Letifu and Dot

My house mate Rebecca has left, to return to America. I miss her much more than I thought I would and it is the first of the many "endings" I will be experiencing in the next couple of months. I am already struggling with leaving the children, especially after watching their tears when Rebecca left. But I know that God has another story for me, the next phase of my life, and I am ready. He has not disappointed me yet.
I want to introduce you to two very special people. Letifu and Dot.

Letifu:

My house has now become a sort of gathering place for some of the neighborhood children. I could tell you many stories about their lives and how special they all are, but I will tell you about Letifu this time. Letifu is "special". They say here, "He is not normal". He cannot speak well and appears to be cognitive delayed. I tried to teach him some sign language, but his fingers don't quite form the words either. I noticed that he was around a lot, and that he often had pajama bottoms, old t-shirts, and wore them same clothes for days. He seemed to never go home and had no parents around. I found out that his mother works at the market all day, everyday, from probably 7 am till well after dark. So he just hangs around and takes care of himself. I am not sure who feeds him when I don't, but he comes in almost every day and says "showa" (shower) and "fafa" (singkafa...rice). So he takes a shower, I wash his clothes and he eats some rice and watches a movie while his clothes dry. Yesterday he ate his rice, then noticed me eating spaghetti and chicken. He wanted a piece of chicken so I shared. He loved it so much, as was so excited to get chicken that I gave him the rest... I had more in the pan. Who could say no! When he is not with us, he is just sitting outside the building. Even the adults in the neighborhood call him "fool" and one day I saw girls hitting him and throwing rocks at him. We are trying to get him enrolled in the Hand-in-Hand community that I discussed in my last blog. He is a sweetheart. Here he is in the Oregon Duck t-shirt that he wears while he waits for his clothes to dry and eating noodles and chicken. Please pray with me that the community will accept him and he will find a happy place to live and learn.

Dot:

Last week we had a mission team from Florida come to do a Vacation Bible School and teach in the villages. They arose early every morning, even after traveling 39 hours to get here, and went to a village to share God's word and plant a church. Most days they barely returned in time to teach the VBS to around 1,000 children. The college students that joined them were even exhausted. I was tired just watching them. I would return in the evening, shower and be in bed by the time they finished their nightly meetings. But there was one lady who never complained. This was Dot's 5th mission trip to Ghana and she just turned 85. I never heard her say a word about being tired or hot, about swollen feet from the traveling, or about too many hugs from dirty little children. When I talked to her, I felt right at home like I was talking to my mom, aunt or grandmother (although she is not really old enough to be my grandmother). She is my encouragement, that I may still have 32 more years to do this work. And she should be an encouragement to all of you who think you are too old to serve God on a mission trip. You are never too old!! (unless you are 90) Dot says that she is just thankful that God still allows her to go and gives her the strength. When I think of all the things I would still like to do here, about returning to visit, now I hope that I have as many years as Dot! Here she is teaching Bible School under a tree in near 100 degree temperatures. Please, pray for Dot's continued health and strength. And I pray that all of you will have as many years as Dot!

Touring Ghana

North-Eastern Christian Academy is now on holiday, so my roommate and I took a break and played tourist for a week or so. We traveled to Cape Coast, Kakum Park, Kumasi and a special village in Nkoransa. We fed monkeys at the Monkey Sanctuary, sat by a pool in a beautiful resort in Elmina, visited a chiefs palace (museum) and the cultural center in Kumasi and all the other fun stuff that tourist do. I want to share two places with you..I would share all, but you would not want to read it all.

Elmina Castle

Cape Coast and Elmina Castles - As you may know, Ghana was at the heart of the slave trade. All along the coast are slave "castles". I am not sure why they are called castles. They are really forts, used for security and trading. When they started trading slaves, they were housed in the dungeons of these forts. I cannot even attempt to describe the atrocities that are described when you tour these castles. 1,500 men or women crowed into a dungeon room not even large enough to fit 100 comfortably. These rooms had a small door at the top in which food and water was thrown once or twice a day, and a very small window near the top for light and ventilation. They stood, sat or slept in their own waste. For those who tried to escape or caused trouble, the room was even smaller. If you continued to be a problem, you were placed in a cell to starve to death.

The death cell
In one castle, the dignitaries and officers of the military entertained just above the dungeons. So of course they could hear the screams and cries, but continued on with their partying. In another, the church was just above the women's dungeon. They held church while they could hear, and I am sure, smell the women just below them. Our tour guide for this castle was also President Obama's tour guide when he visited Ghana. He said that he could see that Obama "had a heart for God" as he was deeply moved by the fact that anyone could worship and pray while this went on below them. I pray that we do not repeat, or allow anyone else to repeat, these atrocities to other human beings.
Here the Asanti king was kept for years. He was given the large window, which at that time over looked the rocks and ocean, in hopes that he would commit suicide and the soldiers would not be held responsible for his death as they were treating him "very well".

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Hand-in Hand Community -Being a special education teacher, I have been distressed by what I see here as a severe lack of resources for any person with a disability of any kind. You see many, many of these people begging on the streets. There are few if any schools for children with mental disabilities. So as I was surfing the net, I very accidentally found the Hand-in-Hand community. It was about a week before our trip and somewhat on the way, and they had guesthouses. So my roommate, being a good sport and ready for any adventure, agreed to stay there for a couple of nights. This is a community for children and adults with mental disabilities. There are several houses around a central arena with a playground, open air cafeteria, a movie room, a swimming pool and a meeting area. Each house has a caregiver and 2 or 3 residents. There is a special education school next door for the residents and for children from the town. The older residents attend the workshop in which they make very nice jewelery, cloth, purses and so on. They even melt bottles and make their own beads.


We were greeted as we walked into "church" Michael and Kojo. Beautiful boys. We instantly had at least one child on our lap. We swung on the swings with several of the girls and boys, had dinner served to us by Bright, a young man with Downs Syndrome. He was very serious and efficient with his work. Dela (a young man) greeted us through our window with a "Hello, how are you". And we received plenty of hugs and attention. This is the only residential school of its kind in Ghana, and they are doing a great job. I was very inspired. Visit them at http://www.handinhandcommunity.com/

One product they make is waist beads. Waist beads are worn by almost every woman and girl in Ghana. Both boy and girl babies wear them. When the beads fall off, there is cause for concern because your baby is losing weight. Girls used to receive them at puberty and a new strand when they got married. Now they just wear them all the time. They are very cute on the little girls. (I haven't really seen them on the women as they wear them beneath their clothes). These sale for about $1 a strand. Anyone want to start a new trend in America? (for more pictures google image waist beads)
Our cottage, with the outdoor shower and toilet


True love?

Even the donkeys are friendly

Back to school next week for my last term here. I am ready to be back with family, but the work here would never be done. God continues to drop children in my lap that need love, food, and attention. But He will provide when I am gone.