Hi all. I will try to wrap up my experience since my last update which was Monday before we went CUA for our final debriefing.

Once we were all dressed in our best Ghanaian attire, we hopped in three taxis to make the trip to the centre of Accra and CUA House. The board room was once again air conditioned. Laurie T was busy wrapping gifts that were to be presented to CUA staff and I was able to use some of her wrapping paper for a gift Larry and I were presenting to Frank Eduah (former Deputy General Manager of CUA). Frank was with Larry and me for our trip to the Volta Region and looked after us so well we wanted to show our appreciation. As with the first meeting @ CUA, there were speeches, responses and the CCA coaches presented our reports and recommendations to all present. What came as a complete surprise was when all the coaches were presented with plaques of appreciation from CUA for our contribution to the coaching program. I look forward to seeing mine on one of the walls in my office very soon. To wrap things up, we all posed for a group photo.
Then, it was all over. We mingled around for a bit as the CUA staff went back to their jobs. Now all we had to do was spend our last evening in Accra and plan our last trip to the market for last minute shopping, get ready for the airport and go.
We had discovered a Chinese restaurant called Dynasty on our 2006 trip that we all wanted to go to. When we arrived, the sign said “closed” so we were a bit sad. We were then told by people mingling about in the parking lot that we could go in. There was that strange “closed sign but open” marketing plan again! We got our usual table as it was the only one that could accommodate all of us. One of the things we liked about this place was when the waiter brought ‘round hot moist towels for us to wash our hands with. Very luxurious indeed!
After another wonderful meal, we walked slowly down Osu (the name of the street and the name of the area of Accra). We stopped in shops that we had wondered about but had not gone in before (things like the Woolworths Men’s store that sells bread at the front counter and wine and spirits at the back of the store along with trendy men’s clothing). We stopped to look around in grocery stores and convenience stores and basically take one last look at Accra @ night. We had all had a very big day and we knew that the next day was going to be busy so we all headed back to the Central Hotel for the night.
When I awoke on Tuesday morning, everything I did would make me think, “this will be the last time I ***** “. Very melodramatic! We had gifts to buy for friends and family back home and a short time to shop so we had breakfast and away we went. The market sellers were just as aggressive as before and at times too aggressive so we would have to be very firm with them. I have gotten a bit better at the bargaining that is expected but I must say that I have not gotten comfortable with it. I was in one shop that had many drums along the floor. We were in such close quarters that the owner knocked one of the drums over and it landed on the top of my foot causing me quite a bit of pain. I didn’t complain but I did point out the raised mark and the bruise on the top of my foot when I was trying to get a better price on a couple of thumb pianos: )
With our shopping done, the next job at hand was to pack everything and get ready for the ride to the airport. It was going to be a 30 hour trip so we all wanted to start out as fresh as possible. I know that I was not the only one who was not looking forward to long pants and shoes and socks.
Much of the CUA staff came to say goodbye at the hotel. The drivers who had been with us since we arrived three ago were the last to say goodbye. Everyone had been so wonderful to us, I’m sure there will be correspondence that goes on for years to come.

Next, hurry up and wait.

We did a lot of waiting over the next 36 hours or so. We waited to board that plane in Accra, we sat in the plane for an hour or so in Lagos, Nigeria, we waited for a really long time in the airport in Frankfurt (this is where the coaches split up and all went our separate ways to the different regions in Canada) we sat in the plane before take off for an additional hour and a half before we began the really long flight from Frankfurt to Toronto, we waited, picked up our bags, rechecked our bags in and waited some more in the airport in Toronto, got on a (what seemed to be) small plane to go from Toronto to Regina. We arrived in Regina just before 7 pm and we were all very surprised to see that it was not dark yet! We were all happy to see our families who had come to pick us up. We were also glad to see that all our bags had arrived with us. I think out of the 4 Saskatchewan people traveling to Regina, I still had the farthest to go that night, 3 hours to Carnduff, so we were anxious to get on the road. We all said one more goodbye and went our separate ways.
I told stories all the way home and was very, very, very glad to go to sleep in my own bed.
It has been two days since I have been home and I almost have my house back in order. I find my mind drifting back to where I was last week or the week before. It seems like a dream.
I’m not sure how I want to end this blog. I hope I have given a good description of my trip, my experiences and my feelings. I do look forward to going back to Ghana sometime in my future. I hope to see again many of the people I have met. Seeing the changes one year can make in an organization and a country is truly amazing. I wish everyone the best of luck who take on the CCA Coaching assignments in the future and I hope to read their blogs to share in their rich experiences.
Until next time……………………………………………………………..
Marcia