One of our van drivers, Bruce, greeted us this morning by wishing us a happy International Women's Day. The following Gandhi quote is popular here:
"When you educate a man, you educate an individual. When you educate a woman, you educate a nation."
Driving in Ghana is an edge of your seat experience. Today myself, three other teachers and Susanna from IREX journeyed from Accra to Cape Coast by van to spend five days with our partner teachers in Ghanaian schools. A Ghanaian road is filled with transport trucks, tro-tros (vans), taxis, cars (mostly Japanese), motorcycles and the occasional bicycle. Although there are posted speed limits, few drivers respect them, and basically, the largest vehicle dominates. Traffic is extremely congested and this effect is multiplied by many, many people on foot "hawking" (selling) every imaginable thing to passersby. I am amazed by the women with huge, tall loads on their heads and babies on their backs neatly wrapped in kente, batik, or as Ghanaians say, "tie and dye" cloth.
After arriving in Cape Coast, we checked into our hotel (just outside of Cape Coast) and took a taxi in to Cape Coast to explore. One of our partner teachers, Michael, came to the hotel to welcome us tonight. Sounds like they have a great week planned.
Ghana's President John Atta Mills met with President Obama in Washington, D.C. today.
