Pictures and more....

Two more of the children left the house yesterday. Sammy (7) and Elikim (13)...Mom's boys. It was a sad day again. The older boys try to be strong but poor Sammy just couldn't hold it in. Anyone that has ever seen a child cry and can do nothing about it knows how heartbreaking this is. To make matters worse we have finally learned what the rainy season is really like. We have enjoyed really nice weather the whole time we have been here with just a little sprinkle each day. However Thursday and Friday brought downpours most of the day. The weather matched our emotions, it is like God was crying too over these broken hearts.

As hard as it is to be here during this time and to see the children this way, I am grateful and thank God that we are here. We are able to give these kids a little distraction from all the changes that are occurring around them. Before Sammy and Elikim left yesterday we took all the children into town for ice cream (frozen chocolate milk or strawberry yogurt) and sodas. We had a great time and even obtained a few new children on the way! When we were buying the kids' ice cream from the ice cream man on the bike, four random kids gathered around and tried to integrate into the other kids. My mom has a bleeding heart so she bought them all ice cream as well and even bought one for this random lady that walked over and wanted in on the action. Good job Mom, now they think all Yevus are suckers! The random kids even followed us to the soda shop and sat at a table next to us just staring at our kids getting soda. So.....of course next thing you know Mom is ordering them sodas too. This didn't make our kids too happy, I think they were a little jealous or annoyed. After Elikim and Sammy left we were able to dry the tears quickly and return their smiles with good ol' bubbles! Even when the bubbles ran out the kids continued the fun and used the bubbles that spilled as soap! They soaped up their arms and heads and took impromptu baths!!! Very resourceful kids!

Tomorrow Mom will stay with the kids and I will travel to Accra with Peace (one of the girls that is 10 and is always the little hostess of the house). She will be going to live with a family there where her older sister (14) lives. I want to try to ease her concerns and mine over her departure and check out this family and house. It sounds like it could be a great place and opportunity for her. The couple is wealthy, have no children of their own, travel back and forth to the US often, and apparently live next to Kofi Annan. Um, I may see if they want to take me too!

Here are a few more pics:




We did a little shopping at the market earlier this week. My mom was just fascinated by the piles of charcoal and the way they sell it.








Here are some yummy peppers and tomatoes at the market!








This is the kitchen at the orphanage. Yes, it is outside!









Here we are getting the kids ice cream. Which of these kids don't belong???? I think we bought out all of this guy's ice cream!









The girls and me! We are enjoying nice cold bottled soda at the local drinking spot!









Here are our boys! My mom brought these posters for them to color and they loved it! The older boys in the back were all very meticulous in their coloring. They would take one marker out of their bag, use it, and then put it back in right away. Kind of reminded Mom of a small Jeff Johnson!







Here is sweet Sammy! His eyes and smile are irresistible! He's small but he holds his own with the big boys and is great on the drums!













Here's Elikim with a drawing he did for Mom (oh, I mean Mummy). See below for the close-up.


















Oh My! It is a drawing of her and says 'I Love you Mummy.' Seriously, I really wanted to know if he could fit on our suitcase.

It is something about the boys that really have gotten to my mom and me. I don't know if it is because we expect them to be so tough and uninterested (the 13 year olds in particular), so that when they are so loving like this it is shocking and adorable. My dear college friend Rita Pita has always said that she thinks little black boys (she is usually referring to babies though) are the cutest kids......there is something to this.

Sad Goodbyes

I knew before coming back to Ghana that this would not be just one big happy reunion...unfortunately. When we first planned this trip that is what we expected; however, several weeks prior to our trip I learned that there were some serious problems at the orphanage. A new foundation has been set up in the US to help these children here. I am so excited for this foundation and to be able to support it in the future. The Foundation's goal is to support the kids' eduation and send all of the children to boarding school. However, as this foundation is brand new it will take at least a year before there are enough funds to send these kids to the schools. In the meantime the children have to relocate from the orphanage. The landlord is selling the building where they currently reside and the selling price is too high for the building (in fact there just isn't enough money to buy a building at this time). There is also a lack of funds for the orphanage to find a new place at all, even to rent. So I am sad to say that the children are being sent back to their villages, to their guardians. Their guardians are usually aunts/uncles or grandparents. Sister Bernice will still be overseeing these children and trying to ensure that there schools fees are being paid and they are getting the food and clothes they need, but this is by no means a good solution to the problem. Sadly, my mom and I really don't know what to do....their need is so overwhelming. To make matters worse, the children have to go back to their villages now in order to get enrolled in school in time. When we first arrived I thought the children would be leaving the day that we left, but today we learned they need to go back sooner because of school enrollment. We just learned this today and the first child left this afternoon. Needless to say, it has been a devastating day. Tears from my mom, me, Sister Bernice, and the children. The children are all very sad and to see Sister Bernice break down (she is a very tough woman and is part of a culture that rarely shows sad emotions) was too much to bear.

There are a few children that will remain with Sister Bernice because they have no one to return to or their situation is just too awful. There are three children that she will take with her when she leaves the orphanage. My mom and I were also very distressed to learn that Elolo would be sent back to his village as well. When Elolo was brought to the orphanage over two years ago they didn't think he would live. He was severly malnourished. He was being cared for by his blind grandmother that for some reason only took care of his sister and didn't feed him. The village chief took Elolo from her when he was told of the situation and brought him to Sister Bernice. We couldn't let him go back to this same environment. We have asked Sister Bernice if she could possibly keep him with her if we sponsored him. She has agreed and was actually overwhelmed with emotion when we asked this. She too had been very worried about sending him back and is so happy that we want to do this for him. She said she knows that one day we will come back and take him with us! Knowing the Elolo will be cared for well makes us feel a little better, but still I want all the children to be cared for right now. It is my hope that we will be able to help a couple more immediately and get them enrolled in boarding school this year. For now we will be saying goodbye to several more children tomorrow and then the rest this weekend. I only pray we our all strong enough for this.

Please say a prayer for these children and us.

Finally....some pictures!

Here we are with Sister Bernice of the orphanage! Does Sister Bernice's dress look familiar anyone? It is one of the dresses Mom brought from her closet to donate. Sister Bernice loves this dress!














Elolo loving on spider man. Mom does a great Spider Man song by the way...that Elolo now does as well. He also got a spider man t-shirt!
***Update: Thank you to Mary and Shayne for these donated items!***
















Mom with her handsome boys: Noble (13 just as of yesterday), Elikim (13 years old) and Sammy (7 years old). We had just given all the kids their own goodie bags which included these very cool and popular sunglasses! Don't be jealous Jeff, we have extra pairs!











Today we were invited to lunch by a former fellow teacher: Wonder. We ate lunch under this nice shade tree right outside his house. My mom is holding his five week old baby girl, Melody. Mom did well and was able to eat most of the food he served (yams, chicken, and a tomato gravy that was a bit too spicy for her), she also managed to eat with her right hand the whole time!!!! Success! We are going out for drinks with Wonder Friday night.

Hopefully some more pics tomorrow. It took FOREVER to load these pics tonight!

Celebrity Yevus

My Mom says she feels like a celebrity in Ghana! Since we are two yevus (white people) we do get a lot of stares and people that say 'hi' to us. The kids like to yell out yevu, yevu loudly from across the street to get our attention and a wave (a thumbs up or peace sign is always a hit). So needless to say my mom loves the attention. Three months of having people yell yavu at you definitely wears off that feeling. I have the tendency to ignore it, while she is stopping to shake hands and talk!

It is weird to come back to Ghana with someone that has never been. Even though it has been over a year and a half since I was here, it feels at times like I never left. Things here still feel so natural to me (of course they didn't originally, it took some time to get to that point). So sometimes I forget how weird or different things actually are here for my Mom. Though she is really taking in everything so well, that at times I feel like she has been here before too!

We are getting to spend a great amount of time with the children at the orphanage which is wonderful! The fact that we are staying there allows us to see the children in so many new ways. When we wake up they are there to give us hugs and are excited about the day, at night we have been privileged enough to enjoy the children's drumming, singing, and dancing performances, and we can even put Elolo to bed when he falls asleep in our lap. The kids have an amazing amount of energy all hours of the day, so Momma Carol and I are exhausted by the end of the day or have to take naps during the day!

We are down to our last week and plan to make everyday count with the children. I can't even bear to think about when we leave. =(

Mom Drank the Water!!!!!!!!

Today is the first day that the internet has been working and it is still super slow (sadly still no pics can be posted). I have been in the cafe for an hour now and have only checked two emails and logged onto this site!!!! One of the kids, Peace, is with my mom and me. A former volunteer set up email addresses for the kids and we are helping her check her email. Watching and helping her type an email is adorable!

Well, I must have a stomach made of steel. I spent three months here and had very few problems with the food (no matter where I bought it from), water, etc. My Mom on the other hand, made it four days and then was out of commission for about 2 days! She gave us a little scare on Saturday with being very tired and other ailments, but she is back to herself today! Good thing, because I think Sister Bernice was about to force us to go to the hospital (don't worry, she was overreacting a bit)...my mom and I were both in agreement, a stay in a Ghanaian hospital was not something either of us wanted to experience!

Today we celebrated one of the kids' birthdays. Noble turned 13, so we had a cake made at the local bakery with his name on it and had a little party this afternoon. We even managed to find a few balloons to decorate the house. Noble was definitely a little embarrassed with all the attention and singing, but he loved it. I got a big hug from him tonight when I left the house thanking me. These kids don't normally get their birthdays celebrated. The kids have started something new since I was last here. When they thank us for something, not only do they do the usual hug and thank you, but they also say 'May God bless you richly.' We have been receiving this wish all week for such small things really. We brought them used cloths from Goodwill and for that they want God to bless us richly. It is a beautiful thing really. Humbling.

Besides hanging out with the kids, I have gotten to introduce my Mom to several friends and show her around Ho a bit. I think Ho is quite a shock to her. Even though she has seen my pictures and videos, she still kept thinking we were going to 'the bush.' Now that we have walked on the streets and taken a few taxis she says New York is the only city she has ever seen that is busier than Ho (she is exaggerating a bit here). It is quite a metropolis! We have visited Auntie (the lady I stayed with last time) several times. She invited us to dinner last night....Mom needed to rest more though, so I went and it was great to taste her wonderful cooking again. We also went out to dinner with the volunteer coordinators from DiVOG (Robert, Richard, and DJ) on Friday night and got to catch up. They keep encouraging my mom to go out dancing! I am discouraging this! =) We also went to visit one of my fellow teachers at his new house and got to meet his wife and new baby. I went to church on Sunday with Keldi one of the few Ghanaian girls around my age that reached out to be my friend (I attended church with her several times before). I definitely lost my endurance though for Ghanaian church....after 3 1/2 hours of singing, dancing, and preaching in the heat, I had to leave church. Keldi stayed for another 45 minutes after me and it was still going on when she left!!!! My mom and I picked out Ghanaian fabric and are having outfits made for us and can hopefully wear these to church next week. We also let the kids pick out their own fabrics and are getting church outfits made for them!

We are being treated wonderfully at the orphanage and eating way too much food! They are always worried we are hungry! We lucked out with an indoor toilet and running water! However. we are getting to enjoy bucket baths! It is a little rough in the morning when I have to poor that cold water down my back. The weather has been very pleasant....cooler than the time I was here before (God IS blessing me richly!!!). It is the end of Ghana's rainy season, so the rain is helping to keep things cool. Though it has gotten very hot a few days (hot enough that Mom had to buy a sweat rag), but the evenings are a nice relief.

Now for the highlight of the post, a Word From Carol:

I do not write as well as my daughter, so please bear with me. I am so very pleased and blessed to be here with her making all of these memories.

I have had a very good time and yes have been under the weather just a little bit the last few days, but please know that all is well now. I had a long talk with God and told him that I could not be sick anymore. So far.....so good.

I have been taking a lot of pictures to document my experiences. Just wait till I get back.
For my Ashley friends.....wait till you see the competition.

When was the last time you saw children spend an entire day outside playing, these kids amaze me with their imaginations. No video games, computers or television non stop, an interesting concept, don't you think!!!!

Miss you all!!!! Carol

Momma Carol/Mummy

The internet here in Ghana has been down the past two days and is still touchy, so this will have to be a quick one! Momma Carol was worried though that our friends back home would worry! The kids have taken to my Mom very quickly and are calling her Mummy, which she of course loves. She says they are her African grandchildren and has already started crying at the thought of having to leave them!

Sadly, several of the kids that were here last year are now gone, went back to siblings, guardians, etc. I am sad not to see them but I am hopeful they are in good, loving arms now. Several new children are here now and are stealing our hearts very quickly! We will have pics tomorrow hopefully. Right now the kids have gone off with some other volunteers to a pool at the hotel. I don't think these kids have ever been swimming before, but they have a kiddie pool, so they should be full of stories for us when they return.

Okay, there is only one computer working in this cafe and now a line has formed of Ghanaians and they are starting at me! Gotta go......

We Made It!

Hello All!

My mom and I are in Ghana in Ho, Volta Region! It has been a long journey to get here, we made it into town around noon today after running through the Minneapolis airport to make our flight to Amsterdam (we had an hour lay over, but about five minutes after getting off the St. Louis plane, our next flight was being paged as last call for boarding-we ran what felt to be a mile), facing a broken down tro tro, and fleeing a taxi that was feared to about catch on fire! =) We're safe and happy now! We are being welcomed and taken care of very wonderfully at the orphanage! Seeing the children again feels great. It has been a year and a half since I have been here and I was a little worried that they may not really remember me all that well. Not the case at all. Within the first few minutes, after hugs and greetings, even the smallest children wanted me to play one of our old games I showed them.....steal the noses off their faces! They are all so adorable and have already taken a liking to Momma Carol. Sister Bernice, the lady that runs the orphanage, has gone all out for us so that we feel at home and is treating us like royalty. It feels good to know that she is just as excited to see us and we are her. She is giving my Mom quite the ego boost, telling her that there is no way she is '60' and that she looks younger than Ghanaians younger than her! CJ is eating it up, you better believe it!

My mom is doing great and embracing Africa like the adventurous and crazy woman that she is. She has already eaten with her hands (even though she was given a fork...she still wanted to try it like the Ghanaians), visited the ladies' urinal (while our tro tro was being fixed, it was on the side of the highway and of course was fixed right after she got in the restroom...I thought we were going to get left behind), and drank the water from the bag. No surprise to anyone, she is talking to everybody and making friends! I think she is a little shocked (relieved is probably a better choice of words) though that we are not staying in 'the bush,' which is what she kept referring Ghana to before we got here!

We are going to head back to the orphanage and unpack our bags and figure out the best plan to spoil these kids with all the fun stuff we brought (thanks to the folks that gave stuff for us to bring as well)!

Pics, more updates, and a word from Carol later!

Alicia

Here I go again....back to Ghana!!!!!!

Well if you couldn't tell from my original blog and knowing me in general, I loved my time volunteering in Ghana. It was an incredible learning experience about our world, how lucking I am, and how loving and accepting people can be. I made some wonderful friends while I was there amongst my fellow teachers, the volunteer coordinators, other volunteers, and my favorite ladies selling items on the street. I was also touched deeply by the children at the SWODC orphanage and the lady that started it, Sister Bernice. Despite the hand they have been dealt in life, they have a great ability to love and desire to succeed.

While I was excited to return home last year (three months without AC was hard), leaving Ghana and those kids was honestly, devastating. It felt like a great loss and I when I first got home I think I experienced some strange form of grief. At that time, I had no idea when (if ever) I would get to return to see these amazing people again. But I am so unbelievably blessed to have the opportunity to once again go to Ghana. I am also so unbelievably blessed to have an amazing, adventurous mother that wants to share in this experience with me and will be going to Ghana as well. My mom and I have been through a lot together, but wow, this will really be a new experience for us! For those of you that know my mom, she is really energetic and strong.....but still this is a big stretch for her. So, I will be sure to try to capture her reactions to 'Africa' as much as possible, it will definitely be good for some laughs with the fam. But really, I am so proud of her and that she is willing and wants to do this with me.

Since I left Ghana, a number of things have been going on at the orphanage and I feel I am needed there more now than ever. The timing of this trip is turning out to be perfect because things are in a bit of disarry. In the past year and a half my mom and I have sponsored one of the children specifically, Elolo and have helped overall by sending items and gifts to all the kids. Elolo is the one I am sure I talked the most about before and dominates most of my pictures. He is six years old now, but is very small and behind for his age. He was very malnourished and neglected early in life which stunted his growth. To help get him caught up and able to start attending school, we paid for him to have a private tutor come to the orphanage four days a week. He was enrolled in kindergarten this past year and has been slowly improving. I am anxious to see for myself how he is faring.

The orphanage has had some difficulties with its current property and will have to relocate this November. A new location still has not been found. Due to a lack of finances and the impending move, where these children will end up is still unknown. Another volunteer that has also been deeply involved with the orphanage has just set up a foundation with her husband to help support the education of the children. The thought right now is that given all the other troubles and the poor public education system, that it may be best for the children to go to a boarding school in town. This will ensure they are getting the best education possible and that they are fully supported. There will be more to come on this after my mom and I get there and can assess things on our own. The foundation, which I am very excited is now up and running, is called Hopkins Foundation. It can be found at http://www.hopkinsfoundation.org/. I met Josephine and her husband when I was there earlier and they are amazing people with big hearts. They have been helping these kids on there own for the past two years.

My mom and I will be staying at the orphanage with Sister Bernice so that we can spend as much time with the kids as possible. Our suitcases are full of gifts for the kids and friends! We plan to spoil these kids for the two weeks we're there. Above all we want them to know that they are loved. I also plan to visit the school where I taught and have lots of friends to see. And of course, while I am not staying with Auntie this time, I do hope that my mom will get to try out her cooking! I actually miss some of the food there and eating with my hands! =)

We arrive in Ghana's capitol, Accra, on Monday Aug 19 and will travel to Ho in the Volta Region the next morning. I will hopefully have the first post up on Tuesday or Wednesday.