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Dear Friends ,

I recently had the pleasure of returning to Ghana for a three week trip.  I traveled with three friends.  All of us were Peace Corps Volunteers in Ghana from 1968-70.  During this trip we visited all of our former towns and the schools where we taught.  We also took in many tourist sites and visited a variety of national parks which did not exist when we first lived there. 

In general, it was a wonderful trip: we found Ghanaians to be as warm, friendly, and welcoming as ever; many of the roads had been improved, making our travels easier and more efficient; and we enjoyed numerous points of interest and beautiful scenery.  Ghana is indeed a wonderful country, and we were happy and proud to visit again.

There was one aspect of the country which distressed us, however.  There was garbage left on the ground, on beaches, and in gutters everywhere.  We walked through neighborhoods that were littered with trash and plastic bags. 

No one but us seemed to care.  We were alarmed that in a country that is one of the leaders in Africa in terms of economic and social development, people did not have the consciousness to keep their environs clean. 

Tourism could be a source of great income for Ghana, and just as Ghana cares about developing its export industries in cocoa, cashews, gold, diamonds, and oil, it should do what it can, too, to enhance its status as a tourist destination. 

We know and love Ghana, and we were able to look past the garbage to see the country's  fine and beautiful qualities.  The casual tourist, however, will surely return home with images of trash clearly in mind and may hesitate to recommend a visit to Ghana to his or her friends.

Besides improving access roads to important tourist sites (many of these provide a truly bone-shaking experience), Ghana should embark on a campaign to clean and beautify the country. 

A campaign asking people to keep their neighborhoods clean and sanitary, and government services like trash collecting to make it possible, would go a long way towards making Ghana a truly wonderful tourist destination.  The effort would pay for itself in the long run with much greater revenue from international visitors.

Sincerely,