Post Trip Update

Three weeks wasn't enough time in many ways. 22 days in Ghana and I still couldn't manage to post many updates. To be honest, even when there was time, my mind was in too much of a fog. So here are pictures and updates from this amazing trip.

All the kids were out of school this time, the first in many years, and all came to stay with us at Sister Bernice's house. We ended up with some extra kids as usual so there were a total 26 people staying in this house. It was interesting, fun, trying and crazy at times.





A creative boy. He made his own drum out of a tin can, paper and a rubber band!



Peace and Princilla making colored rubber band bracelets. This was a special 'girls-only' activity and being left out was torture to the boys. We had several knocks at the door and attempts to invade. Afterward, several boys somehow got themselves some of these prizes to wear proudly.



My sweet and beautiful Sika. She just won the belt she's wearing during one of our many bingo games that week!



Lots of love.


 



This is Sweety. =) She is one of our next door neighbors who is in the yard most days and loves Momma Carol and me. She has two sisters (Blessing and Peace) and two brothers (Shepherd and Wisdom). Wisdom is kind of like Waldo in 'Where is Waldo' because he was everywhere we were but we often didn't know it until he would just appear!




Preparing lunch for all these kids. I look very helpful, don't I?




Sister Bernice hosted a group of 30+ high school volunteers (from Global Leadership Adventures; they happened to be on my plane on the way there) on day to learn about her history with the kids and helping the community. The group paid for a day of cultural entertainment (drums and dancing) and lunch for local kids; over 100. Here's the dancers warming up. 



The drummers.



My once little Noble is about to enter high school. So proud of him. Currently, he is interested in the medical field. So we arranged for him to help with a medical outreach event one day that my friend Richard's group was conducting in a nearby village. Noble loved it. He got to observe the doctor as he was consulting and treating patients.




Neighbor kids making jewelry. Always a favorite activity.



I was a little too excited to find wine available at this restaurant at the local hotel! This was a kid free night for Momma Carol and me and we were ready for it. I didn't order this whole bottle. Here's how the conversation went. ME: do you sell this wine by the glass or the whole bottle. OUR SERVER: yes. ME: Hmm, ok. Can I just order a glass of wine? OUR SERVER: yes. ME: Great, I'll have a glass of this. But just a glass right, not the whole bottle. OUR SERVER: yes, a glass. ME. Great. ME to MOMMA CAROL: uh oh, pretty sure, I'm getting that whole bottle.
What did I get? A glass and the entire bottle. =) Oh well. Luckily, some friends met up with us a little later so it didn't go to waste.



Look at these big kids! L-R: Edem, Peace, Princilla, Sika, Elikim, Emma

While at one of the 'real' stores (aka. has walls and a door) I bought a tub of ice cream for a real treat. We all enjoyed on our last day. Frank- lover of all things Cardinals. Though I still don't think he understands they're a baseball team.



Sammy. Pausing from his soccer game.




Sammy, Jr (Bernice's grandson), Edem, Peace, Patricia and the boy. We were in the middle of the busy market just after buying shoes. They were embarrassed because there were so many people walking by and looking at them getting their picture taken by a yevu. I was struggling to get smiles. I managed this by threatening to start yelling to get EVERY ONE'S attention in the market. See, I am definitely a mom! 



These two are always hungry! They may differ in size, but they're good buddies.



Peace, Patricia, Princilla and I stopped in the parks and garden department to tour their beautiful plants.

Sweet Awoenam. Big Momma from the US once again spoiled this girl. Thank you, Monica, for this fancy barbie complete with many dress options!

He may be a big boy now, but I can still pick up this sleepy boy.

To add to the excitement of travel in Ghana, the bridge over the lake is closed for the next couple of years and now a ferry is used to get vehicles across. This worked well for us on a weekday when we went to pick up Momma Carol from the airport. But on the weekends the traffic is horrible and the wait for the ferry is over an hour! Yikes.



Momma Carol was the 'hostess' of the house and in the center of this party when the volunteers came. Big surprise. She got the kids and guests out dancing in the middle!

The Mighty Sea

Thanks to some amazing friends, we were able to take the kids to the ocean for the second time. We went two years ago and for most of the kids it was the first time they saw the ocean. Because of school, a couple of the older boys weren't on the first trip. We all got to go this time. Thank you Amy, Alyssa, and Holly! It was a great day for all of us to just be big kids and play. We went to a beach in a town called Denu, near the Togo border. On the way home we took a detour to see the Ghana-Togo border.

It was a great day away from the house and chores. We even packed rice, stew and chicken so we could take a break and easily enjoy some good food. I enjoyed seeing the kids play so freely, I loved seeing the strong waves of this rough sea and remembering the immense size of God's creation, and I truly enjoyed their loud, off key singing the entire ride to the beach (especially when they started singing worship songs I taught themfive years ago)! What a blessing and great way to end our trip. 


Most of our kids are no longer kids, they're teenagers, which means they're big. We no longer fit in just one tro tro! This year we also got a car so we'd have extra room.



This big boys (Elikim, Emma and Noble) got to be the big shots riding in the car along with Bernice's mother and Gloria.

We found some fishermen selling fresh fish and crabs.

This is Richard. He was never part of Sister Bernice's home but is sponsored through the Hopkins Foundation for school. He attends a boarding school with Noble, Emma, Sammy and Frank so he came and stayed with us for the three weeks. He is SO sweet and loves to read. Also, he isn't afraid of crabs.

They may be big, but they still love to play. Noble, Patience and Emma (L-R)

They couldn't go far into the water- the waves were too rough and only one of them knows how to swim, but they were entertained for hours walking in and running from the waves. Once again, the boys were a little too brave but no one went too far.

We saw lots of fishing boats.

This beach is part of a small village, so we saw lots of locals coming to buy fresh fish from the fishermen.

It was actually a bit chilly since it is the rainy season and it was overcast all day. Plus the wind coming off the water was strong. But these kids didn't complain, some even got in their swimming suits.

Emma, Elikim and Noble on the left. The tro tro driver is on the right. He is actually filling a large 10+ gallon container of salt water for Sister Bernice. She swears that bathing in it is really good for the skin. I was a little worried and made sure to warn them all against drinking it. Because of the Ebola concerns in West Africa, there was a myth in Nigeria about drinking and bathing in salt water to prevent Ebola. Two people there died because of drinking it. I wanted to make sure that she wasn't buying into that myth.   

School bags, shoes, clothes and swimming!





Thanks to so many generous people, our kids and others were showered with new backpacks, shoes, a pool day, and many nights of bingo with prizes! There were also a lot of needs around the house with repairs needed for the sink, water pipes and an electric pole. And many trips to the market were made to keep enough food stocked to feed this house full of kids!

Thank you Joe and Lynda for the school bags and support. We were able to bless a few extra kids with new school bags as well!



This boy loved his bag so much he wore it while playing! =)



Peace.

Sika

Our own shoe store! Each kid got a new pair of shoes. They wanted to line them up like this to show them all off. Buying shoes was a fun adventure this year. Momma Carol and I each took a small group separately to the market, told them the max price and let them pick their pair and negotiate on their own while we hid so that the price didn't suddenly increase! =)

The boys have very unique styles!

Frank in his big green kicks.

The boys are clothes shopping in our room. I always have them draw numbers to see who picks first.

Joshua and Noble.

Elikim and Sammy. The brothers.

The girls took much longer making their choices than the boys!



These two never fail to crack me up. Noble and Emma took the girl's dresses and purses and put on a fashion show.



Pool day with the girls.

The boys' turn.

Dry land

The initial steps of this journey sure have been challenging, but we are here safely and are blessed. Our separate travels went well and Momma Carol got a fun surprise when I picked her up from the airport on Tuesday. I can't say much on here about the other activities happening other than there has been some movement. Slow, but positive and hopefully something more concrete after a meeting next Tuesday. More to come....