Hand in Hand - a place of love and great pictures!

I cannot begin to explain how wonderful this place was to visit - while on the surface it could be viewed as an institution for kids with disabilities but in reality this was place of extreme love and support! I know a little flowery for me but the level of support and care that these kids were receiving made me think about family and not about institutions! The kids (and adults) got a lot of attention and generally had the run of the village (surrounded by a wall) that consisted of housing for the kids, guest houses (great little cabins with outdoor showers/toilets), a wading pool, and a number of outdoor shelters and green space.

Amanda made arrangements for us eat and stay at Hand in Hand but due to a lack of space the students stayed there and the faculty moved on to a local hotel...I wish that I had stayed there!! We did have a great dinner and had enough time to take a quick tour. Maggie, Jenn, and I had a guided tour by the one half of the managing couple - an extremely funny Jewish playwright from the US. Bob was an excellent host and had a truly warped sense of humour - the highlight of the tour was the connection that he made with Maggie. They entertained us with some lovely singing and dancing! We also learned that Bob's wife (Dr. Ineke Bosman) had been recognized by both the President of Ghana and the new Pope - it turns out that she is largely responsible for the development of health insurance in Ghana.

Beyond the joy of visiting such a great site there were also lots of opportunities to take pictures of local wildlife! There was a huge tree in the yard that was filled with hundreds of weaver bird's nests. This lovely yellow and black bird is able to weave blades of grass into an incredibly intricate nests that all looked the same! The nests were shaped like an upside down jar with an opening about 2 -3 inches across. I was able to get some pictures of the birds actually weaving a nest and others of them just hangin' around the nest.

The other natural phenomena? Well the tree that was located above the restaurant (at the main entrance) was filled with fruit bats...hundreds of fruit bats! This was really exciting until you felt the rain...and then realized that it wasn't actually rain!! I think that I was peed upon more than once but as it never actually landed in my food or my drink (a possibility)! Our visit here was quite brief but the impact will last for a long time. Of course we were also given an opportunity to shop in the the Hand in Hand gift shop that was filled with amazing jewelry and textiles made by many of the residence.