The Times They Are A Changing

I'm atempting to download pictures, but some things in Ghana haven't changed much since my first trip five years ago. That process remains painfully slow. But we're helping two of the older children with email right now and they aren't the quickest, so I have some time.

While downloading is still slow, many other things have changed or are changing. I saw it during the first trip and continue to see the impact of technology: TV, internet, facebook, etc. These things have been in Ghana and show just the truly small size of our world. You, our friends and family in the US, probably think we are so far away in 'the bush.' We are far away, the plane ride proves that point, but we see signs for Nestle, tons of items made in China, Christmas trees in the capitol city, email being checked on cell phones and many young girls choosing jeans over the African skirts and dresses worn by the older generations. We are also hearing Akon and Christmas songs on the radio It is interesting and sometimes sad to watch.

There is also incredible inflation in Ghana. That helps our money go further, but isn't good for the Ghanians. Prices seem to change each time I'm here, keeping me on my toes!

The past two nights we've had friends come visit us. Richard, who runs the internet cafe where we're sitting and gave my mom that beautiful African dress during her first visit, has conitued to be a huge blessing for us as he helps Sister Bernice and the children quite often. We joked with him that he probably screens Sister Bernice's calls! I'm sure he does. Yesterday, our friend Sylvester came over after he was finished teaching for the day. He just started teaching this September, third grade and says he loves his students. He is teaching and now living in a small village about 30 minutes from Sokode/Ho that doesn't have running water and no internet cafes. Luckily he isn't too far from Ho. My mom and I were originally going to travel to his school yesterday during classes to meet his students; he really wanted us to meet them. He told me the trip wasn't far and we could just catch a tro tro in Sokode. No problem. Upon talking with Sister Bernice about how exactly to get to the school, she told us we could not go because we would take a tro tro only part of the way. We would have to get off the tro tro and then travel the remainder of the trip on a bumby, pothole-filled dirt road on the back of a......MOTOBIKE (a motorcycle)!!!! Ha, ha, ha....I just cracked up, as did Sister Bernice and my mom! My mom on the back of a motorcycle....in Ghana, with no helmet, on the bumby roads, with a complete, random Ghanian that could easily highjack us! Yeah right! Oh, my dear friend Sylvester....what were you thinking? I asked him that when he came to see us at Sister Bernice's. He also cracked up and said he just really, really wanted us to come see him. I'm up for the adventure! =) So I told him I would come to see him, but Momma Carol would be staying home that day AND that he would have to come meet me at the junction where we get on the motorcycles. I don't want to be highjacked!!!! Just kidding, I don't really think that would happen....I don't think...

We're off to see little Awoenam this evening to take her new dresses, shoes and a baby doll. We've seen her twice already. The first time we saw her, we were walking near her house to the taxi junction in Sokode with some of the kids and she came running to the street straight up to my mom (who she hasn't see in two years) with her arms extended outward for a big hug! No surprise my mom was in tears! It's amazing that she recognized her (especially since she was being watched by a neighbor, sister Pat wasn't there prompting her) and she wasn't shy or scared; she came running quite a distance to the road! She looks WONDERFUL! She is almost five years old and quite tall, which is a miracle given her previous small size and malnourishment. She is thriving!

Oh succes, the pictures loaded! Here are a few:

Awoenam. My posts from 2008 show her when she was first brought to Sister Bernice.

Wallasy (Frank)-the first day we went to see him this is what he had on, a Cardinals shirt! He had no idea of the significance, that the Cardinals are a baseball team, etc. Wow, I think this was just a little playful arrangement from God.

Sister Bernice relaxing in the afternoon (on a mattress outside in the yard =) with Delalia, the son of one of her friends...he is a serious chunker!

Momma Carol passing out little toy dinosaurs to the kids.

Fish and Loaves

Jesus multiplied the small amount of fish and loaves, available to his followers out in the countryside, into an overflowing amount of food that resulted in everyone being filled and having leftovers and that is exactly what he has been doing to our energy levels, strength, love, toys, and treats for the kids! After an incredibly taxing and extended time of traveling to Sister Bernice's, my mom and I 'should' be experiencing jet lag exhaustion and slow to get going and we are tired, but luckily we're supplied with more than our own strength! We also received an outpouring of kindness and support before we left for our trip with donations of items and money for the children. Those donations already seem to be going so far!

Our travels from the airport to Sokode on Friday took about three hours longer than usual but we got there in time to still enjoy the birthday dinner Sister Bernice so kindly prepared, a little Ghanaian beer (a special birthday treat), several birthday cards (one from the kids), and a gift of beautiful Ghanaian fabric! The past two days have been full and productive. School is currently in session with seven of the kids in four different boarding schools (all of which are in different towns and none in Sokode or Ho)-yikes! The rest of the kids go to school during the day and stay with Sister Bernice, her mom or Sister Constance. We spent the weekend gathering and visiting the majority of the children and meeting some needs of the neighborhood children (many of whom are very dirty). We've already traveled to the closest boarding school (~30 minutes away) to see four of the children: Noble, Patricia, Emmanuel and Edem. They have strict visiting hours, so we can't bring them home for the weekend, but we were prepared for that reality and really enjoyed our time with them. We took treats, backpacks, clothes and games. My sweet, sweet Noble who has grown into such a handsome young man (he's 15!) paraded my mom and me through the school grounds, while holding our hands, to meet one of his teachers and the two priests that run the school. This was touching because one, he is a teenager now and is still so affectionate and two, the fact he is associated with two white people could result in more questions and expectations of what he 'has' than its worth. But he didn't care. He was proud and we were blown away.

On Saturday we took Elolo and the twins to Bernice's mom's house to pick up Sika, Wallasy (Frank) and Selasie (who I haven't seen since my first trip...she'd been with a foster family, but they could no longer take care of her, so they sent her back to Bernice). Wallasy (12 years) did not know that we were coming to Ghana. His reaction and hug would melt anyone's heart. Actually the greeting received from both he and Noble brought tears to my eyes. These boys are getting big. But their long, loving hugs, wow....the only way I can describe the way they looked hugging my mom and felt hugging me was like when I'm sad or struggling and go to my mom for that all comforting, protective hug (yes, still now). I felt like we were that comforting, protective place for them. A friend from church prayed that we would get to see a little of the seeds that we're planting in these children's hearts. He showed us those seeds in those hugs...such a beautiful gift to see and feel. Thank you, Lord.

Wallasy, Sika and Elolo somehow convinced me (it doesn't take much, just a little excitement in their eyes, a please and I say 'of course we can') to take them and eight other children (four of which were random neighborhood kids) to a trade show that was in town for the weekend. It was a huge market! After my mom, 11 children and I peeled ourselves out of one taxi (totally legal....and really safe...), we had to institute a buddy system and emergency 'if you get lost' plan...we're insane! But we all stayed together and saw lots of cool Ghanaian crafts. Each kid got 5 Ghana cedis (about $3.50) to purchase whatever they wanted from the show. All eleven kids went to the first toy stand we saw and bought everything from just this one man! Ha, he made out well that day! Actually two of the girl we're very smart shoppers and still had money leftover for snacks!

There's much more as usual: all the kids stayed with us last night and we had a big family dinner with fried chicken for all (thanks to the contributions we received), made jewelry (which the boys took over), passed out toys and food to the neighborhood kids, a big grocery shopping trip to the market this morning, and even bathing a dirty boy! After two days of seeing a little two-year old boy coming to Sister Bernice's filthy, in the same dirt-filled clothes with a runny nose and cough and just wanting to be held and loved by us, my mom nor I could resist. Sister Bernice sent him home the first day for his mother to bathe him. She sent him back the same way the 2nd day. So we picked him up and took inside with us to the bathroom, scrubbed him down and bathed that little baby. His big eyes just watched and he held on. We took him to our room and, by God's grace, we actually had clothes small enough for him. So he got a clean shirt and shorts and an oatmeal pie.That's what led to feeding the neighborhood kids. If that boy is that dirty, who knows if those kids get good meals. I was very impressed with 'our' kids (Sister Bernice's kids), they helped me buy bread, nuts, and chicken, cut if up and distribute to the neighbor children, even though they knew they weren't getting any. It was a beautiful opportunity to teach them about helping others. Even though they don't have much, they have enough and they can share with those that have even less. I think they actually taught me with their willingness and quickness to embrace that idea with no push back. They are great kids!

Lord, keep multiplying!

...you did for me

We leave tomorrow for my fifth and my mom's third trip to Ghana! Wow! We truly are blessed! Thank you to everyone who has supported us with love, prayers, encouragement and donations!

Last week I started reading 'Kisses from Katie.' If any of you know this book, you know I probably really shouldn't be reading it....because it is exactly what I am suppose to read. The book found me and just a few days after buying it (I had never heard of it before but saw it on a table at Barnes and Noble and fought the urge to walk away from it), a friend asked if I had ever read it. Yep, so I'm reading it. It is joyful, but it hurts. Katie makes a really good observation in her book (she went to Uganda in 2007 for the first time to work with orphans, the same time as my first trip to Ghana); it is so good in fact that I am just going to steal it and copy it here. It's about the least of these...like from Matthew 25:40....“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

From Kisses from Katie, by Katie Davis:

'The truth is that there are children like this all over the world, sick, starving, dying, unloved, and uncared for. The truth is that the 143 million orphaned children and the 11 million who starve to death or die from preventable diseases and 8.5 million who work as child slaves, prostitutes, or under other horrific conditions and the 2.3 million who live with HIV add up to 164.8 million needy children. And though at first glance that looks like a big number, 2.1 billion people on this earth claim to be Christians. 

The truth is that if only 8 percent of the Christians would care for one more child, there would not be any statistics left. That is the Truth.'

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Matthew 25:45.

To the ends of the earth......again!

Dear Family and Friends,

We are truly blessed to once again be able to return to Ghana and share love with our kids at the Save Widows and Orphans Development Centre (December 1-15). We would like to share our blessings with you by inviting you to be a part of our mission. While we get to see, firsthand, the joy and appreciation on the kids’ faces when they feel loved and seen, you can be the one that helps them feel that joy. You can be a part of making these kids feel special, safe and loved. There are several ways to get involved and any help is greatly appreciated. Here are some things that would be very helpful and loved by the kids.

*Wish list items to take with us (we’re now restricted to only one suitcase each, but we’ll still pack them full!):

·         Children’s vitamins

·         Kids projects (self-contained, light weight): LEGO models, model airplanes, jewelry kits, etc

·         Arts & Crafts: construction paper, scissors, glue, markers, scissors, etc

·         Games (simple, i.e. Connect Four, Chutes & Ladders, checkers)

·         Kids/Preteen DVDs

·         Worship CDs, music

·         Girl clothes (age 2-4)

*While the age-level guides and interest of kids in Ghana do not correlate exactly with kids in the US, all the children are over the age of seven years (except one three-year-old girl). There are 15 kids.

Due to tighter luggage restrictions, the majority of our gifts for the kids will be bought in Ghana. In past years, several friends and family have blessed the children with monetary donations allocated for specific items or activities during our trip. Below are some examples of on the ground purchases. If you would like to help in this way, we’ll provide specifics on the use of your donation (what, how many and pictures of the kids enjoying your kindness). 

*Wish list purchases in Ghana:

·         Shoes (~$6-8, nice school shoes)

·         Clothes (made specifically for each child, ~$10/each)

·         Fish/chicken for meals at home (protein foods cost more, which means they’re offered less often; ~$20-one meal, all kids)

·         Sweet treats (ice cream; ~$1.00)

·         Pool fun day out ($30 all kids)

·         Special meals out (~$30 all kids)

·         Hiking trek in nearby village (~$40.00, travel to/from included)

·         Soccer balls (~$5.00)

*School costs remain the number one major fundraising need for the children. Currently, the school needs are just barely being met on a year-to-year basis through the One by One Foundation (started by our good friend and fellow volunteer, Josephine Hopkins; formerly named the Hopkins Foundation). School donations are greatly appreciated and can be made directly to the One by One Foundation online at www.hopkinsfoundation.org. All donations are used specifically for our kids’ boarding school fees and supplies.

*Most importantly, we ask for your prayers that we have a safe, healthy, joyful, and purposeful trip.

Happy Holidays and God Bless!

Carol and Alicia

Carol’s contact information:

cjmj2002@yahoo.com

314-954-6961

Alicia’s contact information:

aliciamjohnson@yahoo.com

217-418-0070

One by One Foundation

www.hopkinsfoundation.org

208-455-8144

2922 E Cleveland Blvd, Suite 322

Caldwell, ID 83605

A Glimpse of Ghana

A glimpse of my area in Ghana:





Ho is a busy area, this picture is near the market and usually the busiest area of town....there are even billboards!

You can buy fabric or already made shirts here!

Beauty and trash.

These are the open drainage ditches. Luckily I did not fall in this one! =)

Shoes for sale!

A seamstress near Sister Bernice's house that sewed me a dress. After this photo she made me sit down and pretend I was the seamstress and she took my picture!

This is one of the most common areas to get food; I've shown pics of others that have walls and look nicer and then occassionally you can find a sitdown and order place.

Shirts for sale.

Convenience Store.

I enjoyed lots of pineapple this trip. They cut it for you right there so you can enjoy immediately! Mmmmm.

Cooking at Sister Bernices. Instead of putting food on the stove, we put it on 'the fire' which is really the charcoal pit.

Who needs a food processor? Peace is smashing tomatoes, onion, and red pepper into a liquid form.

Almost the whole crew.

The kids making suncatchers (thank you Amy)!

How many kids can we fit into a tro tro? This is on the way to Mt. Gemi.

Noble is the competitive one, so it is no surprise that this game turned intense!

How Beautiful Upon the Mountain

The house was full of kids this weekend! Everyone came home Friday night to enjoy a great family dinner of fufu, chicken and stew. Saturday morning we headed to Amezode, which is about 45 mins from Ho and where my friend Sylvester attends Teaching College. We met up with him for a tour of his school and town and then we climbed Mt. Gemi.

If you zoom in on the mountain, you'll see a cross at the very top that was erected by German missionaries. The teaching college was originally a school for the missionaries.









School buildings.









Cimbing and climning.

We made it! I'm not sure why, but when I was taking the pic I made everyone raise their hands and say number one!!!

The drive to Amezode was beautiful through the forest; the road there was recently paved but there was one section (about 3 miles) that hadn't been worked on yet. We went from cruising along on smooth pavement to traveling about 10 mph on this bumpy, dirt road.

Big Dinner at the House: The two other yavus in the picture are two current volunteers with a group called Project Abroad. They are staying in one of Sister Bernice's rooms since they are teaching in a nearby school; it is a great way for her to earn a little extra money!

Some pics

Emmanual and me at Dora Memorial School. I visited the children after classes on Tuesday, took them some snacks, and played a little frisbee. Tomorrow afternoon I pick them up for the weekend.

Oranges. They may look yellow, but they are delicious. This is a common way to enjoy them in Ghana: the peel is cut off and the top is sliced so that you can squeeze the orange and drink the juice straight from the orange.

Elolo wearing a hat that says One For Haiti. The Board of Education rolled out a program to assist with the earthquake relief efforts and asked all school children to bring in one Ghana Cedi (a little less than $1). Great iniative; however, the schools are being very strict with it and any student not bringing in a cedi gets sacked (sent home until they bring the money). Sika was sent home Monday at 10am, so I gave her a cedi and one for the rest of the kids. Like I said great iniative but not so great when orphans get kicked out of school because they can't afford to even donate the money-seems to be defeating the whole endeavor, doesn't it?

On the outdoor patio at the hotel kicking back.

A meal cooked by Sister Bernice's mother: yams (love them), stew and noodles (this is a new one, haven't seen these noodles added to the mix before).

A little frisbee action.

It finally happened! SorryO!

I believe in one of my earliest posts from my time here as a volunteer, I mentioned that the streets are lined with drainage/sewer ditches and that some are covered but most are not. I think I also mentioned that my worst fear was that I would walk straight into one. Well, it has taken a while, but it finally happened....I stepped right into one last night! Hahahahaha! I’m fine which is why I am laughing about it!

It was dark out and I was near the market with six of the kids about to get in a taxi (we had just finished dinner after spending the afternoon playing some games and enjoying cold sodas at Freedom hotel-has the pool). Wallasy is always a little gentleman and opens the front door for me to get in the taxi. So last night he opens the door and just as I am saying thank you, I step forward and my left foot feels nothing beneath it. The taxi was parked right in front of this small hole, barely bigger than my foot and wouldn’t you know, I manage to step directly in the middle of it. My leg went down clear to my upper thigh!!!! I was fine, just very shocked. All the kids freaked out trying to help me up, the taxi driver was crawling across the seat and I was laughing! Also thanking the Lord that there was nothing wet or disgusting that I sank into! Phew! I was also thankful that I was hidden by the taxi door and on the side of the street with not many people, so I didn’t have a huge audience! I managed to get out of the hole with just a bruise on my thigh and two minor scrapes. However, the whole mishap alerted me to another Ghanaian phrase. The word ‘sorry’ or 'sorryo' is used when someone gets hurt, falls, or trips; similar to asking someone ‘are you okay.’ So I had every kid and the taxi driver saying ‘Sorry’ to me and when we got home, they of course told grandma right away so she would look at my leg and she said ‘sorry’ too!

Awoenam

YEA!!!! Awoenam is growing healthy and bigger! Awoenam is the three-year old girl we met on the last trip that had recently been brought to Sister Bernice because of concerns she was not being taken care of properly by her sister. I finally got to see her yesterday and can’t possibly describe the joy! She looks so happy and beautiful and she is talking! Sister Pat, the woman that is caring for her in her house, is such a loving and wonderful, new mom to Awoenam. I have no doubt that she is in great hands. My mom loves Awoenam and developed a very special bond with her last time, so she did some extra shopping for Awoenam and sent many dresses (or as Sister Pat said, the dresses are plenty) with me, as well as the cutest, sun hat, shoes, and baby doll (it even says mama and cries). I again had the great privilege of sharing these items with her and I WISH I had captured on video Awoenam’s response to the doll! She absolutely loves it and won’t let go of it; she is being a very good mommy and giving the baby lots of hugs and kisses! She even fed the baby some of her candy I brought! The dresses my mom sent are adorable and I will hopefully be able to load a pic of her in one of her complete outfits. I was able to learn more about Sister Pat and Awoenam yesterday (I won't lie, I really was questioning why Pat would take in a child...what was in it for her...isn't that awful?). First off, Pat has one son that is 24 and lives in Accra. When I commented that now she has the chance to raise a girl, she responded with ‘thanks to God’s grace.’ She really feels honored to do this and her love and care for Awoenam shows through; I can tell Awoenam loves her too. Awoenam’s mother died and her father either left or also died, leaving Awoenam’s older sister to care for her. Her sister was only in high school and she became pregnant and dropped out of school. Pat and other neighbors noticed that Awoenam was malnourished and not being watched after, so someone came to Bernice for assistance (because of her organization for orphans). Sister Pat offered to take in Awoenam if her sister agreed to register her with Bernice. Pat has a big heart; she also cares for her aunt who has suffered a stroke and cannot walk. Thank God for people like Pat!

Awoenam in one of her outfits from Mama Carol (or as Pat kept referring to her, Big Mama in the US -sorry mom, I know you will hate the sound of that- but I am Little Mama, Sister Pat is Mama, and you're Big Mama =)).

She had some great smiles playing with her baby, but of course I couldn't capture any. Whenever she knew I was taking a pic she would look at the camera very seriously. I kept telling her to smile and show her teeth; her response was to open her mouth wide and 'show me her teeth.' Love it!

She was also very excited about this hat! At one point I took it off because it was in the way. When her neighbor came by, she ran for the hat to put it on and show off!

Here are the new shoes so far:

Wallasy, Elolo, and Sika

Thank you Sister Cassie!

Living the Good Life

Even though my friends here speak English to me, they have some different sayings that I didn’t always understand at first. Now, even though I can still only speak a small amount of Ewe, I find myself speaking their English dialect to communicate more effectively (I’ve caught myself once or twice saying these at home too). Here are a few examples:

If you only want a small amount of an item or there is only a little of something left, you describe it as ‘small, small.’ For example, ‘I speak Ewe small, small.’

If you have a lot, if something is full, the word ‘plenty’ is used versus I have enough. For example ‘the tomatoes were plenty at the market.’

If someone has a cut or other injury, instead of being hurt, it is described as the cut is ‘paining’ them.

If something is broken, it is described as ‘spoiled or finished.’

If a pen runs out of ink or the food runs out, it is also ‘finished.’

If you want to get out of a tro tro or taxi, you want to ‘alight.’

Home is referred to as ‘the house.’ Example: Will you be in the house at 10am or I am going to the house.

If you are leaving or walking away from someone but will be returning, you say ‘I am coming’ or vacaba in Ewe (this one really tripped me up at first). Someone would say to me I am coming and then walk away from me and I wouldn’t see them for another two hours! =)

This is small, but I enjoy it for some reason: The response to ‘good morning’ is usually met with a ‘fine morning.’ I think I’ll try that more often; it just seems less robotic to me.

One of my favorite things to say in Ewe that is very helpful when spending lots of time with the kids: caba, caba! Which means: quickly, quickly!

Our swimming adventure on Saturday, once again was successful. Since my mom wasn’t here, Grandma (Bernice’s mom) came with us to help me keep an eye on the kids (not that she can swim). There was a beautiful wedding taking place at the hotel, which meant a lot of additional Ghanaian children were hanging around. So my kids and I had an audience of about 10 kids and several adults staring at us in the pool! In this area of Ghana, swimming is not something they do for fun nor do most people know how to swim because areas to swim are not plenty. =) One of the boys, Emmanuel, spent some time near one of the fishing villages, so he is the only one that actually knew how to swim and he even beat me in a race (I was actually trying to win)!

After swimming we found a place that could feed and sit all us (13 in total) and thanks to my Aunt Dorles I was able to treat the kids to a good dinner out. I asked the kids what they would choose to eat if they could have anything they wanted for dinner (I named all the Ghanian dishes and options, which are some good ones and asked if they wanted fish, chicken, or even goat...yuck) and they ALL said RICE and chicken!!! What? Rice, seriously? I’ve seen them get served rice multiple meals in a day, so this was surprising. I asked again and they were in a agreement. Luckily the place we found served fried rice also, so they all at least got something a little different and tastier. They also got pepper stew and fried chicken; it all looked delicious (I was the only one that ordered the more traditional dish, fufu)! They were a very happy group! Thank you Aunt Dorles; they will still be getting some fish later this week as well!

I haven’t experienced any real jet lag the first few days here and have been so thankful for high energy levels! I even managed to get a run in yesterday (this is the first time I have ever worked out in Ghana; Ghana is usually a work out in itself)! I woke up very early to avoid the heat. I set my alarm for 5:00am, right when it starts getting light, but I was actually awake at 4:30 excited for the day! I went to the stadium in Ho which meant having to find a tro tro or taxi that early in the morning on a Sunday, luckily it was market day so it didn’t take long. One of the boys Wallasy came with me to keep me safe (mmmm...he’s 12 and weighs maybe 80 lbs), so I let him listen to my IPOD while I ran. It felt great and I will be heading there again tomorrow!

Speaking of running, I have to share how matter of fact Ghanaians are with weight. While it is such a sensitive subject in our culture, they just view it as any other characteristic, such as hair color. So when describing another Ghanian person that is overweight, they have no hesitation in saying, the big girl and they hold out their arms in a way to mimic being big. It could be offensive if it wasn’t so shocking and funny. Anyways, they are usually a little more sensitive to foreigners because they know our culture treats this differently. However, now that I have been running more, I do weigh less than previous trips. So my friends here keep telling me, ‘wow, you reduced.’ Our friend Richard (from internet café and helps Bernice) was the funniest about this, he was commenting that I reduced and we started talking about running, etc. Then he said, ‘good you are no longer heavy. Why is it that Americans are always so fat?’ Ha, ha, ha! Oh my goodness. Not sure how I should have taken this whole conversation, should I have been offended? Maybe, but I wasn’t at all, he wasn’t trying to be mean, just stating the truth. He even did the arm mimic when he was talking about the American volunteers he’s met. I told him not all Americans are fat, but our country does have an overweight and obesity epidemic probably because the overabundance of food. He said but Ghana has food everywhere too. Which is true. While the marketing differs greatly between our countries, everywhere you turn in Ghana there’s a person carrying some type of food for sale on their head (it rivals our fast food frenzy). My other response was our abundance of luxury that diminishes the natural activity levels in Ghana (i.e. personal cars that take us from point a to point b, washing machines, dishwashers, TV, etc).

Yesterday I took Sika, Elolo, and Wallasy (all three live with Bernice’s mom) with me to visit the kids at the boarding school since they have never been there. When I took the kids out on Saturday it was like trying to free my kids from prison! They are very strict at the school with giving the kids permission to leave, which is good really (I don’t want just anyone coming in and taking them), but it took me an hour to get them out of there which was a little frustrating! So Sunday we just went to visit, but they were very busy studying for their final exams which start tomorrow. It was nice to see that even on the weekends they had extra classes they could participate in for reviews and I learned that often in the evenings they will have some type of cultural group come in and perform for the kids. Sika, Elolo, Wallasy, and I headed to the market for a couple of items. We had unsuccessfully shopped for shoes the day before, so when we passed a few stalls of shoes Wallasy spotted a great pair of tennis shoes and before long I was bargaining for pairs for all three of them. I feel like a I actually got a good deal (the day before I wasn’t which is why we didn’t buy any). The shoes are sooooo cute! I’ll have to get a picture of them today (Cassie- this is what your donation will go to, shoes for the kids!)! Elolo and Wallasy both got tennis shoes (Elolo’s are Addidas-they were only $5- he will be styling) and Sika got fun sparkly black shoes! They can wear them for school and church.

More shoe shopping to come; it is such a joy and blessing to see the kids get so excited about picking out something they really like, brand new shoes that they got to pick themselves and are just theirs! I thought Elolo specifically was going to burst with joy when he saw his shoes being placed in the bag (he literally was jumping up and down, pulling on my arm, asking ‘my shoes, my shoes?’)! Out of the five of us (including the salesman), I am truly the lucky one.












Kids at the boarding school (Noble is the one standing up then Emmanuel, Sammy, Elikim, Patricia, Patience, Peace, and Edem). All the kids in this pic, except Patience and Patricia, are enrolled in the boarding school.











Edem and Peace relaxing at the pool.










Sammy's hair was a bush when I picked him up from school so we went to the barber! Poor Sammy, everyone is just standing around, staring at him and then I start taking pictures! He, he.

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!