WC 2010: 1,040 Ghanaians camp in Western Pretoria

Pretoria- South Africa (PANA) -- About 1,040 soccer fans from Ghana have pitched camps in Western Pretoria, in a bid to provide adequate support for the Black Stars at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
The supporters are housed in a hostel called Muzinda Residence, located on the outskirts of Pretoria and are under the sponsorship of their government which is providing them with three square meals daily.
In addition, the supporters will be given match tickets and transported to match venues of the Black Stars' games.
The supporters, drawn from various government agencies, departments, sports-affiliated bodies, organized supporters union, professional bodies, cuts across age, sex and social class, together with members of all political parties in Ghana, with the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) having the largest representation on the political front.
The facility comes with decent lavatories on each hall, with some rooms having its own bathrooms and toilet facilities and these are managed on regular basis by the hostel wards daily.
It also has rest parks, where fans could converge to have fun in the absence of matches, with an open air auditorium, with a huge screen for fans to watch other matches.
The Muzinda residence is indeed an all-round facility, including a bar.
Also available at the hostel is an internet cafe for fans to have access to events on the globe but comes with a fee of 10 rands per hour.
Though the fans are living in a relatively good condition, they are yet to come to terms with the nature of dish provided, because they are alien to them.
The fans told PANA they have not been served the best of meals since arrival and called for an attachment of Ghanaian caterers to provide Ghanaian meals.
Also, they have to be in long queues to have their meals, due to the huge number of residents at the hostel, though no fan has ever complained of shortage of food.
Each morning is started with Christian prayers, while moslem prayers take their turn during the course of each day.
PANA observed the arrangement is indeed near perfect, irrespective of the flight difficulties by the supporters, reminiscent to what pilgrims go through each year at the El Wak Stadium for the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
Meanwhile, the chilling weather has become a major concern for the supporters as they are not used to it.