Ghana here I come

This is my first attempt at blogging. Hopefully you will find it interesting and informative. I plan on posting pictures and updates from my trip to Ghana.

I was selected as the 2013 Grinnell Prize Staff Fellow and will be volunteering at Challenging Heights which was founded by the 2011 Grinnell Prize winner, James Kofi Annan.

You can read about last year's 2012 Grinnell Prize Staff Fellows by checking out Caroline Saxton's and Tilly Woodward's stories.

More information can also be found on Facebook with the Grinnell College Young Innovator for Social Justice Prize page.

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The time is fast approaching for my departure for Ghana. My flight leaves from Des Moines, Iowa at 8:15 am on Thursday, June 6 and I arrive in Accra, Ghana on Friday, June 7 at 1:05 pm. There is a five hour time difference between Iowa and Ghana. My trip legs are Des Moines, Minneapolis, NYC and Accra.

Last night as I was going over my checklist of what I wanted to pack, Rascal my cat wanted to make sure I didn't forget him. He curled up in my suitcase, then in my computer case and finally in the sock drawer. I must say, he has cute down to an art form.

I am going through what I packed again tonight to see if there is anything that I don't really need. My suitcase is very heavy. This trip is a lot different from the cross country motorcycle trips I took 30 years ago. It was easier to travel light then: no diabetic supplies, no cpap machine, no laptop. Plus, I can't just stop at Wal-Mart to buy bug spray to keep the malaria mosquito's at bay. So I have to decide.. do I need one or two bottles of Off to keep me covered for the full three weeks? The list is long of things that I might need which I just can't buy readily. I do believe I will be paying the over weight charge on my luggage.