Final Days

Our last two days were relatively uneventful. Before Geoff and Michael were off one day, we went to an artisan market for tourists. We anticipated annoying sellers forcing their goods on us, but it was worse than expected. We were the only prey in the market too. Oh, you don't want a bracelet? How about a necklace? No? How about a t-shirt? No? How about a wallet? You don't want a wallet? How about... You get the idea. There is no such thing as browsing around here.

At one point we found some beaded bracelets we liked and thought we would take back for cousins. We spent 15 minutes sorting and deciding which ones to buy. When we finally asked how much (we should have agreed to a price first), this master, white-skinned predator gave us an outrageous price. We offered much lower. He didn't budge. Our driver Joe happened to accompany us through the market and he began a heated argument with the shop owner in Twi, the native language. I thought it was going to break out in a fist fight! Finally Joe told us it was way too expensive and we should move on. Negotiations over. Later he explained that he could walk in there and buy the same thing for a small fraction of the price, and he had let the guy know. I'm sure the shop owner was not about to give us his black brother's price and was mad this guy was ruining his ruse!

When Ceci saw this dress on this hanging mannequin, she said, "Well, that dress is made for certain body types!" (Not ours, I might add!)

The shopping was so exasperating, we didn't stay too long. So strange they wouldn't barter! High price or no deal.

When going out to dinner for the last time at our favorite World Cup-watching restaurant, Coco Lounge, the traffic was terrible. We had been telling our driver, Joe, that he needed to get a siren so he could zip on past the traffic, as we often see government cars do. He laughed and laughed. Then one went by and Geoff jokingly said, "Joe! Follow it!" Without hesitation, Joe lunged the car from the near standstill line of cars and clipped right behind the speeding car with a siren! We were shocked! What would have taken 30 minutes took 3 minutes. No joke! Go Joe Go!

Go France!

And then we packed and swam and watched one more World Cup match and our trip to Africa was over.

Albinism

A friend from Engage Now Africa, Francis, took us to a small village to visit a group of people with albinism. This organization works fiercely on this human rights issue. In Africa, people with albinism are seen as curses to a village and are literal outcasts. In other areas they are seen to have special powers, and they are hunted and killed, or at a minimum, a body part is cut off, their blood added to a potion that promises wealth and eternal life.

It was another long 2-hour ride to a village, only this time four of us were crammed in a back seat, sweating despite the frigid air conditioning. Francis' assistant has albinism, and he was in the front seat telling us of the challenges of this genetic condition. One's eyes shift back and forth, making it difficult to read. Therefore, the children fall behind in school, often dropping out due to lack of progress and bullying. Their skin has no barrier to the sun's damage, so skin cancer is common at a young age, and sun damage leaves its spots.

Engage Now Africa educated a region outside of Accra about albinism being genetic, about the needs of those with this genetic outcome, and how they are regular people, not cursed and having no special powers. Many people understood and accepted the truth, a few hold on to cultural beliefs. After sufficient education, many people with albinism moved to the region and found work. It is a relatively safe area for them to live without fear.

The village we visited was a gathering place in this region. A New York Times reporter recently visited the same place and wrote and article about it. We met many of the "movie stars" (locals) as well as those in the article. Wonderful people.

First a glimpse of the village.

Like our last visit to a village, chairs were gathered in a circle so we could meet together. The village living room.

Engage Now Africa made a video that they use in their conferences for educational purposes. We watched the documentary-type film on a laptop, with everyone gathered around to see it for the first time. They laughed and pointed at seeing themselves, and the albinos cried at the familiarity of the story being told. Theirs is a hard life. As if life in Africa isn't hard enough.

This little 4-year-old girl, Franca, was so painfully shy. She has not yet been to school. Her mother was chased out of the village to survive in the bush when she was born. She didn't voluntarily sit on Ceci's lap, she was placed there. Eventually she warmed up, slightly.

Our friend Francis is the man farthest to the left. Such a kind man. He was a street kid who has broken through layers of hard to become the successful man he has become.

On the way we stopped at a little stand to pick something up for Francis' wife.

Our days are winding down! I'm so glad we got out of the city one last time.

A Sunday Walk

Geoff and I were asked to teach the youth Sunday School class as we were dropping Adele and Ceci off at church yesterday. Our teaching style is a little different than these kids are used to!

We learned at the MTC that white-skinned sister missionaries are no longer sent to Africa for safety reasons (except for the island Reunion), but we met some adorable sisters from Nigeria. (Although, a friend's daughter was just sent to Mozambique, so maybe this Ghana MTC just doesn't see white sisters!)

Speaking of safety for white females, I haven't felt totally safe to go explore the streets. On the few short ventures out, I notice how men look Adele and Ceci up and down before I stare them in the eyes signaling to back off. Ghana is a safe country relative to neighboring countries, but I still feel uneasy. With Geoff and Michael in company, we decided to walk the 30 minutes home. Boy did we stand out!

I must admit that I thought Ghanaians would generally be much nicer than they are. We wave and say hello to everyone, even though they are often looking at us with distrust or dislike, it is hard to tell which one. Usually 2/3 wave back; 1/2 wave and smile as if they were waiting for us to make the first move.

We found this little posse of kids and had them sing Happy Birthday to Geoff's sister Brittany back home. Oh they were cute!

Although we made a few down this alley cry with our unfamiliar white skin!

Shops, churches and a few homes line the road, and then there are dirt paths and alleyways revealing makeshift homes teaming with life. Kids are out washing the clothes in basins, laundry lines are full of clothing, fires smolder with pots, neighbors visit, church-goers walk in their colorful Sunday best. We stopped in on a big church that was full to the brim to get a feel, then passed another church balancing on a wagon. It had everything one needs for a good Sunday service: chairs, a sound system and drums!

Here is a cute family on their way to church. This cute mom was so smiley and bright.

And then we had a restful Sabbath reading, napping and playing some Phase 10. It was a good day.

Accra LDS Temple & MTC

We went to the Accra LDS Temple, and it was so amazing to see so many African Saints dressed in white with their characteristic brilliant smiles! What a wonderful place.

Our friend Michael arrived. He is joining Geoff's team in the near future and is jumping in here in Ghana. It is really fun to have a familiar face.

We walked next door to the MTC (Missionary Training Center), where Geoff's brother Ian's mission president and his wife are now serving as MTC presidents. Geoff and President Allen did some work together during Geoff's time in Self-Reliance Services at the church. He and his wife came out and visited with us for about 30 minutes and told us about some of the unique challenges at the Ghana MTC, such as African missionaries not having adequate clothing, immunizations or health (some coming with malaria, scabies and lice.) But relative to missionaries from other countries, the African missionaries are more hard-working and committed, and have a better knowledge of the scriptures. I'm pretty sure this husband/wife team are two of the nicest people I have ever met. They exude love. It was a treat to talk about the MTC and how to prepare our girls for missions, but also to feel of their goodness.

We spent the afternoon at the Marriott pool where we also watched the World Cup.

And then another World Cup game at our go-to World Cup-watching restaurant.

Great day!

Art Class

We went to the school one last day to teach an art class to the Art Club (a specialty class the kids choose on Friday). This will be one of our favorite African memories!

First, we found a tiny wooden stall selling office supplies. We bought every box of crayons in stock (33) and a few pads of plain white paper. I think those little shop owners felt like they hit the jackpot!

Since we only had 33 boxes of crayons, we were limited to 33 students, which were chosen by teachers. Our class was from grade 3.

Our first project was to draw a self-portrait. They had never heard of self-portraits, so we showed Van Gogh's on my phone. They hadn't heard of him, either. Ceci led the project.

But first, here is Ceci preparing an example of a self-portrait. Too cute not to share.

So our little class got to work on their self-portraits. It seemed serious work. All were quiet. All were erasing furiously. All got slow, unbelieving smiles when we told them they got to keep the crayons.

And then we had a museum walk where everyone could see everyone else's work. No one moved except Adele, Ceci and me. I understand now that they've never been to a museum and probably had no idea what we were talking about! I asked for everyone to hold up their pictures for a photo, and soon everyone was up, competing for visual space, some on desks jumping around. It got a little crazy!

Adele then led the next project, blind contour drawing. When she showed hers the class ERUPTED in laughter! They eagerly began giving it a try, laughing and showing off their silly drawings. We had broken through some barrier of proper, speak-only-when-called-on decorum. Maybe it was because there were no teachers present, just us. But these kids began to be themselves. It was so much fun.

Every child wanted to show us their work, even a special needs kid at the back. The teacher told us at the beginning that he was not going to participate (we assumed she was going to take him to a different class), so he was not counted as one of the 33. After passing out the crayons we were told, in a somewhat dismissive way toward the kid, that he was special needs. We gave him a paper and invited him to draw with us. He couldn't speak and was pretty emotionless until even he came up and showed us his small scribbles at the end! The other kids laughed at his drawing, but we gushed over it. He beamed.

This little girl did a drawing of me. Without a shirt. And a belly button. So cute.

All of the girls were asking Adele and Ceci if they could be their friend. Some sent friends to ask because they were too shy. They wrote notes and gave their beautiful drawings to them, even though extra paper is not something they get at home.

As we walked out saying goodbye, the kids broke out in some kind of chant. There was so much happy energy in the classroom. I told a teacher walking by that we left the class without a teacher, and was that ok? (The end-of-day school bell had just rung, but still, it sounded like a World Cup crowd in there!) He replied that they were just so excited to have had us in there.

Many grade 4 girls asked Adele and Ceci if we would be coming to their class. We said it was time for us to go. They all began to yell, "Have a good journey!"

We got one last quick photo. (The one right after it is a few seconds later with double the kids, but it turned out blurry.) It was dress-up-as-what-you-want-to-be-when-you-grow-up day. The costumes were great!

One last quick photo with the owner/director of the school, Cynthia. (When I complimented her dress, she said that every Friday is "African Day" for Africans. They were their bright patterned clothing. Fun!)

Adele loved every minute of the class. Later that day she said, "I have to make that a part of my life!"
Next time we visit such a place, I'm sure we'll travel with a suitcase full of art supplies! We've also talked about having a few magic tricks we can do anywhere, maybe a puppet show, or a short play we can teach children.

Down our street, with wood-scrap shops on both sides, is this little place.

After venturing out for that yummy treat, we finished off the night with a nail biter World Cup game between Belgium and Brazil!

July 4th

Being away from the U.S. on July 4th is hard, especially when in a place where you are really counting your blessings for being an American. I'm so overwhelmed with gratitude that there are endless opportunities to work in personally meaningful ways, that we have CHOICE to do something amazing with our lives. I'm grateful to vote and have a voice. I'm grateful that our roads, hospitals, drinking water, medical facilities, plumbing, food, and street lights are nice! I'm grateful for soft carpet! I'm grateful for police that try to keep communities safe. I'm grateful for those who run for office whose true motive is to preserve our countries freedoms and privileges. I'm awestruck by men and women who have and do and will fight for the freedoms we often take for granted.

I started a new tradition this year. For the weeks leading up to Independence Day, I'm going to read a book about those revolutionary years, or about the lives of our Founding Fathers. This year I read Founding Brothers, an excellent book about different issues the founding fathers faced after the Revolutionary War. It brought my attention to the political climate of the day (much like today), the strengths and weaknesses of founding leaders, ideas and approaches to the controversial issues of the time; the pre-party finger pointing and perspectives. It opened my eyes to how lucky we are that those founding fathers put into motion a huge experiment that they weren't sure would work out! It was perfect preparation for thoughtful gratitude for our nation's birthday.

We wanted the day to be a little celebratory and different, so we checked into the Marriott and spent the night, swimming and eating familiar food and enjoying ourselves immensely.

We stayed the whole next day too. It was great, and I'm glad we did it, but we're all glad to be at a guest house, which is much more a part of Ghana than inside the walls of a Marriott. And our bottle of fancy water cost half a month's minimum wage salary. That put things into perspective for all of us really quick! Again, so grateful to be an American.

God bless the U.S.A.!

Grade 2, Farm & An Orphanage

We taught two grade 2 classes and had so much fun with the kids! Their final exams are coming up at the end of July (they have August off for summer break), and if they don't pass the final exam for their grade level, they repeat the grade. This was our last English class so they can focus on exam prep.

Adele and I parted ways with Geoff and Ceci to hit a big African handicraft store. It was full of beautiful African art and we had fun browsing around. Meanwhile, Geoff and Ceci visited a farm where Ceci got to hold some baby goats and play with puppies!

This smiley man is the farm hand.

Isn't that the best picture! Let's get a little closer to that goat.

They also visited an orphanage and the school for the orphans. It was nice!

Another great day!

A Village

Our friend Afasi took us a few hours out of town to a small village. We had seen some small towns before, but this time we broke off the paved road onto a dirt road. The dwellings and buildings were fewer and made of poles and mud. The farther in we went, the road became impassable without a 4-wheel drive, and then as we arrived at this little village, it was dwellings only.

We were greeted by a kind, older man who spoke English and would act as our translator. He gathered the villagers (all one extended family) and we sat around in a circle as part of a village meeting.

We asked them questions about life in their village. What would they change? What are their greatest struggles? They had plenty of answers. No water. Every day every member of the village walks a mile and a half to get water at a lake. During the dry season, the water is less available. The government has come once or twice, over several decades, to try to bore a hole, without success. (We later saw some of the collected water and I thought it was urine. Completely unclean.)

As can be imagined, the next biggest challenge is access to health care for the water-related problems, such as cholera, diarrhea, etc. Malaria is also an issue, since they all sleep outside on the ground (and malaria mosquitos come out at night). They use the leaves to heal cuts, but more serious illnesses require two villagers to run and hour and a half, with the sick person on a homemade stretcher, to the nearest clinic. By the time they take that measure, it is usually too late and the person dies.

Next, they simply don't have money. While they have a good farm growing cocoa and cassava, they have no way to get it to the nearest market, and no one will come buy it from them because of the horrible road conditions.

They were hoping we could solve all of those big problems, as well as a host of smaller ones, but we had to only assure them that we were looking for solutions that would help people like them. Hopefully some of the work Geoff will do will reach such people, maybe even this very village. That is the hope. But their difficult existence will continue for now.

We took a group picture.

As we broke up Geoff gave five to the kids and acted like it hurt his hand. They all laughed and laughed. It works every time, and never gets old.

Some teenage girls had been standing back, but when the group broke up they went straight to Adele and Ceci hoping for new friends.

The kids go to school, a priority of money for the village, but they have to walk an hour and a half each way. Parents take jobs working on farms or for shops in the nearest towns, some walking 5-6 hours EACH WAY every day. This particular day was a national holiday celebrating the end of colonization, so most people were home.

We got a tour of the village. Each family has their own little clearing in the trees, all connected by paths.

Goats are everywhere in Ghana. They eat them. These forage for their own food, but later in the day, in a larger town, we saw them all gathered at troughs. I'm not sure who owns and feeds them.

This cute pregnant woman showed me inside her home. It was dark and nearly empty. It acts as a storage place for personal belongings, like pots and pans, clothing, etc. There wasn't a single piece of furniture, and hardly anything else.

The families cook outside over a fire, and as I've mentioned, they sleep outside too.

These men were pounding fufu (boiled cassava). Since we know something about the strength required for such a task, I asked him to show me his muscles.

This older man was working even harder. He was beating palm beans to make palm oil. It was a full body workout. He was a human machine. In the background there is a large pot boiling with oil he has already made.

This kid totally posed for the picture! He made me laugh!

There were cocoa beans and cassava root drying on racks around the village.

This little girl is 7-years-old, carrying her baby sister. The baby cried and cried when she first saw us. The first white people she had ever seen, I'm sure. The little girl was covered in small, goose bump-looking bumps. I think this is from the water. Absolutely beautiful children.

In Ghana, holding hands, among all ages, is a gesture of friendship. It communicates you're a part of each other. These cute girls wanted to hold Adele's hands. I didn't see Ceci, but I'm sure she was holding hands with girls too.

This smiling woman was standing there like she was nonchalantly holding up her kitchen!

We departed with gifts of bananas, just cut from the tree, and lots of hugs and waves. What a memorable day!

As we traveled along we saw a couple groups of baboons on the side of the road!

Bob and Lynette Gay built a nursing school here, partnered with the University of Utah, to train medical personnel at a higher standard. It was a beautiful facility.

It was late by the time we neared home. We took Afasi out to our favorite restaurant and watched the World Cup game between Belgium and Japan. Did anyone see that?! I've never watched a World Cup game in my life, but we see most of them here and it is so fun. When out and about, the little wooden stands that sell TVs are crowded with people cheering on their favorite teams.

Afasi has so many interesting stories to tell, like sneaking across boarders buried under fish and buying back a little girl who had been kidnapped into sex slavery, for instance. Spending the day with him is full of interesting discussion!