Kwei's Blog: Kwei’s Ghana Visit 2010

Farewell, for now

Farewell to Ghana for now. Bye to Accra with its sweltering heat and impossible traffic jams with razor thin margins, so long to the friendliness and smiles in the midst of terrible hardship, to the kids who love their photos … Continue reading

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LFG – wrap-up of the week, Part 2

Thursday April 15: lots of running around during the day, but the highlight came later. I had dinner with a friend, Antwi Boasiako, at the Novotel Hotel. He’s a steely-eyed, sharp-minded young Lance Corporal in the Criminal Investigations Department who … Continue reading

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LFG – wrap-up of the week, Part 1

Monday April 12: Went to Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) to visit a friend and ex-classmate who is now the medical director of the hospital. I needed to tour the Pediatric Division to see how it’s been coming along. Hint: … Continue reading

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LFG – the real Dr. Biney

Readers of WIFE OF THE GODS may remember a character Dr. Biney, who is always on hand to do Darko Dawson’s autopsy cases. The character is loosely based on a doctor here in Ghana called John Nkrumah Mills. Dr. Mills, … Continue reading

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LFG – hangin’ out with the street kids

Friday April 9, I went out with two of CAS’s field workers, Michael and Theodora, to make contact with street children. This was a particularly exciting prospect for me. After all, they are the central subject in the title of … Continue reading

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LFG – Quartey meets Darko Dawson

I met a real live Darko Dawson yesterday. Hanson Gove is one of ten or so homicide detectives in the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), which is a branch of the Ghana Police Service (GPS). He’s a charismatic, thoughtful and hip … Continue reading

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LFG – Street Academies & Refuges

DANIDA, the Danish International Development Agency, supports an education program called Street Academy (SA) in Accra, providing didactic teaching in math, English, social studies, and crafts training for urban poor children from the Jamestown area of Accra. If the program … Continue reading

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LETTER FROM GHANA (LFG) – now for some smiles

After all the grimness of the previous posts, I thought it was time for something of a lighter flavor. Note that you can click on any of the pics to get a magnified view. The best thing about digital cameras … Continue reading

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The Road to Somanya: update

I was told this evening that the Tema General Hospital ER (similar to large urban general hospitals all over the US) is equipped to handle trauma cases such as these, so let us hope and pray that some of the … Continue reading

LETTER FROM GHANA – The Road to Somanya (with a warning)

WARNING: THIS BLOG IS OF A SENSITIVE NATURE AND INCLUDES THE DESCRIPTION OF A SERIOUS VEHICLE CRASH WITH ASSOCIATED INJURIES AND FATALITIES. IF YOU FEEL YOU WILL BE ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY THE ACCOUNT OR YOU ARE SQUEAMISH ABOUT SUCH MATTERS, … Continue reading

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LETTER FROM GHANA – meeting street children

Early this week I had the pleasure of meeting Joana Ofori, who runs the Street Academy for urban poor children from a district of Accra called Jamestown. These kids generally have a place to stay, even though they spend part … Continue reading

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Roof over my head

Having shown you where some people live, a quick snapshot of where I am. My lodgings are in Spintex Road, an area that typifies the urban sprawl of Accra and to some extent, lack of urban planning. Buildings go up … Continue reading

LETTER FROM GHANA – Tale of Two Cities

For those of you who knew I was traveling to Ghana with a promise to blog my trip, you might have wondered what happened to me and if I ever made it. I admit, there has been a deafening silence … Continue reading

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Ghana, Here I Come

In exactly two weeks on March 25, 2010, I will once again visit Ghana, this time for almost 4 weeks. I will  be researching my next novel CHILDREN OF THE STREET. The novel is actually completed and almost ready for … Continue reading

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