Unforgettable Moments in Ghana (Part 2)

If you haven't had the chance yet, I encourage you to watch the video I posted (click on or post the link in your url) in Unforgettable Moments in Ghana (Part 1). That blog describes the first half-ish of the video and now I will continue to give more details about the unforgettable moments in Ghana.

Salvation: This is a picture of myself, a man, and Kristina. We went to his house (He lives literally on the same street as the Orphanage) and prayed with him. People told us his wife was saved, but he wasn't and that he hadn't been to church in a very long time. So, we went and used the evange-cube to share the story of Jesus with him and he was so full of joy to receive the gift of salvation that God offered him through us. We prayed with him afterwards and gave him a Talking Bible. It was really neat. Every time I walked past his house and he was outside, he'd wave and still be full of joy. Sometimes I'd even hear his Talking Bible playing.

Eating at Doctor's house: I will never forget when we ate at Doctor's house. He invited us all over and as part of their culture they bless you with a meal. That is what we had- some sort of usual side dish (fufu, banku, or kenke) and a VERY spicy soup with a fish that still had eyes on it. Yup, that's right. Thankfully, Jay sat next to me and was kind enough to help me out. I did the best I could  but quickly became "full". I am SO sensitive to spicy foods and do not like fish, so this clearly was a challenge. I was so blessed to have Jay's help.

Additions to the team: Next is a group photo of the team plus some additions. Becka is in there and some women who work and or live at the house. Grace is also in this photo and she is the 19 year old girl who lives there and was very helpful to our team.

Zangu: This is a town Becka and I went to a few times. It is pretty much a Muslim community. We went to a woman's house who wanted her son to be cared for at the Orphanage. It was raining and Becka didn't quite understand what the woman was saying, so we all huddled under the shelter and spent time with the kids. These kids had never seen white people before, and would rub your skin and then rub their skin, thinking their skin would get lighter. And they wouldn't stop touching you and as you can see were so full of joy.

Alvaro: Alvaro is an amazing drink they have there made by Guinness, but non-alcoholic. It is a fruity soda type thing and there were three flavors- pear, passion fruit, and pineapple. SO good.

Bofruit: Bofruit was introduced to be after the team left by another volunteer. It is an amazing ball of dough, sorta like a doughnut. After I tasted them, I was on the hunt for them everywhere I went, but the best ones! And, this is a photo of me paying the girl who is carrying bofruit on her head. They come to your tro-tro's (vans) when you are traveling and you stop at a market area.

Fanmilk: Fanmilk is also amazing. Frozen vanilla yogurt in a bag for only about fifty cents. I also got some almost daily, every chance I had. You bite the corner of the bag and eat it that way.

Market: Going to the market was interesting. It always smelled, no matter what. Market days were crazy. There were so many people in a small amount of space. But, the market is what is so cultural about Ghana that somehow I'd still find myself walking to and from the market whenever I felt like going out and doing something.

Prampram: Prampram was unforgettable because it was the day that I became very homesick. Prampram is a town in Ghana near Accra, the capital city, about four hours away from Kpando, where I lived. Grace and I traveled there to visit people I had made connections with. My friends Beau and Andria attend a church in Escondido where they know Tara and John Eissen, who started Promise Land Ranch School in Prampram, Ghana. So, I met Tara before I left for Ghana (they live in the states) and then met up with her contacts in Ghana who live there. We stayed at a beautiful hotel near by and spent the day at the school with the children. Here are a few pictures from that. We only stayed one day because I was so homesick and needed to get back to my Home away from Home, the Orphanage. This was only a few days after the team left to head back to the states.

Class One: Class one at Anglican School is where I spent most of my time when I went to school. (It is the poorest of the poor public Anglican (Catholic) school. The teacher was always there and on time. She worked hard and never caned the children. She was so nice. I was drawn to her for some reason and even her class. I can't even remember how it happened, but I ended up helping her, encouraging her, and spending time with her class. I didn't offer much more than a couple hours a day and it wasn't even daily that I was in there, but I did what I could. I did spend a lot of time preparing something to teach her how to help her students practice writing. Regardless of what I did, I know the Lord's plan for me if anything on this trip was to bless her. On my last day there, she gave me a wood carving that was a statue. She told me the statue means love. LOVE is what God kept telling me I was to do/offer or whatever when I asked him about my purpose in Ghana. It was so rewarding helping out in class one and I'm thankful to know I made a small difference in their classroom and this teacher's life. I taught them a days of the week song and months of the year song, too. I literally just made them up because I couldn't remember them and they sang them every day!

Deborah: This little girl was in Becka's class and on the last day she said to me. Is this your last day? I will miss you. It was the sweetest thing and really meant a lot to me. Again, when you feel like you aren't making a difference, you see that one child recognizes something in you and that you meant something to them. It was sweet.

Dorcas: This girl goes to the special school. It is a beautiful secluded place that is for students with special needs. Her name is Dorcas, and I was so excited when I found that out because that same morning I met her, I was reading in the book of Acts about a girl named Dorcas. It was as if God was encouraging me to read my Bible because I wouldn't have known about Dorcas in the Bible had I not read it and meeting this girl wouldn't have been as meaningful.

Waterfall and Monkey Sanctuary: The waterfall was absolutely gorgeous. I was able to go twice and it was so beautiful! The first time I went was with the team and it was raining basically the entire hike there so I decided to go in the water with the girls. It was humid out so it felt nice anyways. We walked backwards together and yelled PEACE and almost made it to the other side of the waterfall. Grace and I were scared so we all came back and some of the other girls went back again to be successful at going under the waterfall. The monkey sanctuary was another beautiful treck through the rain forest to visit monkeys who would eat bananas straight from your hand.

Meet Me There: Meet Me There is a beautiful resort I went to with the other volunteers from the Orphanage. It was quite a few changing of transportation and a long ride there but we made it to the coast and stayed at this place for the weekend. It was on a lagoon but the beach was just across the lagoon. I sat under those palm trees on the lounge chair most of the weekend, reading my book, Bible, and journaling.

Dora's Family: I met a woman at church (Vista Assembly of God) before I left for Ghana who was born and raised in Ghana. In fact, she still has family there. She contacted them and gave me their contact information. Becka, Grace, and I spent a day with them. They were so kind to us and spoiled us. They live in Accra, the capital city so we got to eat Pizza and Ice Cream at the Accra Mall and then they took us to Chinese food the next day after their nephew's memorial service. They let us stay at their beautiful home and served us plenty of food and made us feel very welcome. Thank you, Dora!!

Ryvanz-Mia Orphanage: This is the place I lived for three weeks after the team left. There are 26 kids living there total, I think. I connected strongly with some of them as you can see in the pictures. It was harder for me to connect with the older kids, just like it is here.

The first picture is George. He is the little boy I saw in a previous volunteer's video on you-tube that I thought was absolutely adorable. We connected but didn't bond as well as some of the other kids. He's still such a cutie though as you can see.

Grace is amazing. She is so sweet. She helped me so much with so many things- language barriers, walking to and from town, traveling places, etc. She always put me first- carried my stuff for me (even though she teased me) and was such a good friend to me while I was in Ghana. I miss her a lot.

Mama Florence and I really connected. It's interesting because she couldn't speak English and I barely spoke Ewe, but we'd always shake hands and smile at each other for a good length of time. I believe this was my way of showing her God's love through me. She'd ask me How are you in EWE (Airway), the language they speak, and I would always guess my response because there were two ways to ask how are you and two ways to respond. I never knew what was correct, but we'd always laugh if I was wrong or smile if I was correct. It was a fun little game :) haha The next are a couple other Mama's at the house who lived there or helped cook and care for the children. I also connected well with Juliet and wish if I could turn back time I'd talk more personally with her. She speaks English and was a sweet woman. She was always sick with something though and I never offered or prayed for her on the spot, I always prayed in my head though. Another thing I wish I could go back in time and fix. Bummer! But, she was so sweet and just like Mama Florence, Juliet and I would spend more time together, just sitting next to each other and smiling. When I left on my last day, Juliet ducked her head to see me in the taxi, and that is what triggered me to cry. We had a strong connection. She is in the lime green shirt.

Christabel is in the other green shirt and she sowed the two dresses I am wearing in some of the pictures (blue and purple) I picked out the fabric and she measured me and made them.

Mama Esi started the Orphanage. We didn't connect strongly unfortunately, but she always asked me to say the prayer when we had a celebration dinner. It was cute. It is her house that I lived at and she works hard to care for all the children she has taken in.

Sister Maybel is the one who made me the little pencil pouch. She works upstairs at the house sewing with many woman and we had a stronger connection, too. She has a precious daughter and I bought some stuff that she sewed at the house. She waited a very long time for me to get home the day before I left to say bye to me. I was out longer than anticipated with Becka.

Then there's laundry, which was very challenging. I don't think I ever really knew what I was doing.You put a bar of soap and your clothes in a large bowl and scrubbed your clothes with the soap and then did some hand movement that apparently washed the clothes. I didn't really ever get it, or when I did, it didn't feel like I was doing anything. I basically ended up rubbing my clothes together a lot with soap for a while then putting them into another large bowl with just water for them to be rinsed out. After one rinse "cycle" you have to rinse them again to ensure the soap is completely out. Lastly, you'd ring you your clothes and place them in a small bucket which would then go to the clothes line to hang up your clothes to dry. I remember the first day I did laundry after the team left (when I was in dire need of it) it rained A LOT and I had to wear the same clothes for a few days. I know, totally gross, but fit right in actually. ;) And, the first day I did laundry, kids that used to live at the Orphanage were visiting and helped me! The second day thankfully it was sunny and when I was almost finished, these three adorable girls decided to help me finish. (Cicilia, Ackuluy, and Mirabel)

Love is the little boy who I let crawl into my lap often and I just held him. He was so stinkin' cute, as you can see.

Aka Chief: This boy was calling himself a chief in this outfit. I found it hilarious and unforgettable :)

Mauwli is the trouble kid who just needs love. He is always getting in trouble and needs the most attention but lacks respect. He was challenging to handle, but moments like these were cherishable.

Martin is Grace's brother. He always helped at the house and he lived at the Lodge that our team stayed at for the two weeks they were there. (walking distance to orphanage) Martin washed my shoes along with another person's and is so kind. This day, we both happened to be wearing our YOUME shirts (He got his from Jay) and it was also unforgettable because I kept calling in Anthony, which is another older boy who helped a lot at the house. (I felt so bad!)

A-kway-lay (Not sure spelling, but that's how you pronounce it) is my favorite. I know you aren't supposed to have favorites, but I couldn't help it. She would fall asleep on you any day or just be held. But she was also miss independent and love to do her own style of jump rope or play by herself. She is so tiny but so cute. I kept joking with her about going in my suitcase and coming home with me and she was totally for it. lol I wish I could have kept her! She has a twin brother, Oko, so I would have had to bring them both home...and another thing they each did daily was throw a tantrum.

Kwami- He was my little boyfriend. Always gave me a big hug when I got home from being out or when he got home from school. He was a little creeper as Becka called, but I thought he was adorable. When the kids were allowed upstairs at the beginning, he'd just sit in my room on the chair waiting for me to see him. lol He also always showed up randomly in pictures (as you can see him in my laundry one). I miss him a lot.

Celebration dinner was a huge feast. The kids normally eat dinner inside. At a celebration dinner, for someone's birthday,when the team left, when people helped out, when I left, etc is when we'd have a feast outside and it was a big party. The kids get to eat chicken and fried and or joloff (Spanish) rice, which is a special occasion. It cost about $100 to provide plenty of food for everyone. But, it was my favorite thing to do. I love people and spending time with them, so for my last night at the Orphanage, I paid for this party celebration and the women spent all day cooking for this night.

Little Ones: The little ones were my favorite. There is Oko, Prince, and Akwaylay.

Silas: Silas is another one of my favorites. He wasn't the youngest but he was young and adorable.

Emmanuel: He was also a difficult one who didn't listen to me much and I didn't know what to do. On the last day, somehow I managed to capture him smiling :) He lied to me and I joked with him calling a deceiver.

Everyone is in the last picture with me, and of course my little Akwaylay is closest to me :)