Sebastien Gasquet's Blog - Post #1

All Systems GO!

Today is the big day! I'll be flying from Geneva to Accra, and since the airline is Royal Air Maroc, I'll have a 5-hour layover in Casablanca and a stop in Lome, Togo, before finally getting into Ghana at the lovely hour of 5:00 AM on Saturday! I'm still playing catch-up time-wise from the Pittsburgh-Geneva jump, but thankfully there's only a 2-hour difference between Switzerland and Ghana.

So what will I be doing in Ghana for 2 months? Interning at the West African Network for Peace building! I first heard about them while working for the Ford Institute for Human Security at GSPIA, as they are working together in a partnership under the auspices of a USAID contract. WANEP was founded in 1998 and has been working since then to promote new conflict resolution strategies to help resolve crises in the West African region. They are headquartered in Accra, but have a presence through all countries belonging to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

                                        

From our preliminary discussions via Skype and email, I discovered I'll be mostly working under their Peace Monitoring Center (PMC), doing data collection and analysis on conflict issues, as well as helping out with their programs' logistics, writing out proposals and program reports. I'll even be working on television alerts about HS in the region! And to top it off, I'll be doing some side research for the Ford Institute on program analysis and evaluation.

Time for a last few additions to the one checked bag and backpack I'll be taking along: anti-malarial pills, passport with visa, yellow card with stamps accrediting I've had my shots (not the birthday kind!) and I'll be good to go! My next post will be from Accra!