{"id":323,"date":"2008-07-30T04:09:36","date_gmt":"2008-07-30T12:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/?p=323"},"modified":"2008-08-05T04:48:57","modified_gmt":"2008-08-05T12:48:57","slug":"beauty-of-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/beauty-of-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Beauty of Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"So far I’ve talked a lot about the negative sides of Africa.\u00a0 But there are many great things about the continent.\u00a0 Proud people, great traditions, beautiful scenery, lots of natural resources, and much much more.\u00a0 While both of my trips to Africa were service learning, I was allowed to have some fun!<\/p>\n

In South Africa we tried to take 2 days each week to do something as a team that was enjoyable and outside the routine.\u00a0 We went on a Safari, did some hiking, lounged around, and spent some time in the city of Johannesburg. We did all of these activities as a group and had some fun adventures!<\/p>\n

Ghana was a little different as I was living in the village for 8 weeks.\u00a0 Most of my weekends were spent relaxing and trying to read a book.\u00a0 As the only “Obruni” or white guy in the village I was a novel attraction. So every time I would sit in the little Gazebo someone would come talk to me.\u00a0 It was a little annoying sometimes but it also produced some great conversations and I was really able to learn more about the people and culture.\u00a0 I also took a couple of trips around the country – seeing some of the coast line and some of the major heritage sites of the Ashante people (most of Ghana was originally part of the Ashante Kingdom – before colonial rule).<\/p>\n

The accompanying picture is from Kakum National Park<\/a>. This bridge is about 100 feet in the air and is suspended between trees.\u00a0 There is a whole Canopy Walk which is really pretty cool and on a good day you can see lots of animals (we didn’t see any) in the canopy. The rope bridges do sway back and forth while you walk and if I remember correctly, only one person is allowed on a bridge at any given time.<\/p>\n

This is one of many great historical and natural wonders that dot the countryside throughout the continent.\u00a0 It may seem a little silly to talk about natural beauty while children are starving, however I want to make sure I present a realistic picture of what I saw.\u00a0 Great beauty, great wealth – next to great poverty.\u00a0 There is a balance and World Vision is one organization that is working to help create the balanced picture.\u00a0 Please consider supporting me in my quest of running my first marathon by donating to World Vision today.<\/p>\n

Team World Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n

Team World Vision is a fund raising arm of the organization which uses ordinary people like me, to get ordinary people like you involved in ending poverty and injustice across the world. I have decided to commit the 26.2 miles of my first marathon to the memory of and in honor of the children I have met during my international travels. I can\u2019t remember all of their names, but I have many pictures and stories.<\/p>\n

On the right side of my blog there is a widget that will allow you to support me during this race or you can visit this secure page<\/a>. I have set a goal of raising $2,000 which will help children have a chance at living to become adults across Africa.<\/p>\n

[tags]\u00a0 World Vision, Team World Vision, Africa, Ghana, Kakum [\/tags]<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"Zemanta<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So far I’ve talked a lot about the negative sides of Africa.\u00a0 But there are many great things about the continent.\u00a0 Proud people, great traditions, beautiful scenery, lots of natural resources, and much much more.\u00a0 While both of my trips to Africa were service learning, I was allowed to have some fun! In South Africa […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[28,58],"tags":[66,71,72,701],"class_list":["post-323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-charity","category-world-vision","tag-ghana","tag-kakum-national-park","tag-south-africa","tag-world-vision"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4iaAv-5d","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":683,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/world-vision-wrap-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":323,"position":0},"title":"World Vision Wrap-Up","author":"crossn81","date":"October 15, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I can't say how thankful I am for everyone of you who supported me through the marathon and especially through my fundraising efforts for Team World Vision.\u00a0 It was a humbling honor to run on behalf of my African friends and to share their stories with you over the last\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Charity"","block_context":{"text":"Charity","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/charity\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"World Vision","src":"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/en\/thumb\/f\/fd\/World_Vision.png\/202px-World_Vision.png","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":633,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/reflections-on-south-africa\/","url_meta":{"origin":323,"position":1},"title":"Reflections on South Africa","author":"crossn81","date":"October 1, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I couldn't find my journal from South Africa, so I'll show you some pictures and tell a brief story about each.\u00a0 This might be more enjoyable for you anyway! In South Africa we spent a lot time in the classrooms at various schools. We split up into small groups and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Charity"","block_context":{"text":"Charity","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/charity\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"\/running\/images\/saclassroom.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":471,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/running-in-africa\/","url_meta":{"origin":323,"position":2},"title":"Running in Africa","author":"crossn81","date":"August 20, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Image via Wikipedia My experiences with running in Africa are quite different than those that I have every day here in Minneapolis.\u00a0 First, the temperature was hot - but there was no air-conditioned room to retreat to post run.\u00a0 Not a lot of people were running for recreation in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Charity"","block_context":{"text":"Charity","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/charity\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.firstgiving.com\/Design\/1589\/images\/twvc_bnr.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":264,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/team-cross-meets-team-world-vision\/","url_meta":{"origin":323,"position":3},"title":"Team Cross Meets Team World Vision","author":"crossn81","date":"June 25, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"World Vision flickr page Several years ago while waiting to start at the Indianapolis Mini Marathon I noticed a guy in the corral wearing a bright orange jersey with the World Vision logo on it.\u00a0 I didn't get a chance to talk with him before the race started so I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Charity"","block_context":{"text":"Charity","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/charity\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3127\/2530821621_72bb007674.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":601,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/first-impressions-and-reactions-in-ghana\/","url_meta":{"origin":323,"position":4},"title":"First Impressions and Reactions in Ghana","author":"crossn81","date":"September 24, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Below is a journal entry from my first day in the rural village in Ghana where I spent my eight-week Master's internship. A quick background on what I was doing - my internship was working with a Multi-purpose Community Telecentre (basically a community center with a technology focus).\u00a0 I was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Charity"","block_context":{"text":"Charity","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/charity\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Homemade Cargo Bike","src":"\/running\/images\/cargobike.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":320,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/ghana-a-shining-star\/","url_meta":{"origin":323,"position":5},"title":"Ghana: A Shining Star","author":"crossn81","date":"July 23, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"As the first majority African country to gain independence in 1954 Ghana was the hope of a continent. Things didn't quite work out that way as the human nature of greed and corruption took over some of those in leadership positions.\u00a0 By the time I visited, 50 years later there\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Charity"","block_context":{"text":"Charity","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/charity\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.firstgiving.com\/Design\/1589\/images\/twvc_bnr.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":440,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323\/revisions\/440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}