Day 9 & 10 in Ghana

By Vick Advaney

Sunday, March 13th was the first “free day” of our trip. All students were permitted to use their time as they liked. Some relaxed at the hotel pool, while others went out to the market to purchase souvenirs. A small group of us (2 students, 1 staff member, and our driver) went to visit a local cocoa farm. Yao, a local contact who had experience interacting with the farmers, also accompanied us. The drive to the farm took over 4 hours, which included many stops for directions (streets names are not very common outside the Accra city limits).
When our van arrived at the village, we were welcomed by the leader of the farm. In fact, the entire village was there to greet us with warm smiles. Yao and the farm leader took us around the farm, where we learned the entire process of cocoa – from growing to exporting. We learned how the trees are planted, and saw the cocoa pods growing on the trees. We also opened cocoa pods, and tasted the sweet pulp holding the cocoa seeds. We observed the process of drying the seeds, before they are packaged for exporting outside Ghana.

Perhaps even more amazing than the process of growing cocoa was interacting with the farmers and their children. Not only did they greet us with open arms, but they also joined us as we walked around the farm. It felt like the entire village of people was with us for our short visit. Although few spoke English, we could still feel their genuine openness and their desire to share the precious moments with us. Chris, one of our students, offered to cut a ripe cocoa pod from a tree and present it to the lead farmer. The farmers were so pleased with his offer and effort that they then asked him to cut a plantain tree, and gave us the plantains as a gift. I started “high 5-ing” and shaking hands with a couple children, and before I knew it, over 30 children were all shaking my hand. While we were taking pictures, a couple farmers also took our pictures with their cell phone cameras. This moment showed me that everyone was enjoying the day, and wanted to capture it for their memories. Despite the language barrier and only meeting for the first time, we felt as if we had been friends for many years. It was a feeling of oneness that is difficult to describe with words.

Monday, March 14th was the day before our final client presentations. Our team is working with All Pure Nature, a company that produces and sells natural cosmetic products for haircare and skincare. We reviewed our recommendations with the CEO, Gladys Commey, and received her feedback as to what we could tweak for our presentation. We have been working with All Pure Nature since January, and are excited about our recommendation to help the business expand. Visiting the retail shop and the production workshop in Ghana has given us many insights about the business. We look forward to our final presentation, which will be the culmination of our project.