Where in Ghana Will We Be?

Mum and I are going to be in Kasoa (I had been confusing it with Kumasi), which is so small that we haven't been able to find it on any maps so far. Apparently, it's about 45 minutes (by car) outside of Accra, which is the capital city. I'm pretty sure that Kasoa is west of Accra, not too far away from the Atlantic coast. The southern part of Ghana is wet and humid, and contains a band of rainforest that connects with the Congo rainforest. The north of the country is dryer and contains savannah and desert. We'll be there for the rainy season, which means ridiculous humidity accompanied by ridiculous temperatures and ridiculous downpours.

Mum will be working at the Christ Outreach Orphanage, which apparently has something like 60 kids with only 3 people working there--haha hope she knows what she's getting into! I'll be at the Kasoa district medical clinic. It's a small clinic that is not open 24 hours a day and does not have emergency services. From what I gather, I'll be doing some lab testing (for malaria especially), potentially administering vaccines, doing some administrative work, and weight babies and taking other basic information. (click on map to see enlarged version)

Where is Ghana?

Ghana is a country of about 23 million people, located on Africa's gold coast. It is located just a few degrees above the equator and the Greenwich Meridian passes directly through part of the country. Ghana gained independence from Britain in 1957 and has been one of Africa's most politically stable countries (let's hope it stays that way!). Ghana has a long and storied history, and Ghana itself is named after an Empire that lasted from approximately 4th to 13th centuries. Today, Ghana is rich in natural resources like gold, diamonds, timber, and oil (a sizable discovery was made recently). Despite this, they still suffer from many of the developmental problems common in Africa. (click on the map to see an enlarged picture)