Departure on the Horizon

In a few short days, I will be leaving West Africa again - taking with me some favorite reflections:
- taxis weaving in and out of bicycles, motorbikes, cows and goats,
- Ghanaian women in beautifully fitted dresses of various designs parading up to the two large collection baskets in church, dancing and clapping along with the music,
- groups of children walking on the road, dressed in uniforms of different colors according to their paticular school,
- mothers balancing all sorts of products on their heads with babies securely wrapped against their backs,
- well-behaved youngsters seated in the first couple of rows at Mass, imitating the singing (and swaying!) of the full-bodied choirs (usually three different groups),
- our Tamale home, complete with thriving plants and mango trees, tucked in between two neighboring houses, and just a short walk out to the main road which leads into town,
- images of Jim: examining a patient in the clinic, performing surgery in the OR, climbing into a taxi and immediately practicing his local language skills with the driver and other occupants, complaining to Godwin about cooking too many beans too many times, conversing and laughing with Abdulai Mumuni in Dagbani like they are old friends, sitting at his computer researching a medical topic or hoping to make a Skype connection with our kids in the US.
Look for Ghana 2009 photos to be posted in the near future and thanks for reading!