Operation Ghana

Sunday May 11th 2008 (morning)

I am happy to report we landed and other than the outburst of applause it seemed pretty normal.  Come to think of it, is it normal for everyone on a flight to hold their breathe simultaneously?  I guess not.

This time there are seven of us.  Curry and Erin are the founders of Signs Of Hope International.  Brian is head of Deaf Studies at UVU.  Two past SOHI volunteers are here, Michelle and Amy.  Amy is here through July.  She is arriving a week before the rest of the volunteers.  Then there is me and Deb.  Deb met up with us at JFK airport.  She flew in from Washington DC.

We just had breakfast on the plane.  We will land in Accra in one hour.  DonKwa will be there with the tro-tro.  I have to smile!!  No, it wasn’t just a dream last January.  It was, and IS real!

May 10, 2008

This morning I left for Ghana. I stayed up until 3 or 4 in the morning packing. I am only going to be gone for 6 days, but you should see the size of my suitcase. It weighs over 65 pounds, mostly because of the Signing Time books and flash cards I am bringing.

The toughest thing about preparing for this trip has been making sure that Leah and Lucy are covered after school, Monday through Thursday. We are in production on new shows, so Aaron, my husband is booked solid. We have a tight schedule and he is responsible for a number of areas on top of editing.

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It is official!! I am going back to Ghana this Saturday! Are you floored? So am I. A few months ago I was invited to return for a meeting with a number of worldwide organizations to discuss what is working, what is not working and how to sustain the successful programs in the future. When I got the invite I was so excited, I checked the dates and saw that even though my May was pretty full, I could make it work if I left for Ghana on May 10th and returned the 16th.

The idea of such a short trip with such LONG flights was a little daunting, but when I thought of the future impact for those children, there was no question if it was “worth” so an express time zone turn around. Then I looked at the finances of it. When we went to Ghana in January we raised just enough money. There was no extra. Now what? I will be honest with you. I felt silly coming back to the hundreds of you who donated a few months ago to say, “Well shall we do this again?” I just didn’t think I could handle the stress of fundraising while in the middle of producing some new shows.

I sent an email saying I would not be able to attend, unless someone could somehow pay for my airfare.

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