest stop right here so that I can give you a few days to let you digest all that I’ve thrown at you. I hope I worked up your appetite for the next blog! Set your forks down, exhale, and I’ll see you next time, okay?
Con mucho amor,
Ashley
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
