Journey Overview
A LIVING ITINERARY
This is intentionally a living itinerary, meaning while our major experiences are planned, our time in the Volta Region will also be shaped by what we're learning each day.
Story Discovery Workshops with students and adults will take place throughout our stay. After each session, the Hidden Story Project team will meet with participants and partners to listen to feedback, consider what worked and what didn't, and adjust the next day's approach. That means some details may evolve as the project does.
We'll also leave room for the unexpected—a conversation that deserves more time, an invitation from a community member, or an opportunity none of us could have planned from home.
Day 1 - Oct 23 - Arrive in Accra
Arrive in Ghana and settle into your hotel before gathering for our welcome dinner.
Meet fellow travelers, Campfire Tales founder Ryan McAbery, Hidden Story Project Co-Founder Betsy Benoit, and Robert Tornu, our Friends of Adaklu Ghanaian partner. We'll introduce the journey ahead, the communities we'll be spending time with, and the Hidden Story Project pilot that will unfold alongside our travels.
Days 2-9, Oct 24-31 - Village Immersion
We travel east to Ho, our home base for seven nights and the beginning of the most unusual part of our journey.
Our time here brings together two experiences: exploring the people, traditions and places of the Volta Region, and being present as The Hidden Story Project conducts its first field pilot.
Throughout the week, Campfire Tales will lead Story Discovery Workshops with students and adults. These aren't one-and-done workshops. We'll return to conversations, listen to participants' responses, meet with our Ghanaian and project partners, and adapt the workshops as we learn. TomorrowLabs' multilingual technology will be used and evaluated along the way, helping us understand where technology supports conversation—and where it gets in the way.
Along the Way...
- A community welcome with traditional drumming and dancing
- Story Discovery Workshops with students and adults
- Conversations and feedback sessions with teachers, elders and community participants
- Working sessions with Friends of Adaklu, Ho Technical University and other project partners
- Meet and create alongside the your artisans at Nunya Village
- Creating a customized batik piece with the women of Amenuveve
- Cooking a Ghanaian meal alongside a local family
- Visiting a monkey sanctuary
- Exploring local communities, schools and daily life
- Time for conversation, reflection and your own storytelling
Day 8 - Oct 30 - Community Story Night
Our time in Adaklu culminates around a community bonfire, a setting where stories have long been shared.
Community members and travelers will gather for an evening of storytelling, conversation, music and connection. Some of the people who have participated in Story Discovery Workshops may choose to share stories they've developed during the week; others may simply listen and enjoy the evening.
It's not a performance or a showcase. It's a chance to bring together many of the relationships and conversations that have shaped our week.
Day 9 - Oct 31 - Journey to Cape Coast
Travel across southern Ghana toward the Atlantic coast.
This day provides space to reflect on the experiences in Adaklu while watching Ghana's landscapes unfold outside the window. We will be stopping at Cape Coast Castle, where we'll confront an essential and difficult chapter of Ghanaian and global history.
Days 9–13, Oct 31-Nov 4 - Reflection Along the Coast
Cape Coast offers a different rhythm.
Here we slow down, integrate what we've experienced, and continue developing our own stories.
Highlights include:
- Review events at Adaklu Kodzobi and discuss implications for future Campfire Tales and Hidden Story Project
- Create a Workbook for Hidden Story Project future communities
- Personal narrative coaching
- Peer story circles
- Kakum National Park's famous canopy walkway
- Walks along the beach
- Free time for reading, journaling, and conversation
Participants will also share their experiences using TomorrowLabs technology, providing feedback that will help shape the platform's future development.
Day 13 - Nov 4 - Return to Accra, Depart
Following breakfast, we travel back to Accra for afternoon and evening departures.
Although the journey ends here, the friendships, stories, and insights continue long after returning home.