Corrie from Accra

Leaving the city of Accra was a welcomed blessing. The city has air so thick it hurts your lungs. The open sewers and miles of shacks were depressing. It was hot and humid...everything new and scary. We piled on to a Troll-troll (a dilapidated van that would have been condemned to a junkyard in Canada), built to hold six, there were sixteen of us squished in there…no seat belts or air conditioning of course) and drove into the country where we watched three hours of the most beautiful countryside pass by. We were delighted to see another side of Accra too. There were actually large, modern buildings and homes…clearly a sign that things are improving for some in Ghana.

We arrived in the village of Have in the Volta Region. Most of the homes were small shacks of mud, many with thatched roofs. Some were made of brick and had tin roofs. Each was built in a small compound with others – whole extended families living together in a small compound of sorts. Chickens and goats roamed freely everywhere, free to scavenge for food where they might.

There we were given a tour of the school, which was shocking to say the least. Walls were crumbling, roof rafters split and falling down, dirt floors, and crumbling mud and brick walls. There were no desks for the children to sit on, and no shudders to keep the cold rain and wind out. Most children and people alike wore rags of sorts…always clean and pressed. It was not unusual to see a small boy proudly strutting in a large mans shirt. Water is scarce, and women still haul it by the bucketful to their homes. Cooking is done on a small hibachi-type stove – just big enough for 1 pot. Fuel is wood…gathered by the children and women from the hills that surround the village.

We were shown great respect and treated as special guests.

Over the course of then next 2 days we were taken to other villages and shown more crumbling schools, crowded orphanages, and daycares operating in shacks – jammed full of 50 children, sweltering in high heat and humidity. Their conditions were abysmal; yet, the children all smiled, and in unison said “You are welcome!” – The standard Ghanaian greeting.

I was amazed to see how happy everyone was. They sang and danced and laughed. They were gracious and kind. There seemed no thoughts to their poverty…they only worshipped God with a sincerity I have seldom seen. Everyone it seems here is an evangelical Christian, and without exception each day the air is filled with worshipful song, layered in beautiful harmony. I have never before met such beautiful, friendly people.

Most difficult for me was last night when we slept in a town called Kpandu. There the proprietress housed and fed us, in quite adequate conditions, however, there at her home were 3 beautiful boys, who when we arrived, ran to me, throwing their arms in the air. I scooped them up, was quickly informed they were all three orphans. I held and snuggled them for hours, while I watched the village girls sing and dance for me…all was beautiful, until bed time, when all alone, I watched the three boys leave the kitchen where we (not they) had just finished our evening meal. Next to the kitchen was a concrete floored room – much like a garage. There the three boys (ages 3, 4, 5), without undressing, laid down on the bare concrete and closed their eyes.

My heart broke, and I did not sleep, knowing there were there …all alone. There were no good night kisses for them, except from me…

Today I informed those taking me around the projects that we would need to stop in town so I could buy three mattresses. Tonight I hope the lovely, happy, beautiful boys will sleep better. I also ordered 2 sets of bunk-beds to be built, the bottom one with rails to be converted to a crib… a new baby will be born soon, and the proprietress has already agreed to take the baby in.

The needs in Ghana are great. But they are fixable. $500 builds 18 desks…I saw with my own eyes…they can be built in 2 weeks. $1000 will build toilets for the school, $10,000 will build a large orphanage…the land is already bought.

Tonight we are back in Accra. Our work with LHL is complete, and soon we head out of town again to do some training with a group of graduates from the agricultural college. Then we will be running a management staff workshop, helping KITA with their strategic plan.

One last word about pictures...we continue to take hundreds...however, they are all on our laptop, and unfortunately, the NGO we are working with has a very old computer without a USB port where we can plug in to transfer the photos and upload them...not too mention it has taken me over an hour just to check my mail and upload this because they dial up computer access is so slow....speaking of slow...Ghanaians give new meaning to word slow...not of mind of course..but of doing everything...walking, talking...every meeting begins with long formal introductions, followed by tea or water and the stating of ones purpose there (even if they know why you are there), only then can you get down to business...the only thing that moves quickly in Ghana is the troll-trolls as they careen past motorbikes and groups of women with baskets, TV's, and everything you can imagine on their heads!

Love to you all.

PS the five things I will never ever ever again take for granted:

Toilet paper
Hot bath
Coffee
A soft bed
Clean air and water