Coming from the UK - where water falls from the sky in depressing abundance - I never thought for a moment I'd be happy to see grey clouds and rain. But this evening in Jirapa the first proper, steady rain has fallen since November and I was so happy I danced in it! The north of Ghana has been in the dry season for some months now. It is extremely hot (apologies to those of you at home who have been living in a perpetual winter) I would guess it's around 42 - ...

After settling into Ghanaian life pretty fast, I have come to realise that I will soon be unable to function in a work environment at home. I fear I have adapted to working life here to the extent that I will be completely unemployable back in the UK. I am not trying to suggest that people in Ghana do not work hard; in fact many people work extremely hard, just not in the format of the standard 10-hour (or more) work days we are accustomed to in the UK. In my...

Today is election day in Ghana. Since I'm interested in elections and people in Jirapa have been talking politics for weeks, I felt I should give it a mention on my blog. Today, Ghanaians will cast two votes: one for their parliamentary candidate and the other for the presidential candidate. The two main parties are the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP). I have no idea who will win, it seems very close. The NDC currently hold...

Jirapa is a wonderful place to live. The people are incredibly friendly and willing to help, the weather is hot, work is laid-back, and people genuinely have time for each other. Riding my motorbike to Wa and around the district of Jirapa, kicking up the dust and feeling the warm air rush past…well, it makes me feel glad to be alive. However, there isn't a lot of entertainment here. In fact, that's an understatement. There's no cinema anywhere nearby, there'...

It's nearing Christmas and I'm strangely missing the dark winter nights, shiny decorations in the shops and Elton John's 'Step into Christmas' on loop. But perhaps you shouldn't feel too sorry for me; it's a sunny 37 degrees here and getting hotter… However, as it's near Christmas I thought I'd give out my address and a quick list of things that I simply cannot find anywhere in the Upper West of Ghana. I'm not trying to drop a massive hint, it's just a few p...