The End is Nigh

And to be honest, I can't wait.  Tomorrow, after nearly four months of heat, dust, accounting, gorillas, dust, elephants, pygmy villages, dust, dust and dust I will be flying home tomorrow night.


For my last week I am being looked after by Isaac at Richbone and Madame Florence at the Sarfoa Memorial School.  These are two organisations that had an AfID volunteer last year, and I'm here to see how they're getting on.  So I've spent most of this week looking over accounting reports again, checking for errors, inconsistencies, and making any suggestions I can for how things could be done better.  As always, I have been very well looked after.  Food arrives regularly in gargantuan quantities though it is, as always, highly delicious.  I am already searching out recipes for groundnut sauce, red red and the like for when I get home, though I don't know what I'll do about fried plantain or yam chips - suggestions welcome.  I feel I'm going to have a second dose of culture shock when I arrive.


Perhaps strangely, after my family and my cat, the thing I am most looking forward to is having access to a washing machine.  Ghanaians always manage to look immaculately turned out every day of the week, but sadly, my efforts at handwashing have not been kind to my clothes.  It doesn't seem to matter how many times I wash them, once a layer of African dust is ingrained, no amount of soap seems to remove it.  There were a few days in the Central African Republic / Cameroon where, quite honestly,  I gave up.  Although my socks have been soaped vigorously many times since, none of them have quite returned to their original colour.  They may be destined to spend the rest of their days cleaning cars.

But, really, that's just about it.  As the tears begin to flow, the final credits begin to roll, I would like to thank, oscars style, all those who made it possible.  To YPWC, Kumasi Street Children, Richbone and Sarfoa School for looking after me and listening to my tedious accounts talk with good humour and patience.  To Guy and Simon at www.fromhere2timbuktu.com for an incredible trip through Cameroon and the CAR.  To AfID for giving me the excuse I needed to be here at all.

And finally, to you, my dear readers (reader?).  It has been, after all, a most excellent adventure.  I'll see you all soon.