Day Twenty-One

Day 21:

This week has been filled with much loudness, all from booming speakers and jolly drunkards wandering the streets. Several funerals have been taking place over the past few days. Funerals here are week long celebrations, with non-stop dancing and partying which lasts through the night. The entire town is invited to come celebrate. If you are closer-ish to the family, you not only attend the party, but also pay a visit to the family at their house and usually they provide a meal for you.

Chelsea and I had the opportunity to be involved in both aspects at our friend Nancy's uncle's funeral. When we visited her family, we were served rice, stew, and dried fish. I received the head of the fish, Chelsea the tail. Pretty much every part of the fish here is eaten meaning our meal included not only meat, but bones, scales, and organs to chow down. With one assuring look at each other, we dug into the challenge of finishing this meal. I can proudly say that Chelsea finished all of her tail and I finished pretty much all of my head. Sadly, we spent the first part of dinner eating with our left hand (a big no-no) and Chelsea did break one plastic spoon in attempt to cut her fish. Thankfully, our blunders were politely overlooked. We've heard that you should try to attend a wedding and a funeral of every culture you visit; we're keeping our ears perked for a wedding to crash now!

Friday, Chelsea and I took a trip to Accra. What a crazy city! We decided to eat dinner at the Accra mall, as we've read that it is the lasting legacy of the previous president. When we walked through the sliding glass doors, we quickly realized we did not belong. This upscale mall was nicer than most of our malls back home. People of all skin colors (that was a shock for our Obibini-adjusted eyes) shopped in stores like Puma and Apple, stylishly dressed and smelling good. Being the Bawjiase girls that we are, we hadn't showered in a few days and our feet were caked with mud and dirt. We literally felt like we were making the mall dirtier. Needless to say, we were out of place. We did however highly enjoy our dinner of chicken burgers and fries, and ice cream and a chocolate croissant for dessert! Yum!



Yesterday we finally went to the right church--the church Pastor helps lead. It was so fun to wear our dresses that Ma made us. She was clearly proud as we received many Twi compliments.

Our outings this week were wonderful, but we really did miss being with the kids. It's only been three weeks, but we are beginning to really know personalities and quirks now. Nathaniel is a little quiet, but he is so bright, such a good reader and always ready to learn. When Irene won't talk, she normally enjoys a battle of silly faces. Zenabu catches on to songs remarkably quickly. When Kofi won't stop crying it's usually because he's frustrated with something that can be solved by taking time to communicate with finger points. It is such a blessing to spend time with them, to always have a child on your lap or tied on your back. We are so blessed to know each child.



Please be praying for educational opportunities for the kids. The school at the orphanage isn't very high quality, mostly because of lack of funding. Pray that money will come in to provide a strong foundation for their future. Also, Chelsea and I are working individually with the older kids to improve their reading skills. Please pray that we will have wisdom and patience with them and that there will be long-lasting improvement made through the one-on-one tutoring.

Blessings to you!
Love,
Chelsea and Megan

more poems

BUCKET BATH:

one girl.
two buckets.
lots of dirt.
less dirt.

still dirt.






KOFI: (a haiku)

lashes are so long.
they catch your excessive tears.
does Ma glue them on?






BUGS:

bugs, bugs everywhere;
in my chair,
in my hair,
even when I say my prayers.
do I dare
to even care?
no.

Day 14:

Last Friday, we left for Kofi Pare with Pastor to attend revival. It was actually held at the church his parents pastor, so we had a good time getting to know his family.



Mama made us spaghetti with fresh tomatoes and onions on Saturday, since she noticed how little fufu we ate Friday. We keep having to remind people that obronis have really small stomachs; Ghanaians, as it turns out, are bottomless pits. The services were also a generally good experience. They had two each day, and the Saturday night service lasted from 10:30 p.m. until 4:30 a.m., which made it a little hard for us to stay awake. Pastor tried to translate for us when he could, but during prayer times we were struggling, haha. Other than that, we really enjoyed the worship and dancing. Sunday before we left, we went to one of the pastor's homes so he could talk to us about our time in Ghana and pray for us. It was such a blessing to be welcomed into their home. He and his wife even sent us home with a bag of avacados. Woo!

Megan and I took the return trip to Bawjiase yesterday afternoon and filled up on street food for dinner since our cook was off for the day (one piece of fried chicken, two fried plantains, one delicious pretzel-y piece of bread, two onion pies, and two bags of water).

As great as this weekend has been, it's also been filled with awkward moments and laughter, mostly laughter at Megan and me. Friday when we went to bathe for church, I opted to go first. Perhaps too concerned with packing lightly for our trip to Ghana, we didn't bring towels. That means that after every bath, we dress and let ourselves airdry. This system works well for us at the volunteer house. Unfortunately, it didn't quite meet Mama's approval. I emerged from the bathroom with dripping hair and soaked clothes to an audience of Mama, Pastor, Sister Janet, and several other overjoyed Ghanaians. They gave Megan a towel for her bath.

Speaking of Megan, this morning brought us joy as we were on the way to the internet cafe. We did laundry for the first time today, so our clothing options are limited until everything dries.



This means that Megan is wearing a wrapper skirt of pretty slick fabric. She noticed quickly that the skirt wasn't going to stay up too well, and as it became untied, we found ourselves being followed by a highly amused Ghanaian lady who continually turned to other people on the road and motioned at her own skirt, drawing attention to Megan's potential exposure. She stayed back, watching us from the road as we found the most private place possible among some plaintain trees to readjust.

As far as everything else goes, we're doing quite well. Pastor's wife, Martha ("Ma"), is almost finished making us two really beautiful dresses and bags. We're looking forward to having something that promotes the confusion between us even more as we wear our matching dresses to church. We're also glad to be back home to Nancy's delicious cooking. We had no idea we'd miss it so much!

Sidenote: As we're posting this entry, the masses of Ghanaian men in the internet cafe are singing "How Do I Live Without You?" by Celine Dion. It's quite beautiful. :)

We hope you're all doing well. In fact, we hope that so much that we would love for you to comment and tell us how well you're doing. Please. Not gonna lie, it's pretty disappointing to make the long trek to the internet cafe for only one comment per post. It may sound desperate, but that's what Third World living does to you.

This week, please keep us in prayer for:
--Changes being made with the volunteer organization
--Healing for Cynthia (age 13), who's been running a fever for the past week
--Renewed energy for both of us for the time we spend with the kids each day

Lots of love and blessings to all of you,
Megan and Chelsea

Day Nine

Day 9:

Internet is finally working! Power has been intermittent and the server has been down for the past few days, so lucky you get to read two posts in one day.

The past few days have been relatively uneventful as Chelsea and I are settling in to routine here. We finally know all the kids' names and are beginning to be slightly useful in chores such as laundry and cooking (well, at least taste-testing). Monday, Chelsea and I had the privilege of watching one of the many orphanage chickens be prepared for dinner. Chelsea even got to help by plucking the feathers off! The boy who killed the chicken, Promise, said he would teach Chelsea and I both to kill a chicken by ourselves before we leave. Look out America!



Sunday we went to church for the first time. In our attempts to attend the Pentecostal church that the pastor of the orphanage works at, we went to the Church of the Pentecost. Thinking he was late to the service because of the typical "African time" mentality here, it took Chelsea and I an hour and a half to realize we were in the wrong church! Turns out, we went to his sister church which has the same name. In spite of that, church was wonderful! It was so great to be embraced by the congregation (Sister Hannah and Sister Henrietta translated the sermon for us and told us when to sit and when to stand) and to worship God freely with brothers and sisters of another culture. Next Sunday we've been invited to attend a Catholic church by one of the sisters who works at the orphanage. We are looking forward to that.

Tomorrow we are leaving with Pastor to attend revival for three days in his Aunt's town. We will return Saturday. Please be praying for safe travels and that we will be able to understand what is going on despite the language and cultural barriers.

Also, several volunteers have been sick, so please be praying for health and healing for them, and protection for us that aren't sick.

Blessings to you!
Love,
Chelsea and Megan

haikus

These may be funnier to us than to you, but here are some of our artistic expression of life at Christian Refuge Orphanage Centre:




MISHEK

cry, cry, cry, cry, cry.
is that all you ever do?
cry, hit, cry, sleep, cry.






KWASHI

you always lick me.
do i really taste that good?
i think i do not.






ZENABU

BOOM BOOM, here you come.
such a densely packed toddler.
all four cheeks so round.

"Obroni!"

Day 3:
It's official--we're in Ghana! After emerging with swollen feet (good thing Chacos are adjustable) from a 16 hour journey from Atlanta to Amsterdam to Accra, we are finally at our new home. What should have been about an hour and a half drive from Accra took nearly three hours due to bumper to bumper traffic in the city. The welcome into Bawjiase was very lively, as we arrived in the midst of a Bob Marley festival. Unfortunately, we were too late to attend. :)

We live in a three bedroom house shared with seven other volunteers. They've all been here different lengths, the longest four months. Most of them are leaving this weekend, and six new volunteers come Sunday. It's great to learn from experienced volunteers.

By far the greatest part of these three days has been meeting the kids for the first time. We went down yesterday after breakfast and were swarmed with little hugs and kisses. We spent time with them in school and church, mostly having our hair braided while we tried to learn names. The more we're around them, the more distinctly beautiful they're becoming. Between the two of us, we probably know most of their names. Some have Ghanaian names and other names are English. It'll be so great to be able to recognize them in different clothes, or naked as they're more commonly found.

Speaking of which, this morning at 6:30, we helped "bath" the kids for the first time. It's a little hectic trying to get them all over to the washing area to undress and brush their teeth. Half the kids ended up with toothpaste all over their faces due to our lack of experience. The sisters kept telling us to scrub harder since Megan and I are used to gentle American baths. Maybe tomorrow we'll be better.

Everywhere we walk, shouts of "Obroni!" (white person) follow us. We just smile and wave as it's more of a greeting than an insult. So now we obronis are in the internet cafe. It's a little hot, but the fan's working hard to cool us off. We just learned that our Ghanaian names are Adwoa (Megan) and Akua (Chelsea). We're looking forward to learning more Twi words and phrases so we can talk to the kids, and, of course, teach you all when we get home.

More to come soon!

Love,
Megan and Chelsea

a love letter

Dear children whom we have not yet met,

In only ten days we will finally see you face to face! We have been waiting so long to know you. We are so excited for you to teach us your best handclaps, sing your favorite songs, and to sit at the dinner table with you. Even though we will only be with you for a short eight weeks, we look forward to every day we get to spend with you and all of the many years we will be able to know and pray for you! Know that your Father sees you. He has created you with value and purpose.
You are so loved.

We are praying for you,
So much love,
Chelsea and Megan