With your help the people of West Africa have "a chance, not only to change their own lives and their own destinies, but to change the future of an entire generation".

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Travel... the Ghanaian way ....

Four of the young people supported at the AvTech Academy are from Kete Krachi, a strategic location in the Volta Basin, and one that is not easy to get to. Krachi, as it is referred to, is about 14+ hours drive from Kpong, or less than 2 hours in any of our aircraft - or about 13 hours on the ferry (yes it is a bit faster now!). Fortunately, the Volta Lake Transport Company help to support these girls and have provided transport solutions on the lake ferry.

The Yapei Queen Ferry took them Northwards a little over a week ago, to speak in the schools and check the condition of the runway in Krachi, as part of their placement duties. Getting Krachi airfield open is key to future MoM outreach activities in the isolated communities around the lake itself. Yesterday they reported for the ferry, only to wait till the early hours of this morning for it to dock, due to unexpected delays. They boarded and slept.

When they woke up, expecting to be nearly back to Akosombo, they found that they were still in Krachi! Such delays are not unusual, and in bright spirits the ferry has now started its 200km southwards journey - and will dock around midnight tonight. In order to avoid travelling in the night, the girls will then remain in the security of their cabin till dawn, whereupon we will collect them for the 30 minute drive back to Kpong. The good news is that the four girls are all in great spirits and enjoying the journey, planing to give their report on Krachi and to completing the balance of their placement time at Kpong in the coming days...


These challenges are indicative of the day to day challenges the Volta Lake dwellers deal with. A great deal of investment is planned for the coming years to improve the infrastructural capital of the lake areas, and we are busy preparing solutions towards the much needed health education necessary for the people around the lake to be able to participate in the potential socio-economic opportunities that they will be presented with. Training these girls from the heartlands of the Volta Basin is a part of a long term strategy that will certainly change many lives, one flight at a time, sustainably.

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