ed-the-king, which city are u off to. I can tell u something about Ghana.
Economy:The exchange rate of dollar to cedi=9,000(hard to believe but it is the truth). Major exports is cocoa and Gold. minimum daily wage around 1 dollar. Transportation is very cheap by small buses called trotro. There is the option of taxi which is relativel expensive
Education:There are 3 major medical schools plus the unlicenced St Luke Medical Centre(note: i don't know for sure if the Ministry of Educ. finally approved it).The best teaching hospitals are Korle-Bu(in Accra arguably one of the best in West Africa) and Okomfo Anokye Hospital( in Kumasi of extreme quality too).
Culture: The official language is English but since u are on a medical mission(assuming that it is volunteer) u are likely to come into contact to the low income Ghanaians who don't speak english. U will definitely return to the Us speaking some dialects.Ghanaians are very religious(too much), so avoid religious arguements. Don't shake hands, or offer stuffs with your left hand.
Health:take anti-malaria shots(a must). and if i knew which region u were off to...i culd have been more specific.
ghanaians in general are very hospitable and give special treatment to foreigners. The only negative thing is that u are likely to be overcharged for stuffs like visiting places of tourist attraction. Some bad ones in the system have the preconception that every foreigner is rcih so they normally try to make fast money. Get a good guide(very cheap)....and u will never regret going to Ghana.
Political situation:calm....also avoid taking photographs of example castles,Security installations,airport etc without permission.
