Article #4 in the YCC Kids Club Ghana Student Life Stories Project
My First Day Visiting Accra Airport
By Shine Doe, Age 13
That day was the first day I had ever seen a traffic light. I watched, amazed, as it showed direction to the many cars by its changing colors.
I was about ten years old, on an educational excursion to Accra Airport with my classmates and teachers. There are no traffic lights in my hometown of Sogakope, but as we came closer to Ghana’s capital, they appeared!
When our bus arrived at the airport after the two hour journey, we stepped out onto the ground, excited. My friend, Prince, spotted one of the aircrafts. Prince asked, ‘’Is here the airport?” and I answered him, “Yes.”
We were taken on a tour to see two planes, and they were so large! For three hours, we took turns taking pictures of ourselves with the planes and listening to speeches about the airport.
Then our teacher called us and said, “Take care of yourselves. I will be back here within a minute.’’ After the teacher had left, Prince and I walked to the security guard and he asked us if we wanted to use the washroom (which Americans call “bathroom”). He showed us the place to go and it was so very nice to the senses that if you don’t be careful, you would like to sleep there.
When we came back, our teacher and one of the men who worked there were talking to us about the airport. After the man had finished, most of the pupils wanted to snap more pictures.
“The plane looks so nice!” said my classmate, Louis.
From Accra, we went to Tema Harbor, which is an industrial suburb outside of Accra, but that place was the place I come from originally, so I knew more about there.
On the way home I saw many things: buildings, people selling goods from baskets on the tops of their heads, and more traffic lights. I also bought gifts for my parents for them to see that I really went to Accra: plantain chips and apples.
When I arrived home, my parents said, “Abpe!” which means, in Ewe, “Thank you!” I told them that our trip was great.
That night, I remembered how the guide had told us: “A plane has to move forward, small, small, before it can fly.” I realized that we students, too, must learn and experience our world bit by bit, traffic light by traffic light, before we, too, can fly up high.
Lillie’s Note: We hope you enjoyed this article! Please do leave encouraging comments, reactions, constructive critiques, or questions for Shine!
The author, Lillie Marshall, is a 6-foot-tall National Board Certified Teacher of English, fitness fan, and mother of two who has been a public school educator since 2003. She launched Around the World “L” Travel and Life Blog in 2009, and over 4.2 million readers have now visited this site. Lillie also runs TeachingTraveling.com and DrawingsOf.com. Subscribe to her monthly newsletter, and follow @WorldLillie on social media!
Naim L
Wednesday 25th of February 2015
I was wondering how far away from the capital these kids live? This stuck with me most because of the traffic lights. If Shine Doe lives in a place where there are no traffic lights does that mean he lives far away from the capital or does that mean his hometown just couldn't afford them? The final reason I thought they might not be there because traffic lights are not a necessity if there is not a lot of traffic. I was also as a follow up question; is the situation that Shine Doe's home town is in common among other towns?
Lillie
Thursday 26th of February 2015
The town is about two hours from Accra, and is small enough not to have enough traffic to need traffic lights.
Vivian L
Wednesday 25th of February 2015
The quote, "That day was the first day I had ever seen a traffic light. I watched, amazed, as it showed direction to the many cars by its changing colors." was surprising to me because I thought traffic lights are placed everywhere in the world.
David Martinez
Wednesday 25th of February 2015
I think that this article is a good mindset, and that it's great to see points of view from other people. This great to see how they see the world so we can understand people different from us.
Emma B
Wednesday 25th of February 2015
This article is very interesting. It is nice seeing something from someone else's point of view, like how they call a bathroom a washroom. This article also inspired me to learn more about their lifestyle and how they are different from us.
Drew
Sunday 18th of July 2010
This story talks about a visit to one of my favorite places: an airport. I have never visited Accra's airport, but I hope to visit someday. I have visited many airports and seen many aircraft. I also help many people, like Madame Lillie, travel by aircraft to airports and destinations far & wide. There is a whole world of opportunity out there for you to see. I hope you will be able to experience air travel through Accra's airport and many others in the future. The world awaits!