Ghana - The Lions on the Road: Cycling London to Cape Town - page 148

in England where I purchased my bike) to send me both a Shimano derailleur and a new
chain. (My present chain was not going to last much longer especially what I was putting
it through.) Having settled my derailleur dilemma in my mind, I remained in my room and
fell asleep until morning.
A Miracle in Accra
What an incredible turn of events! After eating breakfast with the priests, I cycled
to STC's office for my 10:00 a.m. meeting. The road I took eventually led me past the in-
ternational airport. Just as I was passing its main entrance, a group of 10 American cyclists
pulleduptothemainroad. OnceIsawthegroupIjusthadtostopandsayhelloforforeign
cyclists were so rare. They told me they were simply waiting for their American guide to
come out of the airport and were quite excited about starting their two-week cycling tour.
David, their guide from Bicycle Africa joined us and in the short conversation that ensued
I flippantly asked him if he happened to have a spare Shimano GTX 2 derailleur.
He said yes!!! I couldn't believe it. With my fingers crossed, I asked him if he was
willing to sell it to me and if so, for how much. He turned to his group and asked, “Are
any of you going to break a derailleur in the next two weeks?” Thank God they all said no.
At that point, I took a deep breath and waited for his selling price. I was willing to accept
almost any figure. I was floored when David sold it to me for $20 US which was basically
below cost and it was still in its original packaging! I was completely overjoyed. I wanted
to hug and kiss the whole group and thanked them for about 10 minutes. What were the
oddsthatourpathswouldcrossatthatexactmomentintimewhen(a)thisgroupwasabout
to start their two-week holiday, (b) I was going to a meeting via a road that happened to
pass in front of the airport, and (c) I had such an odd request for a specific derailleur that
they actually had a spare of! Divine intervention I say! Needless to mention, I joyfully re-
moved visiting the Peace Corps HQ from my itinerary.
I wished them a safe journey as we parted ways. I excitedly cycled to STC for my
meeting. Partofmewaswilling themeeting tobecancelled soIcouldgobacktomyroom
and set up my shiny new derailleur. The meeting wasn't cancelled but I was able to con-
tained my excitement and to focus on the director and his assistant for at least an hour as
they explained their approach to dealing with the needs of Ghanaian children. In Ghana,
I was told, STC worked more at the government level within the existing infrastructure.
Theyfinancially helpedlocalinitiatives thatpromotedtherightsofthechild.Theyalsoex-
plained that several foreign STCs usually worked in the same country, for e.g., in Burkina
Faso, even though STC-UK, -Sweden, -US, and -Netherlands were all present with their
ownagendas (such as education, health, etc.), their goal was the same: to improve the lives
of children. Our meeting concluded but before I left, they asked me to return the next day
for an on-site visit.