Hello world!! Or should I say, “Anula” – Dagbani for “Good evening.” It is 9 pm here in Tamale, Ghana. I am sitting in the library at the Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation and it is (thank the Lord) air conditioned. One of my teammates has lent his computer to me and there is a fairly reliable ethernet connection here. I am sitting next to a gentleman named Ernest who is working on a translation into his mother tongue. The translation will be transformed into an audio recording of a portion of Scripture. Across from me is Emily (from Ohio), one of my teammates. She’s craving maple syrup at the moment.

First impressions? The people here live in a sauna. If you know me, you know I like warm weather; despite this, I have never LIVED anywhere hot. For those of you from Kenya, it’s like living in Mombasa during December/January, except you can’t parade around in your swimsuit. Or you could probably liken it to Daba. Though I think hotter than either Mombasa or Daba, if my memory serves me correctly.

We arrived here and got to the guesthouse around 10:30 pm Tuesday evening (June 15). The following morning we jumped right into things, with an early breakfast and our first meeting. We were then split into teams of four and were told to get to Asanka Local to meet everyone for lunch, and then to find our way to Osu (a shopping district), with various tasks to accomplish. No, we were given no further directions, so were as clueless as you are now. Each day has been a mix of team meetings and tasks with little/no warning and zero instruction. It has literally been sink or swim.

A few points to highlight:
A couple of lovely rainy season torrential downpours; a few days in various markets (Osu and Makola in Accra, Taxi Round, Ababu and Kamula Station in Tamale); my group on one day ate our first fish heads (well, and the entire rest of the fish as well, and yes that includes scales, bones, fins,… thank you, thank you, I take a bow!); sitting under an umbrella inside a taxi; a day spent with a local teenage girl - we went to church with her, ate lunch in her home, wandered the village and market with her, and sat at her home learning language, a proverb, songs with her neighbour and sister; touring each department of the institute here – translation, literacy programs, literacy development, Scripture in use, audio recording, etc etc etc.

I think I’ve dribbled on about facts and events. What are my impressions? I’m having a hard time not melding the culture here into my Kenyan lens, although that lens has helped me adjust quite quickly to life in Africa. While we have spent a lot of time out meeting people and learning language, it has not been the same language all the time, so I am eager to spend some time in one language area. My Swahili has kept trying to pop up, which is frustrating – clearly they are not speaking Swahili! I am actually having a hard time adjusting to the climate and food; that being said, I am definitely adjusting to both so am optimistic that it will continue to improve. The sink-or-swim structure of the program has been challenging and definitely contrary to my personality, but I can already appreciate the value of having been pushed so hard the last several days as we prepare to go out on our own (literally). I’ve been journaling each day (are you proud of me?) and am starting to get excited about the next four weeks!

Thank you for your prayers and support - please continue to pray for us as we disburse to our project areas (some will travel for up to 2 days), settle into life in the respective towns and with our partners, and as we strive to see how we can be a blessing to our hosts.

~ Danielle ~