Day 12 - Millennium Village and travel to the Elmina Castle

Our two groups have rejoined on another in Kumasi. Our plan was to leave the hotel at 7:30 and head to the Millennium Village. As the group finished their breakfast and process of checking out we gathered to depart on time. As par for the course it was not until about 8:30 until our tour guide and bus driver showed up to begin our days journey. We departed the hotel and headed on our way. We passed through many small towns and villages along the way. There were people everywhere along the road in these villages and congestion was inevitable.

We traveled on the bus for about two hours when the pavement ended and the dirt road began. We meet up with our UN representative Samuel at this point. We stopped for a quick rest and were informed it would take around two hours to get to the village. A few were able to jump in the pickup with Samuel and enjoy the ride a little better. (Simon, Carlos, and Naty) We traveled down the dirt road and avoided as many pot holes as we hit straight on. Finally about 1:00 we made it to the Village of Bonasso which is the actual name of the Millennium Village.

As we arrived the Village elders were sitting around in a large circle awaiting our arrival. Many had stayed home from farming that day to attend our meeting. We greeting one another with hand shakes and Samuel translated for the group. We explained to the group that we were there to see first hand a Millennium Village and discussed with them some of the benefits they thought the program had brought to their Village. The Village seems happy with the benefits but was also concerned with many items that the project representatives had promised and they had not delivered yet. Samuel addressed many of these issues with the group and overall the exchange went well. At the end of the meeting we passed out some class cards, one would have thought they were gold the group virtually fought over them.

We boarded the bus and headed back on the road around 2:00. I was back along the dirt road and it was a slow process. About half way out a few additional people moved out of the bus and road in the back of the pickup we were following. (Rob, Robert, and Bryan.) Rob and Robert had white tee shirts and looked like they had worn them for about a week straight they were so brown. As we followed the bus you could see Bryan standing in the back of the pickup, he was King of the World. We finally made it back to the pavement and were on our way the Elmina Beach Resort.

The bus driver put the bus in high gear and we drove very quickly to our destination. As we passed vehicles on the road the infamous K Stew shared one of his profound statements with us each time “Out of my way Skippy we have some place to be.” We arrived at the hotel around 7:00 that evening. When we checked in many headed straight to the rooms for a shower. It took about four washings to remove all the dirt from the day’s journey.