Four More Weeks

When I first arrived in Ghana, some of my friends would send me reminders of the time that I had been away. I four get a text message reading, “today is one month”, an email reminding me “it’s been two months”, and at four more months I got a call asking me “Can you believe that you are half way through?”.

I certainly appreciate the love, and the reminders were testimonies about friends that missed me and were thinking about the life-changing experience that I was going through. As for the countdown though, that was not in my mind. Rather than think of how many days it had been so far, or how many I had left, I was focusing on making the most of each moment.

To follow all of the details of my time in Ghana is to trace a path full of obstacles, encouragement, challenges and changes; through it all, I have to say “Ghana has been good to me”.

I have now been in the country for seven months as of last week. With the days so full, they pass rapidly. In my mind and in my heart, I am preparing to leave this place that has become home to me. I don’t crave food from home, I don’t long for Canada, and I am not eager about returning to old comforts. The next step feels right though.

There is a sense of sadness and excitement that stirs into one strange blend in the core of my being at the thought of getting on an airplane.

I now have less than four weeks in Ghana: I have stories to do, workshops to deliver, and a handover note to complete. I will not be able to wake up to the equatoital sun and take the tro tro to the campus. I won’t be able to work directly with my colleagues that have become a part of my life.

The challenges that the country faces and the potential that the country possess have become personal. I notice myself saying things like “what we need to do is…”. Even when Ghana beat Nigeria in the recent friendly match, that was ‘us’ – ‘we’ did that.

As the days tick down, there is a sense of peace in doing all that I can do.