Ghana: Is it an Addiction?

It seems I am only good at blogging when I am in Ghana (which makes sense....this is a blog about Ghana). However, my friend Maasen told me I was about to be bumped off of her list of ‘blogs she follows’ (www.maasenyourface.blogspot.com), so I figured I better get back to Ghana and get blogging! Besides this pressure to blog, I’m sure any of you reading this knows by now, that I am just in love with my kids in Ghana and can’t bear to stay away too long....I admit it may be an addiction, but what a good one! This wasn’t a trip planned in advance, it all came together in a matter of weeks. Like so many times before, the timing and logistics of this trip just fell into place and felt right. So I took the plunge and if God is willing, I will get to visit Ghana twice this year. The original plan was to come in the fall with my mom again; she couldn’t take time off work this early in the year, so I am traveling solo. While it seems a little strange not to have her here this time, I am also looking forward to being selfish and having the kids all to myself and being able to walk more places (sorry mom-love you)! Plus it really reminds me of when I was here the first time. I even traveled by myself from the airport this time (a first)!

While I only arrived in Sokode today at 11am, I’ve already had a full and wonderful day catching up and have felt great after my 18 hour journey (fyi- I really wrote this Friday night, but just now posting)! My travels here couldn’t have gone any easier- thank you to those who prayed for just that! From the lack of traffic on Highway 270 at 8:45am to the angelic curbside luggage checker that helped me get my bags to weigh under 50 lbs to the entertaining and inspiring Ghanian man sitting next to me on the plane to the relatively comfortable tro-tro ride, I felt God’s hand all the way.

Since the kids are in multiple places now (boarding school, Bernice’s/’the orphanage,’ and her mom’s house), I made multiple trips around town to let them know I was here. There are currently six kids in the boarding school thanks to everyone that helped our fundraising efforts (there were originally seven, but Princilla proved to be too young to stay there and is at another school now and living with Constance). I got to tour the school and see where the kids sleep. They are adorable, the boys all have the top bunks- three in a row, with Sammy in the bottom middle bed. The girls sleep in a bunk together too. They seem to be doing well and when I drilled them about the school, they still said they really like it, just the food could be a little better. They have final exams next week that they need to pass to advance to the next level, so this will be a true test to see how much they have learned.

Thank you to the many people that provided items for me to bring along on this trip! I stuffed two large suitcases full with lots of clothes, toys, crafts, vitamins, and old phones! It is a privilege to be the distributer of such great gifts and to see the smiles!

We have a day at the pool and shopping for new shoes planned for Saturday and a visit to see Awoenam. Bernice tells me she has grown a lot already in the past 6 months and this is incredible news! I’ll work on getting some pics of her and the other kids on here soon!