Back in Ghana

Seth and his son Michael

Our bike trip through Ghana's eastern highlands, Togo, and Benin was very successful, but we took longer than we had planned.  Our stay in Parakou was also prolonged due to finding more old friends from John's Peace Corps days than we ever imagined.  This was great fun.  But as a result, we had only five days to spend in Koforidua, Ghana, a key destination in our trip plans.  Despite the brevity of our visit, we had a very satisfying experience there. 

Why Koforidua? 

While planning our trip, we were looking for something meaningful to do for/with people we would be encountering.  We learned about The Akaa Project through John's sister, Nancy, who is a neighbor and friend of the Grimanis family in Lincoln, Massachusetts.  After a trip to Ghana in 2007, college student Lauren Grimanis co-founded The Akaa Project to provide education and healthcare assistance in Asiafo Amanfro, a village located near Akaa Falls, about a 45 minute drive from the city of Koforidua.

Akaa Falls

Also in preparation for our trip, we helped load a shipping container of bikes destined for Ghana.  This was done at Bikes Not Bombs (BNB) in the Boston area, where we met David Branigan, BNB's International Programs Director.  David told us about Ability Bikes, a group of physically challenged men and women who buy, repair and sell used American bikes shipped to Ghana by BNB.  Ability Bikes happens to be located in Koforidua.

We determined that there were opportunities for meaningful collaboration between the Akaa Project and Ability Bikes.  We brought the two organizations together to undertake a community development project in Asiafo Amanfro, while staying at the Koforidua home of Seth Owusu-Kumi.  Seth is an athletic director in town, the coach of Ability Bikes' wheelchair basketball team, and a super guy.  We were introduced to him by David Branigan.

We arrived in Koforidua when the Ability Bikes staff members were all out of town, attending a conference for physically challenged Ghanaians.  So we had two days to enjoy Boti and Akaa Falls with Seth and his friend Brite, and to initiate contact with Joyce, co-founder of the Akaa Project.  Brook also enjoyed playing with Seth's four year old son, Michael, and his two young nieces, Maureen and Marian.

With Brite and Seth