It has been great to see in the new year in Ghana. In fact the whole christmas season has been full of joy and song. Oh yes, Ghanaians love to sing and as my friend, Ellie put it, they are very "inclusive" in this activity. You really don't have to be able to hold a note to be able to join in the celebrations (the local radio carol-singing phone-ins are a great example)!

I was in Jirapa, a tiny town in the Upper West for new year and the place to be was mass. I didn't ever think I would be staying in a convent and attending church to see in 2015 but it was great. You sit down, sing, stand up, sing, sing some more, dance down the aisle, sing and wish everyone a happy new year at midnight! It was only slightly let down by the advice that everyone give an 'ebola wave' rather than shake hands but hey, jazz hands at midnight it was.

New Years Day is almost an even bigger event. Everyone came to church again but this time in their finest new clothes. The service is so popular that people spill out of the doors and form clusters under the shade of the trees. Its a fashion extravaganza with everyone dressed to impress as they greet each other for the new year. The people in Ghana, but particularly in north are so warm and friendly and greeting is a very important part of the culture all over. The friends I was with had lived there for a couple of years and were very warmly welcomed back for the holiday (I'll post some video of some women who were so happy to see them again, they came running after our motor-king, surrounded us and sang to welcome them back!). Consequently we did lots of sitting behind bottles of shandy, and visiting and greeting, and passing time with friends. It was wonderful.

We stayed one night at the Jirapa VSO house. There is no running water, so in the morning we ventured down to the borehole. I swear that carrying the jerry-can back I compressed my spine by a good inch, but I just about made it inside the gate of the compound before shouting for help to get it off my head and was very proud of myself.

I met a lot of memorable people in Jirapa, including the association of headteachers who developed Ullo Phonics with Ellie B; a phonics programme tailored to teaching children to read in a Ghanaian context and developed sin a way that it is compatible with local dialects. These headteachers are so dedicated, supportive of each other and full of enthusiasm, which has been really inspiring.

Coming back to Elmina I was really excited to get back to the office and see the TTT team again! This first week back has been good despite the schedule for this term looking fairly daunting - there is alot to do and a lot to learn but I did want a challenge!

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