Hi all, from Lawra in Ghana Upper West Region.
We left Accra in the VSO Landrover on Tuesday to stay overnight in Wa, the Upper West's Regional Capital and then to Lawra; on the way up here it definitely seemed as though there was no easy way back without your own 4WD - which we won't have! So we are on our own now and it will be local 'minibuses' complete with produce and commodities for the market that will be our means of transportation henceforth, so a certain amount of adapting is going to be necessary over the next 2 years; this is going to be quite different to the African experiences with which we are familiar!
On arrival our house was a 'bit' of a mess; really really thick dust everywhere and remnants from previous occupants that had laid untouched since December, not a pretty sight. Thus we are currently staying in the Lawra District Assembly Guest House until the house is habitable. It's bread and cheese and jam (from Accra) at the moment as we have no catering facilities in the Guest House, not too much of a problem for me as I am recovering from my first bout of stomach upset!
So it's little by little at the moment, we know that this is going to be quite some challenge, once we can get in to a place that we can call and set up as home we'll take stock and begin to figure out how we handle the next stage.
It would be useful to have mobile phone numbers of friends and acquaintances who wish to keep in touch (definiteley no obligation and we'll fully understand if you do not want yet more unsolicited texts); texting is our best means of communication as the nearest e mail is 3 hours away and last time we travelled to e mail we got there and the power was off for 12 hours so we came back rather miffed.
We have now moved and are gradually settling in to our rather large but basic house, water is carried from the borehole, no tel line- just mobiles (which work very well), Very green, lots of trees including Baobabs but no wildlife in Lawra. Due to get pushbikes soon until we get our motorbikes in 6 weeks time. Local people are brilliant ,as are our work colleagues to be - not started yet!
We left Accra in the VSO Landrover on Tuesday to stay overnight in Wa, the Upper West's Regional Capital and then to Lawra; on the way up here it definitely seemed as though there was no easy way back without your own 4WD - which we won't have! So we are on our own now and it will be local 'minibuses' complete with produce and commodities for the market that will be our means of transportation henceforth, so a certain amount of adapting is going to be necessary over the next 2 years; this is going to be quite different to the African experiences with which we are familiar!
On arrival our house was a 'bit' of a mess; really really thick dust everywhere and remnants from previous occupants that had laid untouched since December, not a pretty sight. Thus we are currently staying in the Lawra District Assembly Guest House until the house is habitable. It's bread and cheese and jam (from Accra) at the moment as we have no catering facilities in the Guest House, not too much of a problem for me as I am recovering from my first bout of stomach upset!
So it's little by little at the moment, we know that this is going to be quite some challenge, once we can get in to a place that we can call and set up as home we'll take stock and begin to figure out how we handle the next stage.
It would be useful to have mobile phone numbers of friends and acquaintances who wish to keep in touch (definiteley no obligation and we'll fully understand if you do not want yet more unsolicited texts); texting is our best means of communication as the nearest e mail is 3 hours away and last time we travelled to e mail we got there and the power was off for 12 hours so we came back rather miffed.
We have now moved and are gradually settling in to our rather large but basic house, water is carried from the borehole, no tel line- just mobiles (which work very well), Very green, lots of trees including Baobabs but no wildlife in Lawra. Due to get pushbikes soon until we get our motorbikes in 6 weeks time. Local people are brilliant ,as are our work colleagues to be - not started yet!
2 comments:
hi nigel and jenny just been catching up with your blog seems like you've been really busy and are settling in nicely, is it living up to expectations? i would think that your time in Kenya has helped you cope.
Hows the job? Whats the accomodation like (did you get your bed built?) your local IKEA looks like it just sold its last pioece of 4x2. Hows the food and what is available and how is it affecting you?
hope your bikes are now running ok
Look forward to hearing from you love pam and graham
Fantastic amount of really useful information! Many, many thanks
Anna
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