Speeding on the bus

Tuesday, Sept. 29 -- Somewhere between Accra and Cape Coast

I'm on the bus traveling from Accra to another coastal city, Cape Coast. It's about a two-hour drive along a rural road with one lane for each direction. We just passed a bright red sign that said “13 curves ahead - 12 persons dead here.” There are other warning signs about speeding, but we're going too fast for me to read them.

It's a big bus, but that hasn't stopped the bus driver from making some pretty intense passing maneuvers. Apparently the opposing traffic knows they have to slow down or drive onto the shoulder – which I've watched happen several times so far. This reminds me of a story I recently wrote about how Highway 41 from Fresno to Yosemite is a dangerous two-lane road with many fatal accidents over the years... suddenly it doesn't seem so bad. I was reading the main daily here, The Daily Graphic, at the bus station this morning and it had an article about a new medical center that recently opened, strategically located along our route “because of the high rate of vehicle accidents on the Accra to Cape Coast road.” I hope you got all this, Mom.

Anyway, as they say in Africa. This Is Africa. You shrug, smile, and hope for the best.

While I'm on the subject, I should mention that my travel doctor told me before my trip that you can immunize yourself to every single disease in the world but that still won't stop you from the biggest killer in foreign countries – vehicle accidents. Despite this fact, all of the taxis in Accra stuff the backseat seatbelts into the seat cushions because, apparently, no one ever uses them.

We're going to Cape Coast to visit some of Tom's friends. He spent nearly 10 years there in the 1980s and 1990s. We also hope to visit the Cape Coast Castle, where many African slaves had to pass through before being boarded on to ships bound for America. We also plan to visit the Katum National Park and go on its canopy walk. From what I understand, you walk along a rickety walkway 100 feet high and get to see the forest from a unique perspective.

A recurring theme on this trip so far has been the unknown. Starting off, we didn't know where we were going to stay, what we were going to do after the conference, who we were going to meet up with, or what, exactly, we were going to see. We had some general plans, but nothing in stone. Part of the problem is that you can do as much pre-trip planning as you want, but it's hard to nail down exact plans in a polychronic culture, and even if you do, they always change. Thankfully, it's all worked out pretty well so far. Al and I agreed yesterday that one thing is sure so far: We certainly haven't had a boring day.

Yesterday was a perfect example. We started the day with the plan to see a three-story building that was being constructed and will eventually become the Navigators' office. When Tom was here 20 or so years ago, he bought the property for $30,000 and gave it to the Navigators so they could build an office there. Construction finally began a few years ago. Now, with about $200,000 spent and another $200,000 needed to complete it, the structure is halfway there – with iron rods sticking out in every direction. We took a tour, navigating around bamboo poles, picking our way through piles of construction blocks, and ducking under wires and rebarb. OSHA would not be happy.

After the tour, we visited the Tulip Hotel. It's a fancy place that caters to tourists and has a huge pool. One of the Navigators leaders – Charles – is a manager there. We enjoyed a delicious buffet (for free) with Charles. We didn't have any clear plans after that, but we ended up meeting with a man named Tom Peterson, who has traveled to Ghana regularly since the early 1990s to help out the Christian medical community. He is also heavily involved in the Navigator's building project since two of the floors will be used for a diagnostics lab – a service that is desperately needed in Ghana because doctors often are unable to let patients know why they are sick without adequate diagnostics. The dream is to help provide a service while at the same time creating a place where Christian medical students can work instead of moving to Europe or the states, where there are many more healthcare jobs. In the past, that has caused not only brain drain, but also the lost of strong Christian influences in the community.

After meeting with Tom, all of us met up with Charles to talk about the project. The main challenge at this point is finding $200,000 to complete the building. It was a good conversation with some actions plans for the future.

We've passed about a dozen Obama billboards on the way over here... of course they have proliferated all over the city since his visit this summer. The president here, Jonathan Mills, hasn't hesitated to capitalize on the visit by posting billboards of him and Obama together. Almost in town, will write later...