Father George writes……

January 11, 2008

Greetings from Cape Coast, Ghana!  I am almost at the equator, right on the west coast of Africa, on Greenwich Mean Time (London time), 5 hours ahead of Eastern time, 8 hours ahead of Pacific.  The travel fatigue has worn off, and my biggest difficulty is getting up for 6:45 AM mass, which is to say I am doing great.

I am at a very scenic complex of buildings that houses sisters, priests, and brothers from all over Africa, or at least the English-speaking parts of the continent, and a few from the US and Australia.  Most of them are doing some sort of spiritual renewal or sabbatical, although I am the only one doing Jesuit tertianship.  The largest part of the complex is run by the Brothers of Holy Cross (the same ones who run the college across the road from ND in South Bend, as well as St. Ed's, Gilmour Academy, and I think Hoban high schools in the Cleveland-Akron area.)  The Jesuits have a smaller complex right next to it, which is where I am.

All these institutions are up on a ridge called Brofuyaw, which I hope I spelled correctly.  It is also called "Roman Ridge" because it is infested with so many Catholic religious types.  The ridge overlooks the city of Cape Coast, and the Atlantic Ocean.  You can barely see the city in the background of two of the photos, and cannot see the ocean at all probably in the photo.  With the naked eye, however, you can see it. 

I am told that the ocean will be much more visible from here at other times of the year.  This is the season when the "harmattan" winds come off the Sahara, making the air a little bit hazy and dusty.  But I cannot complain at all.  The temperature at this time of year is absolutely perfect.  I am told it will get hotter later, then the rains come.

The other photo shows some of the colorful flowers around here, in front of our lovely chapel. 

This is also something of a bird sanctuary, as you will see in the other e-mail that I also intend to send soon, if I'm lucky.  (I am afraid of trying to send too many photos in one e-mail.)  ………

 ……Thank you for your prayers and I hope everyone is doing well, wherever you are.  Let's keep praying for each other, and peace on the other side of the African continent where there is so much turmoil, and the Middle East.

Father Mark George, SJ