Happy Groundhog’s Day from Ghana! If there were groundhogs here, there would be 6 more weeks of winter … the day was warm and humid – 34 degrees C and 70% humidity.

We’ve been welcomed with open arms and with great appreciation. The people here are just terrific – it was like we never left.

Getting here:

I arrived last night with the other 9 credit union coaches from other credit unions across Canada. My partner coach and I (Barry Delaney – who also is from B.C.) started our journey on January 31st from Vancouver and arrived in Accra on February 1 some 24 hours and 12,500 kms later via Frankfurt and Lagos.

We met up with our crew in Frankfurt where Barry and I only had 40 minutes to get from our aircraft to our connecting flight. All was well until we arrived in Accra and were waiting for our luggage. Our success rate was 50% as 2 of 4 bags showed up. After learning about the lost luggage, Barry and I were treated a local brew by the team – it turns out we weren’t treated per se, there were only 2 coaches who had the local currency, so they bought for everyone.

The good thing for me was I got to change socks this morning. I put the sock from right foot onto my left, and the sock that was on my left foot went onto my right. The bag that did show up for me contained 50 pairs of soccer cleats and 2 sets of team uniforms that I am going to leave with Aba Hagan, a Ghanaian participant in the CCA Women’s mentoring program. Hopefully my other bag shows up tonight with the Lufthansa flight.

This morning we had the typical orange juice, Nescafe and toast for breakfast. Then to make us all feel rich we went and exchanged currency and walked out with a small grocery bag full totaling 1.8 million cedis. (Sounds bigger than it is.)

It was so hot in the hotel that the beads of sweat on the top of Barry’s head looked like the inside of a sauna, with beads of glistening moisture all over it. (Barry’s chosen hairstyle is maintenance-free, no hair on top style.)

At the CUA House:

We met with the staff from the Credit Union Association of Ghana at CUA House this afternoon and all had a briefing on our assignments and our return visits to the credit unions we were with last year. Credit unions in Ghana are sponsors of two great programs. One is a program to set up savings programs for schoolchildren. The other is an AIDS/HIV awareness program. So, the women in charge of the AIDS/HIV encouraged all of us to use a condom. A first for me at a credit union meeting!

After our briefing we had a great lunch with the senior staff from CUA and then several of us, Barry, Larry, and Owen visited the National Cultural Centre. (This is the “market”.) As last year, we were mobbed by salespeople; however, they did restrict themselves to the area nearby their booth. There are many booths, so there are many salesmen. Each of us made some purchases – shirts, dress, and handbags for family back home.

Hopefully the jet lag won’t hit us tomorrow …