Ghana, the Peace Corp Volunteer and the President

To see a bright eyed blond happy American dedicating herself to service in the most primitive of situations brought back all the idealism with which the Peace Corps had been launched during the Kennedy Administration I complimented my friend on having raised such a young woman in an age and culture that for two decades has been quotall about mequotThis was the same day that President Obama was visiting Ghana and we wondered whether her daughter might actually get to see the President during his one day visitWell she did What follows is her exuberant account of that day This is somewhat of a departure for this blog but I was so moved by the unabashed enthusiasm and idealism of this young woman that I wanted to share it with you It is the type of on the ground intensely personal account that the mass media just can39t capture It points to the power of service and to the universality of the human raceWhat follows is the email this dedicated young woman wrote to her email list something that she can only do occasionally as the village she lives in has no indoor plumbing let alone an internet connectionquotI Shook Obama39s HandquotAs many of you know Obama just visited Ghana on his way back from a summit in Russia Because Kenya has descended into political turmoil it was deemed too dangerous for him to make his first presidential visit to SubSaharan Africa there Instead Obama chose to visit Ghana because of its strong democracy and its recent successful handover of power in a region where military coups are more commonIn preparation of Obama39s visit Ghana has been going crazyamp8230 In Tamale street vendors are selling Obama tshirts flags posters and hysterical oversized wristwatches In addition to those items vendors in Accra are also selling Obama underwear Every front page of every newspaper every day this past week was an article about Obama It39s been all over the radio every day and something related to his visit is on the news every night or so I39m told since I don39t have electricityAs PCVs Peace Corps Volunteers in the country where Peace Corps began many of us were hopeful that there39d be an event where we could meet Obama We39d been getting email and newsletters through Peace Corps repeatedly telling us that if anything came up we would all be notified But as he was only to be here for 24 hours on his way back from a summit there was only a sliver of a chance that we39d get to meet himBut two days before his arrivalwe were miraculously put on the scheduleWith little notice about a fourth of the volunteers packed their bags and headed to Accra It was insane there Everywhere we turned vendors were selling ministatues action figures banners and Obamaprinted cloth from which Ghanaians make dresses and shirts On every major street there were billboards banners and posters welcoming the US PresidentUpon our latenight arrival in Accra we met up with all the other volunteers who had traveled to the capital to see Obama We ended up at a rooftop bar with big screen televisions and we watched with a crowd of extremely excited Ghanaians as Obama39s plane landed around 9 pm Friday night Everyone crowded around to see the television screen and a loud and very funny national anthem quotwarquot erupted between the Ghanaian crowd and the American crowd With everyone in great spirits during this historic moment for Ghana Ghanaians and Americans clinked their drink glasses while hugging and dancing the night awayThe next morning we started our journey into central Accra early so we39d have time to pick up some souvenirs But much to our chagrin traffic was completely deadlocked In 45 minutes we had barely moved a total of three blocks We finally found out that entire highways and major streets were blocked off for the presidential motorcade and there were no detours available So cars just had to sit and wait for HOURS in the unbearable midday heat The five of us in the taxi finally just got out and walked for about an hour and a half to reach where we needed to goWe grabbed some food and muchneeded caffeine and headed towards the American Embassy There we waited in line for 23 hours for security checks and ticket distributions Along with Embassy workers and their families also waiting there we boarded buses to the airport We arrived to see throngs of Ghanaians waving American and Ghanaian flags wearing ObamaMills the Ghanaian President cloth sewn into African style dresses and colorful Obama tshirts With traditional drumming in the background to keep us entertained we got off the bus to join the long line But we were instead escorted to a separate line of PCVs only We were walked through one set of gates and checked in as we saw Air Force One through a barbed wire fence With police and snipers surrounding us it was pretty intenseWhen the gates finally opened Ghana39s police force tried to calmly let in 10 Americans for every 10 Ghanaians But the pushing and shoving just got completely out of control Smashed painfully against a fence a Ghanaian policeman with a machine gun on the other side just laughed at me People yelled toes were stepped on and elbows were jabbed in every imaginable place I was finally allowed read pushed through the gates immediately after which additional police were sent to control the increasingly overzealous crowdAfter walking though a metal detector and showing my Peace Corps ID I was personally escorted to a separate entrance to the event And from there I was again personally escorted to the FRONT ROWS of the event It was beyond my imaginationAround 545 pm we all watched in anticipation as his helicopter landed on the airport tarmac We watched snipers pacing back and forth with guns strapped to their legs and spotted a few more on top of trailers constantly scanning the crowd And there were Secret Service agents wearing black sunglasses and talking into their hands just like in the movies We were surrounded by so many important people it was surrealHe took the presidential car from the helicopter to the podium where President Obama and Michelle were serenaded by a traditional music and dance group for a few short moments Obama walked to the stage with President John Atta Mills of Ghana and they both greeted the crowd to thunderous applauseStanding almost directly in front of President Obama in the second row I thought my heart would beat out of my chest President Mills spoke first acknowledging that it was an extremely successful trip and the country was immensely proud that the first country Obama visited in SubSaharan Africa was Ghana He spoke of the need for change and development in Ghana and was thrilled to have Obama39s support And he thanked Obama for acknowledging the country39s stable democracy by making Ghana his first stopAnd when Obama spoke he began by thanking the country for welcoming his family After a few specific thank yous to the welcoming committee and members of Parliament he looked directly at the front rows and said quotI especially want to thank all of the Peace Corps Volunteers for their hard work and dedication in serving their countryquot Amid thunderous cheering he went on to say that he was proud of us for working to promote goodwill around the worldIn the rest of his speech he made some good humored jokes about sports before delving into the problems that face Africa He called on the youth of Ghana to step up and take responsibility for their own actions because they are the leaders of the future generation And he congratulated Ghanaians for successfully and peacefully electing a new president within the past year He said it was a very successful visitIt was so surreal I was literally within 15 feet of the President of the United States Instead of hearing the speech through the speakers I heard his actual voice I could read the words on the Seal of the President of the Unite States at the podium And I caught his eye as he spoke In his twenty minute speech he mentioned Peace Corps four times People always say what great work we are doing as goodwill ambassadors in the developing world but there are plenty of days where Peace Corps Volunteers feel as if we are doing nothing To hear President Obama thank us for such meaningful work was an honor It was rejuvenating to be recognized and appreciated by the most powerful man in the worldAfter his speech and a few photo ops with members of the Ghanaian government he started to make his rounds to shake hands Never in a million years did I think he would make it to our section but he just kept walking towards us With everyone craning their necks and stretching out their hands Obama walked by us flanked by at least three Secret Service on each side Sadly he passed mebut then turned back and grabbed my hand Of course I thanked him but amazingly enough he thanked me too And when he had passed we looked over and realized Michelle was coming towards us too Poised and gorgeous she too shook my hand as she walked by What a rush to say the leastWith his airplane within 500 feet of us we saw firsthand the photo op we always see in newspapers the one where the President and his wife stand at the top of the stairs at the entrance to Air Force One to wave goodbye What an amazing and meaningful sight to see Air Force take off from within feet of us And then they were goneGhana has been reeling ever since Every speech he made has more or less been on replay over and over on every radio station since he left It is still the front page of every newspaper and Ghanaians can39t stop talking about how great the visit wasSlowly I39m sure the country will return to normal But so far everyone is so ecstatic that the President of the Free World visited GhanaI still can39t believe I shook the hand of the President of the United StatesWowDavid Houle is a futurist strategist and speaker He has always been slightly ahead the curve Houle spent more than 20 years in media and entertainment David can be contacted at DavidDavidHoulecomRead all Davidamp8217s MediaBizBlogger commentaries at David Houle MediaBizBlogger

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Ghana, the Peace Corp Volunteer and the President

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