A few stories

Happy 4th of July.

We didn’t quite have the 4th of July celebration, but we did have Ghana Republic day on July 1st that was the same sort of holiday! Most businesses were shut down and families were all out together. Our school was on holiday so we decided to go visit some waterfalls that are about 2 hours away from us. The doctor that we are renting our guest house from has a daughter in the local junior high school. Their class was going to the same waterfalls and offered to let us join their group. It worked out perfectly, the 9 of us piled in the giant green trotro with 15 other thirteen year old kids and their leaders making one smelly ride. They seemed really excited to have the whities with them for the day. One little boy named Kelvin stuck close to us the whole day and then at the end he asked for my phone number… they learn at a young age haha it was really funny. On the drive, we went past towns where people were all out celebrating the day with giant speakers blaring Obama music. I love the road trip to new towns because we pass a lot of beautiful greenery and mud hut homes.

The first waterfall was Akaa and the second was Boti falls. The second was much bigger but both had really brown water that didn’t look very beautiful. There were SO many people and we were literally shoulder to shoulder walking down these steps to the falls. I learned that you have to be aggressive here to get where you want to go. There really were no manners or any courtesy because we were cut off and shoved to the side the whole time. But they are all so friendly to each other at the same time, everyone talks to everyone and they are all out to have a good time. We were called after the entire day and it was the funniest thing to the people if we spoke one word in Twi. It was a day of madness. At Boti falls after seeing the water we went on a hike to umbrella rock that was more of a hike than we expected. The Ghanaians were not dressed well for the event either, many in tight jeans or their little party dresses on. But they were climbing up the mountain just the same, and helping each other along the way. I was so amazed at a few women who had big tins of boiled eggs on their heads and a baby on their back climbing alongside us. The mountain was really steep and slippery! At the top they somehow had gotten huge speakers to blast some music and have a dance party. It was HOT and crowded and a lot of Twi goin’ on. It took awhile to gather all of the students back together at the end of the day. It was a break from school, but not much of a break because we were on our feet the whole day. It was a lot of fun!

Last week during breakfast time I went into the school’s library with Suzy to see what it was like. One room with two walls with about three shelves each full of books. They were donated by someone from Europe and had mostly old books in all different subjects. What made us a little angry was that we realized all of the materials the teachers really have to help teach the students with pictures and good stories, but they aren’t taking advantage of what they have! I don’t think they realize what they have or are too lazy to try to find better ways to teach the students. Part of the school has a vocational section where students who aren’t able to pass the state tests go and learn some sort of skill whether it is sewing or cooking or doing hair. They do this in hopes to give them a certificate so they can work after school somewhere. They have classes at the same time for English and math. They all came into the library, about 6 or 7 students, and were trying to read different story books. Suzy and I spent some time going through reading books with them and it was such an amazing experience. They were so eager to learn and acted so excited about any sort of sign you could help them with. I sat back and really could feel the love that God has for those kids. One girl’s name is Bernice and she told me about how her father is dead and she hasn’t seen her mother since she was 7. She lives at the school year round, and she is so happy. I loved working with her reading through a pottery story because when I tried to explain a word she would give me a lot of feedback and put the word into her own story. Another girl’s name is Dita and she is 23 but I think she has another disability that makes her act like a young teenager. She is the sweetest thing and is always smiling. I worked were her for a long time doing division and she just wasn’t understanding it, but she never got frustrated, she kept on smiling and acted so excited to do what she could.

On Friday the Ghana’s Most Beautiful woman came to the school. It is like the Miss America coming to a school at home so it was a big deal for everyone. They had breakfast early so they could set up the dining area for the visitor. She said she would be there at 10 but wasn’t there until 11:30 – typical of the culture. I don’t understand why they are so bad about that. This woman knew some sign language because her parents were deaf so the kids were really excited when she signed a little bit to them. It wasn’t very clear to me but they students seemed to understand, but they may have been just acting like they did. When she met Sylvia the deaf blind student she had a disgusted look on her face as Sylvia felt her to see what she looked like. When an event like that happens at the school there is no school because there’s no hope of getting any of the students back in the classrooms to do anything for the rest of the day.

One student Amegashie helped me make this paper crane and I still had it when we all stood outside to take a picture. The young kids saw and I have never seen a flapping piece of paper make kids so happy. They all wanted to try it so the little crane got passed around and kids were smacking each other to get a turn. The joys of bringing anything to show.

Friday afternoon I went to the school with Kelsey and the little boys had a small lemon with chunks poked out that they were kicking around so I joined in. We were playing keep away and chase the lemon while giggling for a long time until some of the older primary boys had a real ball. We all ran over to the field and played soccer! They thought it was the best thing that I was running around with them! At the same time there were some young kids that had a kite they were chasing after so I just ran around all afternoon until they had dinner. I was really sweaty on my back and so they all kept asking me why I had water on my back. That was one of the funnest experiences to just run around and play soccer with the kids!

Saturday our morning started at 3:40 AM to journey to Shai Hills. Our trotro was late, but we still got there as the sun was coming up. There were wild baboons that came up right next to our car and one mom had a baby on its back. We got a tour guide named Abraham who was very excited to show us the land. Shai was this big grassland with a small mountain in the middle and sparse trees around. It looks a little bit like Lion King. We weren’t supposed to drive our trotro through because it wasn’t made for it but Abraham gave the go ahead so we went 4-wheelin through the rocks and dirt. We hiked up to the Asanti Cave and got to see a big cave full of bats. It smelled awful! But I got to climb through small spaces and hang upside down on branches so it was really fun. We also got to see a lot of antelope and birds. Our trotro was able to creep really slowly up to a pack before they took off, same with a big group of baboons.

We headed on the dirt road back home which turned to med and then suddenly we were stuck! Like really stuck. 1 ½ hours stuck in clay. We got out of the care and tried to push – 9 girls and 2 boys – but it wasn’t budgin. We tried putting trees under the wheel, had Tylka drive the clutch as we rocked the thing, Abraham tried cleaning the wheels out, we tried it without giving it gas and the trotro was not going to move. Then we decided to say a prayer. Abraham was amazing, he had the most positive attitude for the entire time. We were standing there when all of a sudden he was like Scorpian and grabbed the thing right by our feet. It stung him! When we tried calling the reception for some people to come help they got mad at Abraham because we weren’t supposed to drive the trotro out there in the first place. And it’s Africa so even if help was coming it would have taken For-e-ver. Well our prayers were truly answered when a Toyota Front runner pulled up that had some Australians and Ghanaians willing to help us. We tied a rope between the two cars and will all of us pushing were able to pull the tro-freakin-tro out of the clay. We were all screaming and clapping, Kelsey cried and Abraham high-fived us all. Mud covered, thirsty, and hungry we celebrated by listening to “Eye of the Tiger” and cautiously made our way back to the paved road. It made the whole adventure very memorable day.

The big event coming up for Ghana this week is Obama visiting the country on Friday. Everyone is very excited. At church on Sunday the man giving the opening prayer mentioned being thankful that “His excellency, even President Barrack Obama is visiting our chosen country of Ghana”. It was really funny. At church we met an LDS girl named Lauren who is from the US and is here all alone! She is living at the orphanage she works at just outside of Madina. I don’t know who she is doing it all by herself, I think that would be so lonely and unsafe! She said that her friend was going to come with her but couldn’t last minute so she just decided to come anyways. I am really impressed with what she is doing, and it also made me so grateful for my own group that I’m with. The girls are so awesome and I am happy to share this experience with them. One more week before we head home.