Ghana 2009 - the final day

Friday was a chill-out day before flying home overnight.  Mid-morning, we headed off to the local market in Tema.  It was a great experience, particularly seeing all the fresh food stalls.  A highlight of the morning, and the trip as a whole, was when we happened to see a disabled women, who we had met on Saturday night, in the market place sitting on the floor selling yam.  She had come to us when we were working alongside the street children asking us for a wheelchair, but we had none with us that evening.  We had taken her measurements and said that we would put one aside for her at the end of the trip, if we had any left.   When we were sorting through the wheelchairs, some of the team members had indeed put one aside for her.

Seeing her in the market, we were able to tell her this.  When she heard that a wheelchair was on its way to her, she started throwing her hands in the air in celebration and thanking God.  A crowd gathered to see what was going on, and some of them were also praising God.  It was so exciting to see how just a small gesture from us was able to make such a big difference in her life!

Following our trip to the market, which we not so sensibly carried out during the hottest part of the day, we went back to Ellen’s house for a traditional Ghanaian meal.  It was great to sample some more of the local foods – I had a lovely tomato stew, which I thoroughly enjoyed!  We then said some of our goodbyes, before heading back to the hotel, where we relaxed for a bit and then freshened up before our long flight home.

Our flight left for England just before midnight. It was satisfying to leave knowing we had helped to make a positive difference in so many people’s lives.  It was such a worthwhile trip which, despite it’s challenges, left the team feeling encouraged and deeply humbled.  We were excited for the opportunity to be going home to share with our friends and family all we had seen and experienced.  Wheels for the World is carrying out such fantastic work in so many different countries and I felt privileged to be able to be a part of it.