Harlem man stuck in Ghana for weeks due to coronavirus travel restrictions says he’s fine staying put
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Rashad McCrorey insists he’s not really stuck.
If he wanted to, he could’ve gotten out of Ghana sooner and been back in Harlem already, waiting for life to get back to normal with his fellow New Yorkers.
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But the ballooning pandemic in his hometown has persuaded him to stay put and run his tourism business from Africa for now.
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“I’m looking at 200,000 coronavirus cases in my state. I just feel like I may actually be safer here,” McCrorey told the Daily News.
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His group made it safely back to New York weeks ago, but by the time McCrorey was ready to come back, the lockdown was approaching and return ticket prices were soaring higher than the jetliner that took him across the Atlantic.
So McCrorey hunkered down, first in Accra, the capital city, and then in a remote, lush outpost at a mountain resort at the invitation of a friend.
The power goes out occasionally, and he has to pick his own fruits and vegetables for meals, but it beats waiting in a long line made longer by social distancing to get into the Harlem Whole Foods.
“Social distancing isn’t hard to practice here,” McCrorey said. “It’s spacial, sunny and the air is fresh.”
McCrorey, 40, a New York native, owns Africa Cross-Culture, a tour company that specializes in trips to Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda.
He said he has no regrets about making the trip, and is using the time to promote his business abroad while debunking stereotypes about African culture.
He might have even considered staying in Africa permanently, if it weren’t for his little girl.
“Africa has 54 countries, all with different cultures and languages,” McCrorey said. “Ghana is more about the culture and the people. Ghana has been welcoming black Americans and Americans for decades now.”
McCrorey has been to Ghana several times, but he admits there is something different about this visit. More than a few times, he has gotten quizzical looks and has overheard conversations about the “American” who might be carrying coronavirus to their community.
He cannot help but note the irony of being an American citizen and enduring xenophobia in a country and continent often denigrated by the President of the United States.
“I would hear people talking about me,” McCrorey said.
McCrorey said his chronic asthma was another reason he was in no real rush to get back home. He knows the underlying health condition would make it harder for him to fight the disease. But he does wish he packed a pair of sneakers and his PlayStation to help pass the time.
In the meantime, he stays in constant contact with his 5-year-old daughter and his mother, who updates him a little more frequently than he likes.
“When I talk to my mom she talks to me about everything I try to ignore, everything I don’t want to think about,” McCrorey said. “I like to know what’s going on, but it worries me.”
Source:NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
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