On Sunday Nov 7, the 6th Annual West Africa Project Fair (WAPF) commenced. The opening events included several Rotary style speeches/informational sessions, coffee breaks, lunch breaks, and dinner. And the second day of the event was dedicated to projects. 46 Rotary clubs from the West African countries displayed their present and future projects that they are working on in their communities. They present their projects to other Rotarian's so that they can possibly form partnerships for the projects.
I was very impressed with all of the projects that were presented, as well as with the professionalism of the project presenters.
The fair is organized by the host country Rotary clubs and attended by other West African country Rotary Clubs, and the "International Partners". I was among the 32 International Partners from the US and Canada present at the fair.
A group of us posed for a quick photos with our new friends from Senegal, Africa. We all became very close on the trip: From left (in blue): Brenda, Cynthia, (me), Karen, Severine, Robert, & Cindy. Below: Some fellow Rotarian's from Senegal.
The project booths; 46 booths in all and many of the International Partners visited every single booth. It was a sweltering hot day, so it was intense. To give you an idea of what it was like I can relate it being presented with a formal proposal presentation. However, the heat index was over 100 and each proposal took anywhere from 5-15 minutes to go through. The African Rotarian's did an incredible job and are doing incredible work to help those in need.
This is during one of the break-out sessions. For Rotarian's - we discussed the RI Future Vision Plan, pilot districts, and the 6 ways in which Rotary is making an impact around the world.
My friend from the Rotary Club of Accra-Airport (District 9100).
Pictured below: Jane McDonald the left and me on the right. Jane is from Chicago, but currently in the Peace Corps in Lome, Togo West Africa. She joined our group while we were in Accra. What an amazing person! I enjoyed hearing her stories about Africa, and hope to someday spend time catching up with her again. She is also a member of the Rotary Club of Atakpame, Togo - she represented the project booth for the club at the WAPF.
Charles, Danielle and I during lunch. Danielle and I were having an interesting conversation about the intense dreams everyone was having.
Rotarian's from Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
The view at the Golden Palm Beach Resort where the fair was held. If you didn't know better it could be Hawaii.
This is a photo of locals gathering fish from a net that had just been pulled in. Fishing boats are also visible in the background. They worked to pull in the fish net for quite awhile.
During a break the locals on the beach were selling bracelets, necklaces, and other crafts on the beach. We learned the fine art of bartering with several of the locals...
The WAPF closing dinner celebration. We had a traditional tribal music and dance group for the evening entertainment.
I sat next to Christopher from Yenagoa, Nigeria. We had a great conversation about the needs in Nigeria,
and a very dynamic conversation about the language differences, politics, etc.
Next up - the trip to Cape Coast, and the Elmina Slave Castle.
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