After our journey from JFK through London, we arrived to Accra in the evening on Monday are were greeted by Dakota and our local contacts. We traveled straight to beautiful Busua Beach and spent the night at Dadson's Lodge.
After our first night of rest we were ready for our first full day in Ghana. Our day consisted of a roof-top orientation with the entire group during which we talked about our expectations for the month and answered many questions about our upcoming arrival to our village, Cape Three Points. Our stay at Busua Beach allowed us some relaxing beach time as well. We left the following day for our journey to Cape Three Points. Energy was high!
We arrived to Trinity Yard, where we will stay for the month. The group was thrilled to finally see the place we will call home here in Ghana. Dakota and I showed the students around the yard, including a visit to our very own beach. We ate our first Cape meal of rice, fresh vegetables, and beet/ginger juice and headed to town for our Welcome Party. With our Putney girls all in long skirts, we almost fit in!
Our Welcome Party was absolutely outstanding. It was held in the local community center with many of the villagers from Cape Three Points in attendance. They prepared an amazing drum and dance performance for us complete with local dress and a blessing ceremony done by the elders of the village to protect us during our time in Cape Three Points. After the drum and dance performance, we all headed down the hill to the fields of the junior high school where we organized sack races, egg on spoon races, and a tug of war with all 17 Putney group members versus 8 local fisherman. Putney won! Needless to say our first day in Cape Three Points was so much more than we could have ever imagined. The warmth and welcoming nature of the people in town was palpable.
Thursday and Friday we started our work on our two main projects. Work on the Chief's Palace is coming along really well! Students and leaders alike have been working hard mixing cement, laying block, and filling the mortar after learning all of these new skills from our kind and patient foreman, Emmanuel. Work in the school included Putney students aiding the local teachers in the elementary school with their classrooms. In future weeks students will organize their very own classes to teach.
Yesterday afternoon (Friday) we had our first dance class taught by our friendly and funny teacher Joe Afagbedzi. Putney students were inspired to learn the same dance the had been danced for us during our Welcome Party. Everyone participated followed by a quick swim in the ocean and dinner.
Today we are in Takoradi, the closest city to town, make contact with home and have a chance to buy local cloth to have clothes made. Our students are amazing and Dakota and I are looking forward to spending the next 3 weeks with them. You can expect to hear from us next weekend when we have access to internet again. I'm sure we will have many new adventures to share.
Much love from Ghana!
Kelsey and Dakota
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Kelsey Burns and Dakota Casserly
This website is visited by the family and friends of participants in Putney Student Travel's Community Service program in Cape Three Points, Ghana to check in on the progress of the group.
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Local Time in Cape Three Points, Ghana
Flight Itinerary
British Airways
June 29: BA182 JFK/LHR 10:30 P - 10:20 A on June 30
June 30: BA81 LHR/ACC 2:15 P - 8:10 P
July 28: BA78 ACC/LHR 10:40 P - 6:40 A on July 29
July 29: BA175 LHR/JFK 10:25 A - 12:55 P
June 29: BA182 JFK/LHR 10:30 P - 10:20 A on June 30
June 30: BA81 LHR/ACC 2:15 P - 8:10 P
July 28: BA78 ACC/LHR 10:40 P - 6:40 A on July 29
July 29: BA175 LHR/JFK 10:25 A - 12:55 P
Trip Leaders
Kelsey Burns and Dakota Casserly
KELSEY BURNS
Saint Lawrence University, B.A. cum laude, Spanish. Kelsey spent her junior year studying literature, art history, ecology, and theater at Colegio Mayor Isabel de España in Madrid, Spain. At Saint Lawrence, Kelsey worked as a peer tutor, a teacher's assistant for the Spanish department, and in the International Office for the Spain Study Abroad program. She was a member of the women's lacrosse team and the Outing Club. Kelsey has traveled extensively in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Africa. This will be Kelsey's seventh summer with Putney Student Travel. She has led a Language Learning program in Spain, Community Service programs in Ecuador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic, and assistant directed the Global Action programs at Yale this past summer. Kelsey works full time at the Putney Student Travel office in Putney, Vermont as an Associate Director and Leadership Coordinator. She is responsible for organizing Putney's programs in Spain, Ecuador, and Ghana and hiring the Putney leaders. When she isn't traveling, Kelsey loves to hike, bike, read, and dance. She is fluent in Spanish.
DAKOTA CASSERLY
University of Vermont, B.A., Business Administration, Minor in Environmental Studies; University of Nevada, Reno, Master of Land Use Planning degree candidate. While at UVM, Dakota was an active mentor with the Vermont DREAM Program, a youth mentoring organization. He also played varsity lacrosse, was a member of the Consortium for Ecological Living (CEL) and attended UVM's Costa Rica Travel-Study Program, where he studied ecotourism and culture. After graduation, Dakota worked as an AmeriCorps volunteer with the Tahoe Rim Trail Association, and received the State of Nevada's AmeriCorps Volunteer of the Year award. The following year Dakota taught English in Thailand and explored Southeast Asia. Presently, when not working on his graduate studies, Dakota enjoys life as a bike commuter and explores the Sierra Nevada Mountains.