So we arrived on time in Accra, the capital city of Ghana. Bribery is alive and well at the airport...we paid $50 to have our 11 bags ignored going through customs. I chalked it up to donating to the entrepreneurial spirit in Accra. After spending about an hour renting a truck we decided to buy a bunch of food for the kids to eat on our arrival. However, we didn't expect it to take us 90 minutes to find the food (think huge swam meet) or another 90 minutes to get on the highway. All said and done, we got to our hotel around 3pm and Jim said school gets out around 3 so we should just relax at our hotel and come to the school early. So we hit the pool, had a few beers (not the kids) and ended up eating dinner at 5pm. Me and the kids each had Goat Soup. Everyone liked it but it was a bit spicy for the kids and they didn't love the meat. Jenny ordered a special Tilapia dish but when it came she could barely look at it. The consistency was similar of something you'd see out of the Ghostbusters movie (Snotty andGooey): very slimy and according to Jenny, wholly inedible (we even saw a few dry heaves for the efforts she put it). After dinner, we were supposed to shower and meet in our room to play cards but pretty much everyone passed out, which is why I am writing this blog at 2am!
In 4 hours the three of us are going to take the rental car from the hotel to Crossover (hopefully). Mind you, it's been 3 years since I have taken this route and never as a driver. I think I remember how to get there but we will see. The experience we will meet will be nothing short of overwhelming. Jim can vouch for it. There are no words for it. We will keep a video to help explain what we mean to these beautiful, happy kids. I will try to post around 2pm EST later today (7pmEST)
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Monday, July 25, 2016
Wheels up in 24 hrs
Our departure date is almost here! In total, we are bringing 13 checked bags, which are filled with clothing, food, laptops, tablets, school supplies, feminine hygiene products, and 300 sky lanterns (more on this later).
I've been stressed a bit because Delta charges $285 for excess baggage: We have 5 excess bags so unless I can sweet talk the folks at Delta, we are going to incur $1400 in luggage charges alone. With all this luggage, I've also been stressing about how we get all this luggage to the airport! My friend Mark Tobin offered to meet us at our house at 4am tomorrow (yes, AM) to fill his car up w our luggage and follow our Uber to LAX. THAT is a friend!!
The other logistical obstacle I am trying to solve is the rental car while we are there. Last time, Crossover was able to rent a truck to transport us from the airport to the school and back and forth from the hotel to the school. They no longer have access to that truck so we had to rent a car. Needless to say, Jenny is not very comfortable with me driving around Ghana. Besides the fact that we would stick out like a sore thumb, Jenny has never been there and with all the terrorist crap going on around the world, she would feel more comfortable if we had a local driver...I am waiting to hear back if we have secured one or not.
For the long flight, I got a prescription for Ambien (11 hour flight from JFK to Accra). Jenny was pretty nervous about giving the kids ambien for the first time on the flight so she conducted a test run this past weekend at home (secure environment). Jacob was fine, just pretty groggy for about 24 hours after he woke up. Savannah, however, was another story: Her imagination got the best of her and she was convinced there were people in her room watching her sleep. I cant imagine what would have happened if Jenny and I were ambien'd out at 30k feet w Savannah freaking out about a gargoyle on the airplane wing!
I've been stressed a bit because Delta charges $285 for excess baggage: We have 5 excess bags so unless I can sweet talk the folks at Delta, we are going to incur $1400 in luggage charges alone. With all this luggage, I've also been stressing about how we get all this luggage to the airport! My friend Mark Tobin offered to meet us at our house at 4am tomorrow (yes, AM) to fill his car up w our luggage and follow our Uber to LAX. THAT is a friend!!
The other logistical obstacle I am trying to solve is the rental car while we are there. Last time, Crossover was able to rent a truck to transport us from the airport to the school and back and forth from the hotel to the school. They no longer have access to that truck so we had to rent a car. Needless to say, Jenny is not very comfortable with me driving around Ghana. Besides the fact that we would stick out like a sore thumb, Jenny has never been there and with all the terrorist crap going on around the world, she would feel more comfortable if we had a local driver...I am waiting to hear back if we have secured one or not.
For the long flight, I got a prescription for Ambien (11 hour flight from JFK to Accra). Jenny was pretty nervous about giving the kids ambien for the first time on the flight so she conducted a test run this past weekend at home (secure environment). Jacob was fine, just pretty groggy for about 24 hours after he woke up. Savannah, however, was another story: Her imagination got the best of her and she was convinced there were people in her room watching her sleep. I cant imagine what would have happened if Jenny and I were ambien'd out at 30k feet w Savannah freaking out about a gargoyle on the airplane wing!
Monday, July 18, 2016
Going to Ghana, Part 2
So here we are, three years after my first trip to Ghana. We are currently 7 days out from trip # 2 only this time, I have my wife Jenny in tow with our kids, Jacob (17 yrs old) and Savannah (14 yrs old). I wasn't going to Blog about the trip again but I've had numerous people ask me to so I figured why not.
Right now our living room is littered with 6 duffel bags full of 500 t-shirts, 12 laptops, school supplies, 300 sky lanterns and other miscellaneous items. Eddy Chavez, a good friend of mine, donated the t shirts (again), this time they have the Crossover logo, etc. The Pharris family donated 5 huge duffel bags to stuff all this into.
If you aren't already following us on Instagram, you can @wingsforcrossover. My kids will be managing the Instagram account and posting photos and videos of the trip.
When I first got involved in Wings for Crossover w Jim Conti, a big part of it was for my kids. While there is/was no direct impact for my kids, I hoped that someday we would take this trip as a family and that it would open their eyes to what they have and how lucky they are to have been born into the life they were born into. For many reasons, we live in the greatest country in the world. It may be difficult to see it at times (mostly because our politicians suck, on both sides). But we do. And until you travel to other parts of the world, its easy to take what we have for granted (we are the land of the free because of the brave!).
That's it for now...
Right now our living room is littered with 6 duffel bags full of 500 t-shirts, 12 laptops, school supplies, 300 sky lanterns and other miscellaneous items. Eddy Chavez, a good friend of mine, donated the t shirts (again), this time they have the Crossover logo, etc. The Pharris family donated 5 huge duffel bags to stuff all this into.
If you aren't already following us on Instagram, you can @wingsforcrossover. My kids will be managing the Instagram account and posting photos and videos of the trip.
When I first got involved in Wings for Crossover w Jim Conti, a big part of it was for my kids. While there is/was no direct impact for my kids, I hoped that someday we would take this trip as a family and that it would open their eyes to what they have and how lucky they are to have been born into the life they were born into. For many reasons, we live in the greatest country in the world. It may be difficult to see it at times (mostly because our politicians suck, on both sides). But we do. And until you travel to other parts of the world, its easy to take what we have for granted (we are the land of the free because of the brave!).
That's it for now...
Thursday, April 3, 2014
update
I'm not sure if anyone is still following this blog, but in case you are, I should direct you to our website, www.wingsforcrossover.org
we've accomplished a lot in the past 6 months, including buying and installing an aquaponics system at Crossover. This should go a long way to helping Crossover to be self sustaining. It's really exciting and you can find pics, videos and more info on the website mentioned above.
We also raised almost $60k in the past week from a fundraiser we put on. This is enough to begin phase 1 of the building of a new school for Crossover.
Sorry to be so brief, but again, there is a bunch of info on the website.
Thanks!!
we've accomplished a lot in the past 6 months, including buying and installing an aquaponics system at Crossover. This should go a long way to helping Crossover to be self sustaining. It's really exciting and you can find pics, videos and more info on the website mentioned above.
We also raised almost $60k in the past week from a fundraiser we put on. This is enough to begin phase 1 of the building of a new school for Crossover.
Sorry to be so brief, but again, there is a bunch of info on the website.
Thanks!!
Friday, August 23, 2013
The Summit
For those of you who don't know Tom Ferry, he owns the largest real estate coaching business in the world. His company, Your Coach, coach's the top real estate agents all over the world (http://www.yourcoach.com/).
This week, he held his big Summit where 3500 real estate agents from around the world converged on the Anaheim Convention Center in California to recharge their batteries, discuss strategy, implementation, etc. Tom & his beautiful wife Kathy agreed to help Crossover via their Summit this week.
So, our 4 kids, Michael Ferry, Steven Ferry, Jacob Cooper & Savannah Cooper spent 6 hrs/day for 4 days selling T-Shirts at the Summit (these T-Shirts were generously sold to us at BELOW cost by Eddie Chavez and Ei-LO, once again, Eddy to the rescue!).
Tom even invited the kids on stage on Thursday and asked them about what they were doing for Crossover, why they were doing it, etc. (See video below). And lo and behold, we raised over $15k for Crossover!
I continue to be blown away by people and how they have stepped up to the plate to help out those who are less fortunate than we are. Let's run through the list real quick (in no particular order):
Tom & Kathy Ferry, Michael & Steven Ferry, Jacob & Savannah Cooper, Eddy Chavez, Genevieve Gwei (iDirect, who donated thousands of dollars worth of satellite equipment), Josh Cohen (iDirect), Tzvika Zaiffer & SkyVision (who donated 12 months of Internet Service), Ron Fineman & James Suarez from Fineman Suarez (who donated $5k at the Summit!!!), Laurie Eastman, Claude Yacoel.
I am sorry if I missed anyone, but my point is help keeps coming from where it isnt expected, which makes it so cool. These people open their eyes and their hearts and want to help. The children of Crossover thank you!
and some pics...
we also created a website through GoFundMe that allows for people to make donations, here is the link:
http://www.gofundme.com/421tsk
Thank You!!
This week, he held his big Summit where 3500 real estate agents from around the world converged on the Anaheim Convention Center in California to recharge their batteries, discuss strategy, implementation, etc. Tom & his beautiful wife Kathy agreed to help Crossover via their Summit this week.
So, our 4 kids, Michael Ferry, Steven Ferry, Jacob Cooper & Savannah Cooper spent 6 hrs/day for 4 days selling T-Shirts at the Summit (these T-Shirts were generously sold to us at BELOW cost by Eddie Chavez and Ei-LO, once again, Eddy to the rescue!).
Tom even invited the kids on stage on Thursday and asked them about what they were doing for Crossover, why they were doing it, etc. (See video below). And lo and behold, we raised over $15k for Crossover!
I continue to be blown away by people and how they have stepped up to the plate to help out those who are less fortunate than we are. Let's run through the list real quick (in no particular order):
Tom & Kathy Ferry, Michael & Steven Ferry, Jacob & Savannah Cooper, Eddy Chavez, Genevieve Gwei (iDirect, who donated thousands of dollars worth of satellite equipment), Josh Cohen (iDirect), Tzvika Zaiffer & SkyVision (who donated 12 months of Internet Service), Ron Fineman & James Suarez from Fineman Suarez (who donated $5k at the Summit!!!), Laurie Eastman, Claude Yacoel.
I am sorry if I missed anyone, but my point is help keeps coming from where it isnt expected, which makes it so cool. These people open their eyes and their hearts and want to help. The children of Crossover thank you!
Here is the link to the video:
and some pics...
we also created a website through GoFundMe that allows for people to make donations, here is the link:
http://www.gofundme.com/421tsk
Thank You!!
Saturday, August 3, 2013
UPDATE!
Well, the satellite communications equipment finally arrived in Ghana this week! It all started with an email I sent in April to a company called iDirect, based in Virginia. The email was sent before my trip to Ghana, and I was trying to find out the cost involved in getting internet connectivity to Crossover. A woman named Genevieve Gwen responded to my email, and after several back and forth emails, I realized internet by satellite was just too expensive and not a realistic option for Crossover. However, a few days later, I got a phone call from Genevieve saying that her company has agreed to provide all of the equipment to Crossover for free! I was simply floored. I could not believe it, and I kept telling myself it was just too good to be true. But, it is true, and the equipment is literally being installed as I type this update. Furthermore, the service provider in Ghana, SkyVision, has agreed to provide 12 months of free service! I am not sure what the service cost will be after the initial 12 months, but we will have to deal with that and try to figure something out by then.
Also, my very good friends Tom Ferry and Kathy Ferry have agreed to help Crossover by selling t-shirts (provided by Ei-Lo, thank you Eddy Chavez!!) at their big summit in a few weeks where all the proceeds will go to Crossover. Our goal is 500 t-shirt sales ($9k), which will be enough to buy 2 acres of land for Crossover!
Step by step, things are starting to happen for Crossover. We needed the good news because 2 weeks ago, an 11 year old boy from Crossover died from a fever. His name was Ameko Emmanuel, and he is sorely missed by his brothers and sisters at Crossover.
Our 501c3 should be up and running soon, and that's when our serious efforts will start at raising enough money to build a proper school for Crossover: 2 dorms (with walls and a roof), classrooms, a kitchen/mess hall, bathrooms and showers. Thank you for reading the blog and please feel free to pass it on!
Also, my very good friends Tom Ferry and Kathy Ferry have agreed to help Crossover by selling t-shirts (provided by Ei-Lo, thank you Eddy Chavez!!) at their big summit in a few weeks where all the proceeds will go to Crossover. Our goal is 500 t-shirt sales ($9k), which will be enough to buy 2 acres of land for Crossover!
Step by step, things are starting to happen for Crossover. We needed the good news because 2 weeks ago, an 11 year old boy from Crossover died from a fever. His name was Ameko Emmanuel, and he is sorely missed by his brothers and sisters at Crossover.
Our 501c3 should be up and running soon, and that's when our serious efforts will start at raising enough money to build a proper school for Crossover: 2 dorms (with walls and a roof), classrooms, a kitchen/mess hall, bathrooms and showers. Thank you for reading the blog and please feel free to pass it on!
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
back home
It's great to be back home. I've had lots of people asking me about the trip and wanting to help and it is all so appreciated! I had to post this one piece of exciting information I just found out...
Earlier in my blog, I mentioned a company that is a leading IP-based satellite communications company based here in the U.S.
Anyway, I heard back today that they are providing the hardware and their partner (a network operator) will be providing the connectivity (service) for FREE to Crossover!!
I cannot tell you how significant a gift this is for those kids in terms of their education! I contacted this company randomly as I was doing due diligence on internet options for rural areas. This company (and specifically 2 people who made it happen at that company) truly stepped up to the plate here. They didnt know me or Crossover from Adam, it just blows my mind and makes you realize that the world is FILLED with good people who want to do good things and help others who need a helping hand. It's easy to lose sight of this given that most of what is covered in the media is people doing bad things.
I've also gotten some requests of how to send things to the school...here is their address in case you want to send over a care package:
Crossover International Academy
P.O. Box AB 446
Akosombo, E/R
Ghana, West Africa
Please let me know if/when you are going to send something so I can give the headmaster a heads up of when to expect it...Akosombo is a 90 minute drive from Crossover so he only goes there when he needs to.
Earlier in my blog, I mentioned a company that is a leading IP-based satellite communications company based here in the U.S.
Anyway, I heard back today that they are providing the hardware and their partner (a network operator) will be providing the connectivity (service) for FREE to Crossover!!
I cannot tell you how significant a gift this is for those kids in terms of their education! I contacted this company randomly as I was doing due diligence on internet options for rural areas. This company (and specifically 2 people who made it happen at that company) truly stepped up to the plate here. They didnt know me or Crossover from Adam, it just blows my mind and makes you realize that the world is FILLED with good people who want to do good things and help others who need a helping hand. It's easy to lose sight of this given that most of what is covered in the media is people doing bad things.
I've also gotten some requests of how to send things to the school...here is their address in case you want to send over a care package:
Crossover International Academy
P.O. Box AB 446
Akosombo, E/R
Ghana, West Africa
Please let me know if/when you are going to send something so I can give the headmaster a heads up of when to expect it...Akosombo is a 90 minute drive from Crossover so he only goes there when he needs to.
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