GHANA 2018
We spent the week at a guest house outside of Accra, the capital of Ghana. The owner was an acquaintance of the The Navigator’s ministry leader, Dr. Edward Fynn, and had just completed construction on the 6 bedroom home. We were the first group to use it! While the accommodations were clean and comfortable, being isolated there at the house for several days at a time was at times challenging‌ Nevertheless, it allowed for good work environment for the team of 12 architects and engineers.
Those Architects and Engineers came from all over the U.S., Canada, Nigeria, and Ghana. Yes, Ghana! We had a Civil and Electrical Engineer on the team from the country – something EMI is trying to encourage on trips. Having local expertise and individuals that speak the local language proved to be extremely beneficial, especially when talking to utility companies and understanding the culture.
The project for Edward and The Navigators was twofold. First, create a training center for local ministry leaders so that they don’t have to travel for training. In support of this training center would be a dining facility, welcome center with library, and dorm rooms. Second was to create a retreat further up the valley for church groups or families to come and celebrate major life events (wedding, family reunion), host a conference, or simply have a weekend getaway of solitude in a beautiful, peaceful environment. Fees for this use would be used to support the site and The Navigators ministry.
Day one was spent getting to know each other and becoming familiar with our surroundings and the project (and overcoming our jet lag‌). Day two we spent on the site strategizing how we might survey it, where buildings would go, and getting a feel for its landscape and topography. Day three we met with the ministry leaders and nailed down the program and began design. Then days four through eight were spent designing and documenting for our final presentation.
The Landscape Architect from Nigeria came up with a beautiful master plan layout which encouraged carless circulation through meandering paths and beautiful gardens with the buildings sweeping up the hill taking advantage of views and cross breezes. I and the other two Architects concentrated on the building designs creating an Architectural vocabulary that would tie the buildings together and give it a lodge retreat feel. What did Abby do? She helped with the surveyors, set up our presentation, and collected site photos from all the team members for the final record document and report (and also a lot of homework‌!).
It was a fun challenge and a great group of professionals to work with. The last two days were able to spend doing a little site seeing – visiting a village for souvenirs, a national garden, and the dam at the head of the largest manmade lake in the world (Lake Volta). I can’t say it enough – without you this trip would have been much harder to plan. You allowed us to participate in the growth of the Kingdom of God in Ghana, and thereby bringing hope to a people coping with spiritual and economic challenges.