New Job!

My parents' visit came and went, full of adventures, experiences and learning opportunities.  I'm trying now to cut down the photo album - so far, I've picked out 90-something photos from the first week, though there won't be as many from the last few days of the visit once I download those.

Today's my first day on the job at Esoko, a company which runs an internet- and phone-based system connecting farmers to local market prices for their goods and helping them keep inventory.  I will be keeping tabs on the Partner team, which stays in touch with Esoko's on-the-ground partners who train the farmers and implement the system.  I'll write the newsletter and update the training materials for new partners.  It provides not much structure and lots of freedom, which will be a big challenge for me.

From my building, I can see the fountains in Nkrumah Circle (locally named just Circle).  Streams of gushing foot traffic cross the road on a pedestrian overpass.  Several times a second, the street noise is punctuated by eloquent honks.  On the other side, I glance down Ring Road to Busy Internet, a locally-founded internet cafe and now provider that's made itself into a landmark.  Behind the building rises Asylum Down, a neighborhood with as many highrises as one-story cement houses.  It's a vivacious but more business-oriented part of Accra and I'm in the thick of it.

Looking out from the rooftop garden (a tiled plaza bordered by scrappy cement planters) onto one of the chambers of Accra's thumping heart, I saw all the essences of life bustling below me, and I told myself - I can't let them down.  I am going to thrive here.