‘D-day’ arrives

Two large bags are sitting by my door, inside them contains Finnley and my belongings for the next two months as well as an entire other case filled with donations from generous individuals and companies. I am finally ready...well I think so anyway!

Our flight leaves Heathrow just after ten o’clock tonight, so Finnley will be bathed and in his pyjamas and ready to sleep for the entire flight, that is what I am hoping for anyway. I am slightly fearful of the airport in Accra as I am a bit unsure what to expect and have heard that people are fairly pushy there, but I feel that if I pretend to be confident and look like I know what is going on then everything will be ok. The flight arrives in the early hours so hopefully the airport won’t be too busy anyway.

My partner, Tom as well as my sister and dad are taking Finnley and I to the airport, my mum felt that she would be too tearful so decided it is best for her to stay at home. I will give her a call after we have gone through passport control to let her know everything is ok. She currently looks after Finnley one day a week whilst I am at university lectures, so she will miss him very much.

I feel confident about my trip, my main concern currently is the challenge of getting Finnley to take his anti malarial, it is not like a chewable multivitamin like I thought, but a pill that he must swallow whole. As he had to start his treatment a couple of days prior to arriving in Ghana we have had some practise and the best way to do is getting him to show me his tongue and throwing it in his mouth, followed by lots of juice – a tad stressful but it works.

This time tomorrow I will hopefully be safely at Love Kids Orphanage...let our adventure begin.

Packed and ready to go...or not.

Tom has made sure Finnley and I will be safe in Ghana.

This time tomorrow I will be on a plane flying to Ghana with my little boy – I would love to say I am completely prepared with all my bags packed and have a final day in the UK to relax. But I cannot. My clothes are still covering my bedroom carpet and I have a list of things I need to purchase – somehow I feel tomorrow could be a stressful day!

Tom, my partner has been in touch with the orphanage  today – just to make sure I won’t be left stranded at the airport. They have confirmed that Kofi will be waiting for me in Accra to guide me to Nkoranza. A previous volunteer has also been really helpful, reminding me of the little things I may forget and what to expect, she stayed for 2 months also and mentioned that it could get a little lonely in the evenings so take lots of books!

I have just completed my online ‘check in’, but still it is yet to sink in that I will be leaving the UK tomorrow. I think when my dad, partner and sister drop Finnley and I at the airport tomorrow it will hit me that we are really. Finnley is excited about meeting new friends and playng new games as well as seeing the aeroplanes, but I am finding it difficult to explain to him that he wont see family for a couple of  months. We have skype set up so hopefully he will get to see his grandparents and auntie through that.

My sister bought Finnley a beautiful little first camera which he adores. So we are going to have plenty of photographs to share when we return, although he seems to enjoy taking photographs of his feet at the moment!

Five days to go...

 “You block your dream when you allow your fear to grow bigger than your faith”

In five days I will be arriving in Accra, the capital of Ghana; preparing to ride the native totos the 12 hour journey over rough terrain to the village of Nkoranza, my home for the next two months. Although it is only a few days away, the realisation of living in a rural African village with my son for the entirety of summer is still yet to sink in.  

Over the past couple of days there have been a few changes to our Ghanaian venture, firstly I will no longer be staying with the Adu family but within the orphanage itself; the reason for this? Money; the lease for their house is too expensive to renew, so a guest room has been prepared inside Love Kids. Speaking to a previous volunteer she said that this would be better and a little less lonely, the only problem being that the orphanage is still in the process of building toilets and showers and cannot complete this until they get some more funding. This does worry me a little, but I shall bring a potty out for Finnley and I am sure they have some big barrels that I can bathe him in. Although I believe it important to think about the possible issues I may encounter and how these may be resolved; I am trying not to focus on negatives as I do not want to feel or particularly show fear about the trip, but be confident in my decision of travelling and the positive outcomes that will come of it.

Another change I have had to make is the anti-malarial I will be taking; unfortunately again due to money, or lack of it. Finnley is taking the most effective pills to protect him from malaria, but I have had to choose some a little less efficient. Nevertheless I do have a huge amount of mosquito repellent that I will spray on our clothes before leaving as well as our skin when we are there, additionally lots of thin long trousers to directly protect our ankles from any bites. The actual medical kit I am taking is extensive, from plasters and scissors to antibiotics and rehydration sachets; I believe you can never be too prepared for a medical crisis. Finnley has his last injection today too, a rabies vaccination – costing £48 and he has had to have three of them; although pricey I know that he will be the most protected as possible.

Now packing has begun Finnley is getting excited about flying on a plane and meeting new friends; but I doubt he understands that he will be away from his beloved Thomas the Tank Engine for two entire months.  I intend to make our room in the orphanage as pleasant as possible for him, taking with me photos of our family and plenty of his books and small toys.

Finnley’s excitement along with my families’ apprehension has left me feeling a little nervous but mostly eager about boarding the plane to Ghana in four days time; for I am in no doubt that this adventure will be one kept close to both Finnley and my hearts for eternity.   

Our rubbish, their treasure.

Sorting through the lost property at Surrey Sports Park with the very kind Leanne, we were speaking about how people could 'foget' these items or not look for them; hair straigteners, tennis rackets, running shoes all expensive belongings just left behind. The children of Nkoranza do not need or want any of these items, they are desperate for basics such as clothes and shoes. So we separated bags and bags of unwanted things to find all the childrens items, lots of jumpers, tops, trousers and even a few pair of trainers. We collected about two large bin bags full of clothes that I could take over for the children, I know they will be hugely appreciative. I will need to wash and dry all of them, which is another thing to add to my never ending to-do list, but I think it is important that the children feel like they deserve nice, clean clothes. On behalf of the children and myself, thank you Leanne and Surrey Sports Park. www.surreysportspark.co.uk

Ten days to go....



My sister is  possibly the most
organised person in the world



Eventually my exams are finished and my sister is kindly organising our 21st birthday celebrations which is two days before Finnley and I leave for Ghana; leaving me to focus purely on organising everything from packing bags, buying insect repellent and trying to purchase a Ghanaian dongle.

 Finnley just has one rabies vaccination left to have, then he is almost an invinsible child, immunised against everything possible, He has taken the injections really well - probably because he knows he gets a toy after each one! He is a very brave boy, I am immensely proud of him!

Local business' around Guildford have been hugely supportive of my mission. I would especially like to thank Trotters in Guildford, which is an upmarket childrens toy and clothes store, whom have donated lots of stickers books, cuddlies and other treats for the children. Please visit their website, they have some beautiful things. www.trotters.co.uk



Sussex Living Magazine

The Sussex living magazine, is a county magazine distributed in my childhood town, Hassocks. Its editor Roger Booth is supporting me to faise funds for Love Kids Orphanage through publishing my articles as well as allowing me to blog on their website. Hopefully it will create awareness of the disadvantaged children of Nkoranza and help raise some money to compete the toilet they are currently trying to build for the orpahns to use.

A massive thank you to Roger and his team for all their support.

My article can be viewed at:
http://networkedblogs.com/iW6ou

Jabs.

Hepatitis A, hepatitis B, yellow fever, tetanus, polio, typhoid, cholera meningitis ACWY, rabies, malaria...the list of possible illness’ that commonly occur in Ghanaian children is almost endless; as a mother the natural instinct is to protect your children and I am taking my two year old to somewhere where he is likely to fall victim to these diseases?

Speaking fairly openly to my travel nurse about the sudden fear I have about going to Ghana, she is direct in her approach of explaining that there is a chance that he will get poorly in Ghana but there is also a chance he could get knocked down by a car in England. Rationalizing the situation she explains that Finnley has been immunised against every disease that the GP surgery has vaccinations for, therefore the chance of him contracting an illness in Ghana is no more likely than if he was at home. That put my mind at rest for a while until I received an email from a current volunteer whom had replied to a lot of questions I asked about the surroundings and the nearest hospital. She explained that there were packs of wild dogs around, but they were fairly friendly and although the children out there knew not to touch them, Finnley may just think they are normal pet dogs, rather than the flea infested, rabies carriers that they potentially could be.

So my search for a clinic that would vaccinate a two year old against rabies began; every travel clinic I spoke to explained that it would be near impossible to find somewhere that has a licence to vaccination children as light weight as Finnley as they drug measurement would have to be so precise. Almost at the point of giving up and considering cancelling the trip I found somewhere the other side of London, the vaccination is a course of three injections given at day 0, 7 and 28 – meaning travelling to London 3 times before departing, and during a very important exam period. But I didn’t have a choice I had to put my sons health first and booked the first injection for the following week.

I had a call a few days later from my travel nurse also recommending that I have him vaccination against another strain of meningitis that is prevalent in Ghana, the ACWY strain. When searching for this on the internet a clinic just 30 minutes drive away came up, I gave them a call and they said they had a licence to immunise under five year olds against rabies too.  So although it cost me £50 per rabies injection and an extra £65 for the meningitis, on top of all the other vaccinations – I now feel content that Finnley will stay healthy in Ghana.

After all my concern and panic about Finnley getting poorly whilat we are in Ghana; as i write this in the comfort of my English home he is currently fast asleep on the sofa because he has a stomach infection and high fever. How ironic.