Ghana Phase II Approaches

By this time next week, I should be in my hotel in Accra, Ghana beginning the next phase of Wife and my volunteer project. Since I wrote about this last on May 27, just over two weeks ago, so many things have come into focus or fallen into place.  For example,

• We have been quite concerned about the legality of doing volunteer work under a Tourist Visa. Based on counsel in Ghana, that is not a problem
• We had questions if we (particularly Wife) was going to do accounting/bookkeeping work to aid the businesses we were assisting whether that would step on the toes of those selling those service, particularly one Rotarian whose overall assistance I have been soliciting. But no, the things we are working on are way below what he takes. He gave us his blessing to go and do good!
• I have been struggling with how do you go from the theory of training people to be Virtual Personal Assistants to the reality of having their skills be up to speed so they are marketable. But what has happened is a number of women business owners here in New Mexico giving me ideas of how we would create like paid apprenticeship programs with business owners here. So the American business people would be doing it as much as a donation of time and money as much as buying services. Plus these women have offered to help me find these businesses!
• A reference for my partner has turned out to be a pretty big wig in his Rotary Club in Accra and has thrown his weight behind supporting our project with his fellow club members.

It is hard to imagine that it was just four months ago when at this time before leaving I had not a single meeting scheduled and was totally freaking out. As I sit now I have only a few slots on my schedule open and so much that seemed just theory now seems to have viable pathways leading to achievement. Still, a long, long, long, long way to go and so many things to prove and figure out. But when I consider where we were two and a half years ago just throwing an idea like this out for consideration, it is pretty amazing.