Day Fourty-Nine

One of the main responsibilities of the volunteers here to keeping an eye on the health status of the kids. This week has been extra crazy as far as illness goes, filled with vomit, paracetamol, and many many trips to the clinic. I think I've cleaned more bodily fluid this week than I have in my entire life. As one of our fellow volunteers, Lauren, says "when it rains, it pours," which couldn't be more true of the sickness that's been passing through Christian Refuge. Zenabu, Rahael, Kwashi, Barbara, Mishek, Jonas, Ernestina, and Ezekiel have all been unhealthy with various problems and have acquired a mass of medicines which are imposing quite a challenge for us volunteers to keep up with.

Here's how a typical clinic visit goes:

1. Gather insurance cards and medical information for the given sick child.
2. Gather given sick child.
3. Escort given sick child to the clinic a little less than one mile away.
4. See the clinic receptionist grimace when she sees you because she knows you don't have an MOH card for your given sick child.
5. Wait for several hours with given sick child on your lap as all of Bawjiase's unwell wait to be seen by the one doctor.
6. Have given sick child diagnosed and prescribed at least four different questionable medicines, which the volunteer doctor at the volunteer house will promptly tell you are "rubbish" (he's Australian) once you arrive home.
7. Kindly thank the clinic staff and leave with given sick child.

Based on my obtained observances of clinic diagnoses, there is a 4 out of 5 chance that you or your child will be diagnosed with malaria. Have a fever? Malaria. Vomiting? Malaria. Strange bumps on foot? Rapid hair loss? Black tongue? Malaria.

Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but malarial meds do seem to be the Ghanaian cure-all for any sickness. It's kinda sketchy, but the kids always get better after a few days which gives me partial confidence in their effectiveness, but mainly testifies to the Lord's healing hand on our children here.

Lucky for you, neither Chelsea nor I documented any of the sicknesses this week, so instead I will now insert this picture which is slightly irrelevant to this specific post but does capture the essence of daily life here.



In other news, have you Americans heard about our latest lost to the fantastic Ghanaian Black Stars football team? We certainly have. Worldcup fever is raging strong here. It's super fun to squeeze into the crowded orphanage foyer amidst dozens of eyes glued to the tiny screen. I've never realized the drama of a soccer game until viewing matches with such passionate fans. All of Bawjiase, and probably all of Ghana, shuts down to watch the Ghana matches. Wednesday for the match against some European country which I can't recall the name of right now, Chels and I painted Ghana flags and black stars on the kids' faces in support of the game that evening... unfortunately they last that one. Defeat hung in the air for several days here and discouraged any hopes of winning "against Obama" this past Saturday. So when the Black Stars victory was finalized all of Ghana burst into cheers. People danced in the streets, gave away free stuff, and partied like maniacs all night long. So fun! We're looking forward to the match against Uruguay this Friday. GOOOOO GHANA!



Can you believe Chelsea and I only have eight days left? We certainly can't. We are both excited about coming home and seeing people we love, but saying goodbye to our sweet sweet friends here is going to be very hard. Please be praying for a good last week and for continued protection over Chelsea and I's and the kids' health.

love love love,
Chelsea and Megan

and more poems

ODE TO JONAS:

Always in his own world,
Never hesitating to shout his thoughts.
Endlessly laughing at his own jokes,
while occasionally wearing pants that fit.
Sometimes kung-fu fighting enemies,
usually in slow motion.
Frequently caught in mischievous schemes,
then often found pouting with sleepy eyes.
Forever a comedian all who will listen;
every day endearing.





AN ACROSTIC FOR AGOGO:

For many years, Frank has been
Referred to as
Agogo.
Never a day has gone by where his cry is not
Known throughout all of Bawjiase.

Don't get me wrong, his creepy, yet lovable, smile and
Open mouth kisses easily outweigh his
Nonstop whine. He's a tiny
Kid with an
Old man heart--always calculating bullying thoughts inside his
Rather large head.

Although he's often
Grumpy, Agogo is
One that is always nice to have around you, since he easily can put a
Grin on anyone's face.
Oh Frank Donkor, you are loved.

Day 41

Day Forty-One:

I should probably start off by telling you guys that this has been a VERY action-packed weekend by Ghanaian standards, which really just means we've been sitting for long periods of time in places other than the orphanage and the volunteer house. What a hard life we live :)

On Friday, Pastor's daughter Amanda came home from school in the middle of the day not feeling very well. She had a high fever a fellow volunteer, Min, and I took her to the government clinic down the road just to have things checked out. Like most kids, Amanda is really afraid of needles, so when she had to have her finger pricked, both of the nurses had to hold her arms and legs. Onlookers might have thought someone was trying to cut off her hand the way she screamed, but she made it through.



Then, in typical Ghanaian style, we sat at the clinic for another 3 hours or so to see the doctor. It's really kind of nice to sit and wait here. There's usually a breeze, and we had biscuits and the Slovenia v. USA match to entertain us.
About halfway through, Megan showed up to bring us bread for lunch. Very nice. All this time, though, I was trying to coax Amanda out of her fear of seeing the doctor, because she most likely wouldn't need an injection. Bad call. The doctor told us she had malaria, which requires a pretty painful shot on the butt. There was quite a lot of kicking and screaming, "Mepowcho, mepowcho!" ("Please, please!"), and the poor child hobbled all the way home. Of course, she's fine now, but it was quite a show.

As for Saturday and Sunday, Megan and I took a trip with all the other volunteers to celebrate beautiful Becca's last weekend in Ghana. We spent the night in Kokrobite, a beach town about an hour from Bawjiase.



The beach was really great, warm water and good weather, but the real draw was the food. We had french fries, pizza, grilled cheese, ice cream, apple pie...quite a bit of good food. We spent the rest of the time relaxing outside with the many other obroni who were enjoying Kokrobite. Even this little trip is making us so much more aware of how little time we have left in Ghana, so hopefully these last couple of weeks won't fly by too quickly.

As for things around the orphanage, we're working on getting a new toilet area built for the kids and adults this week, and Pastor's also working hard with some fundraising organizations in the U.S. for development at the orphanage, so if you could remember to pray for good weather and clear communication, it would be greatly appreciated.

We hope you're all doing well and having wonderful summers wherever you are.

Blessings,
Megan and Chelsea

Day Thirty-Eight

It's said that a picture is worth a thousand words, so to spare you a boring book to read, today's post will be a few pictures of what's been goin' down recently in B-town.



This is only a portion of market, which is created every Tuesday and Friday. Chels and I go pretty much every market day, either to help shop for groceries for the internet, take care of miscellaneous needs, or simply to give a kid some always loved one-on-one time with a trip to town.




Morning bath time! Rahael snickers in this cold-hearted moment as she refuses to hold the hand of her sister, Barbara.




The lovely ladies we've been working with for the past month (minus a few who have left already).




Zenabu kindly sharing a piece of her orange.




Chelsea and I during the almost daily rain pours that cool off the weather so nicely.




Speaking of rain storms, yesterday a BIG storm blew in during school time. It was quite exciting as all of the school kids piled into the tiny room to take lunch!




Two Saturdays ago we had a Girl's Day. It was so fun to give all the girls foot baths and foot massages and paint their toe nails! What beautiful feet they all had afterward!




I can't even estimate how many many kisses we are blessed with each day. This here is a snapshot of a Kweku kiss.




Kofi playing in the dirt. Life is sweet when the world is your sandbox!




Almost every day Chelsea and I go a several mile baby-on-your-back-walk in the evening. Not only is it nice exercise, but it is also a wonderful time for us to process our thoughts on the day amidst the peace of Bawjiase landscape--we had no idea how beautiful it is here until we started exploring the farm roads behind the orphanage.

Day Thirty-Five

Day 35:

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
... he rescued me because he delighted in me.
Psalm 18:2,19

Getting to know these children individually is an overwhelming thing. Each day brings further realization of their detail and unique beauty. Watching thoughts race across their face, seeing them play in quiet by themselves, laying next to them as they sleep--these are all treasures Chelsea and I hold every day. It is amazing to not only know who they are now, but also to know their story. Once orphaned and abandoned, these little lives are all testimonies of our Father's great love and protection! He has rescued these children because he delights in them!

Each day is a day of thankfulness for the mercy these children have been shown. The smiles and laughs and songs and dances our days here are filled with are all reminders of the goodness of our God. Take heart my friends, our God is good! He is faithful and full of love. He sees and He cares.

Blessings!

and more poems

CHICKENS:

From dawn until dusk,
I hear the roosters crow;
a chicken is nearby
everywhere I go.

They take the bread right from my hand;
they poop, they peck, they squawk.
I like to kick them with my foot
and give them quite a shock.

Chickens are so ugly,
I never really knew
how I only really like them
when they're in my stew.






OBRONI:

When I was born
my parents gave me a name;
little did I know
in Ghana it is not the same.

"White man!" "Empress!"
--these both refer to me.
But the most common shout is
"Obroni!" "Obroni!"

"Obroni give me money."
"Obroni buy this tea."
"Obroni how is life?"
"Obroni marry me."

It truly is my new name,
I respond to every call.
I get a lot of attention,
I'm a rare sight after all.

What will I do
when I'm home with a pen
and I go to sign my name
... wait, what is it again?

Day Twenty-Four

Day 24:

This post was going to start out with a description of bringing Zenabu and Ernestina to the internet with us this morning, but the power went out an they aren't with us this time around, so instead I'll just include the picture:




We've been trying to carry the kids on our backs pretty often, both to bond with them and to balance out the pounds of rice and palm oil we eat each day. It's a lot of fun, but we've found that there are dozens of women who are very excited to show us how to carry a child who's fallen asleep. Unfortunately, there are about as many methods as women, so we'll probably keep getting that help for a while. It's sweet, though, and we're getting better (especially me, since Megan already had a summer of practice). We even got our first compliment today from someone outside the orphanage ("Obroni! You carry them well!"). That's an exciting thing to hear, haha.

In other news, which a few of you already know, Megan and I decided last week to move down into the orphanage house to spend as much time as possible with the kids. Wee! Monday was our first night there, and we eat breakfast and lunch with them, as well as just helping out with random chores throughout the day. We still eat dinner at the volunteer house, though, because we couldn't fully give up Nancy's cooking. Megan shares her bed in the house with the beautiful Rahael (age 7), and I'm in the boys' room with Ezekiel (also age 7).



We were sort of afraid it would be disruptive for the kids to have us down there, but they hardly notice. :) Since Monday, we've had the pleasure of learning how to draw water from the well and carry the buckets on our heads, which, like tying babies, takes a little practice. I spent most of that first day soaking wet down the front of my outfit. It's nice that it doesn't really matter here. We're also finding a lot of ways/places to get quiet time, so that's been another good part of the move.
All in all, it's been a good week, still learning so much about living here and trying to be as helpful as possible. The weekend shouldn't be too eventful as far as we know, but of course we'll tell everyone if there's something super exciting, wild, or crazy that goes on (or maybe all three!).

Keep praying for our and the kids' health, as sicknesses pass along pretty easily when meals are shared between 25 or so unwashed hands.

We love and miss you guys (and definitely appreciate all the comments). We'll post again very soon.

Peace and blessings,
Megan and Chelsea