Them Diamonds In it!

Less than 9 hours until departure. What to expect? Can I say? No. I don't even know what my first move off the airplane will be. It's gonna be a trip though, first time in Africa, I can guarantee that much.

Let me back up a bit, for those just hoppin aboard the crazy train with me.

Ghana. The first African nation to gain independence. A so-called beacon of hope for Africa as one of the few stable democracies on the continent. After a year of election-fueled violence in Kenya and Zimbabwe, and coups in Guinea and Mauritania, Ghana is currently in the process of electing a new leader and peacefully handing over power.

I will be arriving on New Year's Eve, just about the time the winner of the election is announced. And why am I here? I have a rough idea of what I will be doing here, in fact, a much clearer idea than any of my previous trips abroad. But how comforting is that? Somewhat. I will be an intern with an NGO working in the northern part of the country in Ghana's third largest city: Tamale. My assignment for the next three months is something along the lines of using my journalism powers for good. Creating human interest stories about the NGO's projects. Photography, writing, hopefully audio. We'll see.

Officially, I begin on the 12th of January, but will be spending my first couple of weeks visiting a friend, Sean McKernan (ya know, Lizzy's brother) in the small town of Busua in southern Ghana.

I really feel like not writing any more. I fear that saying any more could ruin things, and I don't want to force anything.

Either way, keep checking back here for new entries about what the heck I'm up to in a new place. Could be interesting.