Ghana - Day 9

Ghana – Day 9

Last night I started getting congested in my chest and coughing.  This morning I woke up to a full-fledged chest cold and feeling horrible.  I’m pretty sure it’s the same thing many of the children had when we first arrived.  I wasn’t feeling very motivated to do much of anything so we lounged around the hotel room for a few hours taking our time to get ready for the day.  Besides, I think M & A needed a little break from us too.

We’d heard from one of the others that M had refused her dinner at the home the other night because “mommy and daddy will take her to a restaurant”.  I’m not so sure that’s the best thing for them to be thinking right now.

We left the hotel just after noon and made our way for the home.  Before we could go there we needed to go by the home of Auntie M.  She’d taken two of our bags full of donations for distribution to the different homes that had needs.  We’d planned on giving out the hair bows and Superman capes to the kids today but we came up short with the capes.  We wanted to stop by Auntie M’s to make sure the remaining capes didn’t get packed in one of the donation bags…which they did.

Auntie M lives on one of the main streets where there are several vendors and taxi drivers who speed by like bats racing from hell.  We’d decided to walk to her house since it was less than a half-mile and it was a nice day.  On our walk we were greeted warmly by several of the locals who were walking as well.  Some of those ‘locals’ who greeted us was a small herd of goats.  They were grazing across the street and came rushing over near us when we came walking by…apparently, even the animals here can notice when some “obrunies” are present!

We went into Auntie M’s house and visited for about 5 minutes.  We found the capes and were excited that we now had enough for all of the boys.  As we left the house and courtyard to the street the first thing I noticed was that one of our goat friends had been hit by one of the crazy taxi drivers.  The poor thing lay dead in the road but there was no taxi driver who even bothered to stop.  I was a little irritated the person who’d killed someone’s pet didn’t even have the decency to stop and carry it to the side of the road.

Before we could go to the home Brandie had to head to the corner market to buy some of her sweet breads she’d found.  They’re little round balls of dough that are deep-fried – almost like a scone at home.  Since this is one of the few things she’s found which she actually likes to eat we’ve made it a daily routine to stop and buy some for her.  Plus, I thought it would be a good idea to change some money today since tomorrow is Sunday and the money exchanges will not be opened.

As we walked into the back courtyard of the home I expected one of two things to happen:  either we’d see a couple of pouting kids because it was almost 3:00 or we’d again be tackled like always.  Boy, was I relieved when it was the latter of the two.  The kids were as excited as always.

We sat down in the courtyard and called M & A over to us.  We told them we had some small gifts for everyone and asked if they would like to hand them out to all of their friends.  Of course, this made them feel special so they quickly called everyone out and made them line up in orderly rows.  M took the bags of hair bows and started handing them out to all of the girls.  Each girl was given two bows and immediately put them on.  Their smiles were nearly as big as the flowers attached to the bands.  The boys were equally lined up while A walked the line handing out their Superman capes.  I laughed and hollered at Pastor John “I hope you have a medical clinic near by!”  We knew it would be just a matter of time before these crazy boys decided to test out their capes by jumping off tall ‘buildings’.  Luckily, the only tall ‘buildings’ for the boys to jump off were the play equipment in the courtyard and the rabbit cage.  Even still, I took several photos of the boys flying through the air.  So much fun to watch them.  What made it made it even more enjoyable was to know that these special gifts were made from the wonderful young women from our church back in the states.  They’d heard of us traveling to Ghana and wanted to do something for the children.  They spent many hours making the bows.  The only wish I have for those girls is that they could see the smiles their hard work provided to the children here in Ghana.  Godly service truly is a blessing to the giver and the receiver.

When we’d wrapped up the gifts Ester came out of the house all dressed up in her pretty clothes.  She said they were heading to the festival (which we’d been able to hear for the last few hours) and asked if we’d like to go.  I thought it would be great to hear and see some of the local culture so we agreed.  She said that only the adults were allowed to go because it was not safe for the children.  I should have gotten a clue what we were going to when she said that.

M & A were not very amused to the fact that we’d only been there about an hour and already we were going to leave them at the home again.    I was very happy with both of them the way they handled themselves on our departure.  It was very obvious they were not in the least happy about it, but neither threw a fit or acted poorly.

Ester explained to us that this was the festival of Gah – an area and language of Ghana.  This was a festival celebrating their gods and they’re releasing them again to the ocean.  The festival was called Howmo.

As we walked with Job, Ester, and Kitt down to the main junction near the home and turned the corner I realized we were going to something much grander than I’d imagined.  Waves of thousands of people filled the street jumping, singing, and dancing.  The united motions looked like the movement of a great sea from the distance we were watching. 

We approached the crowds slowly along the side of the road watching the different costumes and dances that were throughout the crowd.  Some were pretty impressive while others were fairly revolting.  The side vendors had set up an enormous sound system and were playing various African music loudly further fueling the growing crowd.

There were different groups of people based on where they lived geographically.  There was a group dressed in red and blue, a group dressed in yellow, and a group dressed in drab green and camo.  I was a little taken aback with the camo-clad group (who called themselves the Rastas) as they openly smoked marijuana cigarettes and toted marijuana plants around with them.

One of the characters who was dressed up for the festival slowly walked by and either noticed our slightly lighter skin or that we were recording the event with our camera.  As he gradually passed Job, always the comedian, called for the man to come.  He walked up, Brandie and I stepped back, which left Kitt directly in the line of his fire.  He grabbed her and started yucking it up for the camera.  As a result, I was able to snap several pictures of Kitt in a various precarious positions with this clown dressed funnyman.  We all had a good laugh at her expense.  Thanks for being a good sport Kitt.

We returned to the house just before dark.  I didn’t want to be out after dark with the masses, who were continuingly getting more and more rowdy.  Once in the safety of the courtyard we settled in to visit with the kids.  Today we chose not to buy the children anything because we didn’t want them to get in the habit of thinking every time we were around it was only to buy them something.  We explained to them that we’d come all this way to spend time with them and not to just take them on a shopping spree.  They took it very well.

M gravitated toward me tonight.  I sat in the courtyard on one of the chairs and she came over to sit on my lap.  She laid her head on my chest and I just sat there holding her.  It was only the second time of the trip where she and I sat and talked.  We talked about her and her friends, what she wanted to do when she first arrived in America, what she thought the cold felt like, what her school would be like, and several other questions she asked.  It was quite honestly on of the most enjoyable times of the trip for me – just she and I visiting, getting to know one another and enjoying each other’s company. 

I could tell she was starting to get a little tired as she started getting lazy with her English.  Pretty soon she was done visiting and just wanted to be held.  The kids were singing a song I knew so I started singing to her.  At first she laughed because my voice was cracking (I must have caught the chest cold some of the children had when we arrived).  After giggling a little she settled in with her ear against my chest and just listened.  After 10 or 15 minutes I could hear her snoring gently.  It was so peaceful – sitting there holding one of my new babies, listening to the sounds of other children singing their songs, and thanking Father for this night. 

After a while my leg started to go to sleep so I carried her up to her bed.  Her bed is a twin mattress with a plastic cover and a single sheet.  She likes to sleep under the sheet but since she only has one sheet she’s forced to sleep on the plastic mattress cover.

Back down stairs Brandie continued playing with the kids.  She was teaching them songs and games.  A walked my way and sat on my lap and we repeated nearly the exact same process which M and I had done.  Not only did I get to sit and visit with one of them but I got to know both of them better. It was the best night we’ve had since we’ve been here.

When we went to tuck A into bed Peter asked for us to pray over them.  Brandie offered a prayer asking Father to bless these children to be protected and safe.  We prayed that their family would find them soon.

All in all, today was a great day.  One that we’ll remember for years to come.