It has come around the day I have had mixed feelings about, at first I felt as if the last day on construction couldn't come soon enough dreaming about bubble baths and conditioning my hair and at other times the prospect of departing was not a great one, the thought of leaving such amazing people behind and a half finished vision of the project.

I woke this morning to the usual sound of Tina our Cook shouting across the compound, "Lydia, Lydia are you awake" she calls me mummy's baby and she looks after to me like a mother here as I think she can tell I'm a little needier than the others. I do seem to be the last one out of bed however now that we are down to just one other volunteer the odds of being up first are sort of against me.
No work today as we have to stay clean according to Tina for our journey, she prepares our favourite breakfasts like it is our last meal. Pancakes and mango for Tom and pineapple and soya coffee for me, two weeks later and she has mastered what we want at last, no fried onion toasties with butter beans and cream coffees. We pack and sit and already we are at the table again for feeding time and Tina has prepared an enormous lunch that can't be covered by a plate instead a huge bowl, revealing jolof rice, fried chicken and cabbage slaw. For the life of me I can't find Jacky our mongrel dog who is like a Hoover under the table ready for our scraps and is around for every meal except this one.

After lunch I take one last look around the compound and admire the work We have done in the short time I've been here, but not only mine but the work past volunteers have accomplished too as without their work we would have had nothing to build on and in turn the new arriving volunteers will be able to pick up where We left off. Part of me does wish I could stay on longer and see more of the project grow however I know that would continue and I would end up wanting to stay on and work at the project even when it's finished.

I have been thinking a lot about the different things that will go on at the women's empowerment centre we have been working on and whether it will have impact on people's lives and I have come to the conclusion that it already has. It has made an impact on my life being part of the build and being welcomed into such a welcoming community that is Tinkong and it's lovely people. I have never experienced a community like it that cares for everyone in it and what they can bring to each other. It is already evident that it is bringing the community together with people asking questions about it and it's various courses, the children coming to play onsite and meeting a stream of constant volunteers with new and exciting things to teach them.

I take a few last minute photos of us all together and pictures of just about every bit of the compound as I have been lazy until now to take photos, so I get snap happy and even take shots of the toilet pit and bucket showers. Tina and Prince, join Tom and I in the taxi to the airport where we drop him off and I am taken to the volunteer house in Accra, Ghana's main city to stay for a few days to do some sight seeing. Saying goodbye to Tina and Prince was hard but I felt comforted knowing some new volunteers were coming in a few days and they will soon forget me far more easily than I will them.

On arriving at the volunteer house I am pleased to find all the other volunteers have got flights home and I'm the only one staying here for the next few days, at last a room to myself. I hear there is a mall a short taxi ride from the house and the other volunteers have been non stop talking about all the western foods you can buy in their supermarket. I head straight down there and pull up in a cab to the entrance of the mall, I felt like An alien stepping out of a spaceship, I stood in the entrance for a while to enjoy the air conditioning blast from above. Suddenly I feel overwhelmeled and the world is my oyster with such choice, do I go to the supermarket first or the smoothies bar or the clothes shop and the Internet cafe such normal things that I have not gone that long without feel such a welcoming sight. The exciting pings of my phone working again with messages coming through and the shock of seeing my bank balance for the first time in a while and buying a dairy milk it's all a bit much for me in one go and it's not long before I want to step outside into the real africa beyond this expat centre I found myself in.