October 24th, 2010

Alright, tomorrow morning I am flying out of MSP at 10:30 and I will then have a brief layover in New York before departing on a direct flight to Accra, Ghana which will arrive at 7:30am(local time--Ghana is in the same time zone as London) monday october 25th.

I am all packed and am currently sitting at more than 150lbs in 3 checked bags plus two carry on bags. All of this is currently costing me an extra $350. My plan is to arrive early at the airport and hope I get a nice check in lady who doesn't charge me anything and maybe lets me add more stuff--I still have about 50lbs of supplies waiting to be packed. So, I will be doing some last minute repacking in the airport.

All of this leads me to the thank yous. First off I need to thank Professor Heckel from American University who helped me get this project of the ground and has helped with all aspects of the trip. Justin Sheldon at Bike World who was a endless source of references and help. Steve Lambert who helped me hone my mechanics skills and was a bottemless source of donations due to his love of pies. Adam Argetsinger at Shimano. Chris Brown from First Medical Inc. Diane Petterson at Mercy North in Ankeny. Bill Armas of Park Tool. Sam Offenberg at Adventure Medical Kits. Kyle at Kyle's Bikes. Gordon at Bike Country. All of these people donated supplies to the trip. I also need to thank everyone that donated money and set out their empties. My cousin Elliot Forst who raised $200 by asking for donations at his birthday party instead of gifts for himself--he is great! Also I need to give a big thanks to my parents--a thank you that cannot be expressed here.

So, I will give an update as soon as I can. I will be spending a few days in Accra before heading North by bus to the city of Tamale and then out to the villages I will be working in.


Thank you for all of your support.