It's Saturday morning here in Accra. I am sitting in the living room of the apartment at around a quarter to seven. I was so exhausted last night. I slept (for me quite late) until just a few moments ago. I should be doing yoga or meditation but I just don't have the motivation to do so. What I really feel like doing is just sitting here. I don't even have the motivation to make myself some coffee. All this 'lack of motivation' is actually a good sign. It is the sign that I've just had the most incredible productive week.
Everything about this Ghana project has been a bit surreal ever since that first day I arrived in February, not knowing a soul, with just a theory. And that feeling that I am not doing this initiative, that it is doing me just keeps growing. The experience that each time we have an obstacle some means seems to turn up to overcome the obstacle. So it has continued here.
Since so much has happened, I think what I will do is just give you the week's activity in this post and add additional posts that provide detail and explanation later.
As my last post explained, I pretty much crashed on the first Sunday. Here is what the rest of the week looked like.
Monday - I had a meeting with my partner GG on the Theodora Project. We have major goals for this trip that need to be achieved if we are to succeed. We need to have filming of the stories of the women for promotional video, we need to get a Rotary Host Club joining our project and we need to figure out how we are going to do a community assessment that is required to apply for a Rotary Global Grant. Working on all these are on our agenda for the trip. Then I drive off to another part of Accra where I meet my prize apprentice, MYKB, to consult on her food business. While there we are joined by two other women who are part of a coaching group this lady has put together. Finally, we head off to a Rotary meeting. Lots of distance and traffic dealt with. It is a 12 hour day.
Tuesday - Less busy but intense in its own right. We are prepping for the videoing. I will do a separate post on the details of that experience. I go to where my GG is staying. We do some work on the Global Grant application. Then our video team arrives. This is a big relief as the last person we had doing video flaked out on us. We like these guys' approaches. The ladies start arriving. We have a real issue with these women coming on time. It's a Ghana thing but also more than that. The video people do a great job of engaging the women. This is a pretty hard thing to go into your past and talk about all that has happened and why you are in the sex trade and how important it is to get this opportunity to get out. We do practice of the presentations. Get back to the apartment at a reasonable hour.
Wednesday - I have a meeting with a new consulting business owner. I got the apartment rather than the hotel I had been in to a great degree because of location. But the advantage of distance closeness has been offset by horrible traffice to get in and out of it so I have ended up not saving any time in transit. The new consulting client is very impressive and I think will be a lot of fun to work with. He also has an incredible story. 10-years ago he was homeless, living on the streets. Now he has a thriving, I mean really thriving business. Next we went to do the actual video. I thought I would be late but no I still beat all the women there. It is in a really hard, hard scrabble place to find. And though it is promised to be a 'sound studio' it is anything but. There are all kinds of outside noises. The video guys do a great job with the women. The women do a great job. But I am very concerned about how the quality of audio is going come out. When we were done, we go to a nice hotel to buy drinks and food for everyone. For the first time since I've used my driver, he screws up and I end up waiting an hour and a half after everyone leaves to be picked up. I am pissed. I don't need that extras energy drain.
Thursday - I have two meetings with consulting clients in a major suburb of Tema. One is an IT company that I meat on my first visit but we are just now getting to the work. We have a good session. These people (a husband and a wife) are also recruiting other owners to be in a coaching group. Then I visit a business owned by another of the key people in Theodora. It is a transportation hub. But before your mind goes to visions of bus terminals here, take out all modern buildings, all paved roads, substitute rather beat-up mini-vans that carry 9 to 11 people and you will be closer what we visited. Nonetheless a fascinating business and one that brought out clear thoughts of current effectiveness but others of clear opportunities for improvement. Next it was back to Accra. GG and I had a long wait but met with the leaders of my primary target to become our local Rotary Host Club for the Global Grant applicataion. Again I will go into more detaile in another post but they have agreed! A major step forward. After the Rotary Club meeting itself, I got back to the apartment at 8:30. At 9:00 I had a WhatsApp video call with prospect in the U.S. It was 10:30/11:00 before I got to bed.
Friday - Mercifully a much easier day. I didn't sleep well last night. Going to bed from 14 hours of work mode with no relax time and my mind is too active to have good sleep. But the day itself has another breakthrough. I have recruited MYKB to assist with Theodora because of her acadmeic background and connections. But because she is a marketing specialist, she has access to the people who have the particular skills we need for the comunity assessment! Bingo! Last piece of the puzzle!
I have another couple of meetings but now I just want them to end so I can crash. I go and have dinner, do some food shopping and then crash.
2 comments:
certainly some rest time deserved after all that was accomplished in the week past.
I hope you have gotten a lot of sleep since this post.
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