No place like home

I spent the weekend with Jane and her brother at a home for children with disabilities called Hand in Hand, about 2 hours north of Kumasi (Ghana's 'second' city, 5 hours from Accra where I live). We were doing some research for Jane about cultural attitudes toward people with mental handicaps. Read her insights and some of the witchcraft stories here.

We arrived late at night, after a supposed 2 hour tro-tro ride doubled in time (due to construction and 7 unauthorized stops--meaning, the driver stopped for personal business with no mind paid towards the 18 people sardined into the vehicle). Walking to our round stone hut, I felt the dew on my feet. It was a sensation I haven't felt for a very, very long time. Seeing the open, green, grassy lawn and the expansive sky filled with stars, I could almost believe I was in Iowa. In the morning, I awoke to the baaaaaa-aaa of goats and was almost ready to believe I was back home and the lambs had just been weaned.