Sleeping Babies!!

The weekend was quite eventful and interesting for the first weekend trip! It most certainly has been a challenge traveling in a group of nine. I along with the help of Kat and Krista planned the entire weekend. After only 7 days of being here the rest of the group now calls me mom. So much for working on not being the planner of everything! It’s just in my nature I suppose and I was in my glory as I was leading a group of us through an unknown territory. However, I am fearful that I have just set myself up to now plan every weekend trip from here on out.

This weekend we all traveled to Lake Volta which is the largest manmade lake in Africa. We hired a van to take us there and it was only about a two hour drive. Once we pulled up to the hotel and it wasn’t a complete dump I felt proud that we actually pulled this off! The mountains around the lake were beautiful and seeing the sun behind them was quite the sight! This weekend I got to experience my first tro-tro ride! Tro-tros are literally a three seat van. There is a driver and a door man. The tro-tros yell the destination they are traveling to and then you put out your hand for them to stop. If you start at a tro-tro station then once the tro-tro is full then they will leave. It is a very cheap way to travel and not hard once you figure out the process of it all.

On Saturday we went to the Agomanya Market, which is the largest market I have ever seen. They had so many gorgeous beads and fabric there. They also had people selling all of their vegetables and fruit like our farmer markets back home. After the market we walked 30 minutes in the blazing hot sun to the Cedi Bead Factory. The bead factory is nothing like an actual factory that we would think of in the US. It was literally a family business in their home. The man showed us each of the steps taken to making beads. It’s amazing to me how much time goes into make each bead and then how cheap they sell their jewelry for. We learned how many different types of beads they use and what each bead is made from. In a week or so I will be posting the process on my other blog! The man actually has traveled to Rochester for a conference at the city center.
We went on a boat tour around the lake as well. It was so beautiful out on the lake even though the sun was not out. It was so interesting to see the contrast in lives that live on the lake. All along the river there were villages of huts that truly lived their life based off the river. The families were bathing, washing their clothes, getting water to cook or just cooling off in the river. Then on the same river, right next to some of the hut communities, are resort hotels or summer lake houses of wealthy people who live in Accra. I loved watching the families on the river, as they were getting what they needed from the water. They all live such a simple life but couldn’t be anything more than happy. They were constantly waving and smiling at us as we were passing by.

I am falling more and more in love with the kids every day that I go to Happy Kids! On Friday, Abrah, who was the little girl that is in the picture with me on my blog, she fell asleep in my arms again. As soon as I arrive, she runs over and puts her hands up for me to pick her up. It’s hard not to just hold her the whole entire time that I’m there. However, I know that the love needs to be shared with all the other children! Today there were not as many kids at the orphanage. How it was explained to me during orientation is that some orphanages are treated more like daycares. Only a certain number of kids actually live at the orphanage and then the rest of the kids get dropped off in the morning. Here in Ghana, being an orphanage doesn’t necessarily mean that they have no parents. Some parents choose to put their children in an orphanage. So many kids still have their mother or father around, but have been put there to take care of. Then there are what they call economic orphans and they basically turn their kids over to the orphanage because they cannot financially support their child. They are allowed to visit their children once a year. It is amazing to me how many children are in the surrounding orphanages.

I found out today that school actually starts tomorrow instead of next week. Today I tried to review colors, the alphabet and numbers 1-5 with the kids. Many of them, who are 5-7 years of age, cannot recognize any of the letters. They can sing the ABCs but they cannot pick out what the letter actually looks like. I brought flashcards from the resource center and the kids almost looked at me dumbfounded. If I am frustrated with one thing, it is literally the lack of resources in the resource center here at the home base. I understand why they do not want to give all of the school all these supplies because instead of empowering them you are instead causing then to be dependent upon donations and such…but it is very frustrating that they have no materials for use to even just take with us to placement.

My creative side will certainly have to be kicked into high gear! I will be going to the school on Wednesday because tomorrow we are climbing a mountain so we are not going to placement. It will be very interesting to see what resources I will be working with, what age level, and if at all I will actually be teaching or just assisting. I am all about rolling with the changes these days and I am excited for this new part of the adventure to begin. I will miss my little Abrah but am planning on going back at least twice a week in the afternoons so that I can snuggle with her.
One of my favorite moments of the day was sitting in a chair reading a book to the kids and having Abrah and Joshua, another small child the size of Abrah, fast asleep on my lap. I was in heaven!

Things are still going well. I am starting to get more into a routine and realizing that instead of this being a trip, this is going to be my way of life for the next three months. I have become accustom to cold showers, the power going out every so often, usually not at the most convenient time, eating chicken and rice twice a day, walking down dirt roads and being called Yevoo wherever I go. It still hasn’t completely hit me that I am actually in Africa and making a dream come true. I’m sure that won’t happen until I’m actually at home. So for now, I’m taking every opportunity that I can and just loving my time with the kids!

We were able to have a Batik lesson today where we were allowed to print our own fabric. I picked out a stamp that had four different symbols on it that meant: creation, hope, wisdom and transformation. We printed the design on by dipping the symbol in hot wax and printed it over and over again on the cloth. Then Beatrice, put our fabric in chemicals that dyed the fabric red. We let it dry then rinsed it in boiling hot water and it took the wax off the fabric. The symbols came out white while the fabric was red. It was so amazing that this process takes about two hours and yet most of their dresses are made out of fabric that is handmade.

I hope all is well at home and I think of you often!

Lots of love from Africa,
Steph