Sunday, March 14, 2021

Steve starts calling missionaries about 8am-10am. And then again about 6pm-10pm. In between it's all our medical health council zoom meetings, zooms with Salt Lake City health councils, emails to and from mission presidents, missionaries, notes regarding visits, etc. Once a week he writes a 'mental health minute' which he sends to mission presidents and they send it on to their missionaries or use it in zone conferences. Topics for these 'minutes' have been anxiety, depression, stress, sleep, self-care, companion relationships, anger, addictions, perfectionism, adjusting to missionary life, etc. Parents and grandparents, help your children develop resilience to manage and/or overcome these issues

With all the dust and haze this is the first time we've seen the moon. The little black specks are  thousands of fruit bats that fly from one horizon to the other every single night. They are always flying in the same direction so I don't know if they return early the next morning or not. Just an interesting sight every night.

Love these random photos on the street. I always ask permission before I take someone's picture unless it's from the back. I've never heard a baby cry, they are wide awake or sound asleep while mama is selling.

This big sister, Priscilla, babysits her younger sister in our apartment complex parking lot every evening. Once the sun slips behind the trees the weather is cool and delightful. I imagine they don't turn on AC in their apartment and it's cooler outside.

Some of these babies look like newborns and their heads just bob back and forth.

Goats are everywhere. I've seen a few dogs being walked but certainly no loose dogs on the streets.

The children at the library were late to arrive and Victoria, next to me, was studying her English and reading. So I got to help her. She was so appreciative and happy to be learning. Her world was opening up to her. She had only attended 2 years of school as a child. Justine, in the blue dress, was also there to help. We take so much for granted. Victoria said she was a house girl for her aunt and didn't get the chance to go to school. She cleaned, cooked and watched over her nieces. She still cooks and cleans but her employer gives her Tuesday and Friday off so she can go to school. Many children not in school are out because their family needs them to work or beg for a living. 

The children love playing with blocks, puzzles and games and dances. They were holding my hands and rubbing my arms. I think they had not touched a white person before. They grabbed my Fitbit watch and started saying 'hello' 'hello' into it. They must have seen an iPhone watch before. One little girl took hold of my arm and said you're old! I said, 'no, I'm just soft'.

Did you know Accra has a polo club? We didn't either. We went with senior missionary friends and watched the game while eating outside. The weather was very pleasant if you're in the shade and there's a breeze. This is a one and done experience. Too expensive.

I was looking for bananas to make banana bread but the grocery store didn't have any. This lady passed by our apartment gate as we went out for a walk and was selling exactly what I needed. So I bought 4 bananas for 4 cedis or 80 cents. Women have the most beautiful posture, I believe from carrying everything on their heads. if they didn't, they'd lose the goods they are selling

Saturday we three Alema Court Apartments missionary couples took a field trip to the Accra zoo only about 15 minutes away. The amazing part was that we 'three amigas' each drove there. You must understand that driving here is crazy and has a reputation of aggressive drivers and scooters and motorcycles going every direction. Two lanes can all of a sudden turn into 4 lanes. Scooters do not follow any rules, they drive between all the lanes, drive towards us on the center line, drive between and around cars and generally zip in and out everywhere. If you hesitate for half a second they will nose into your space. We've heard several horror stories about greedy police and fake accidents, etc. We 3 gals all have our international driver's licenses and want a little independence so we're trying our hand at driving. Saturday and Sunday the roads are less crowded so that will be our practice time. I now drive to and from work and the library with or without Steve. Most of the senior sister missionaries refuse to drive.

Zooming in does NOT give a crisp picture.

Termite hill.

                              

Here we have a hungry python.

       An ugly warthog.                                                A beautiful antelope.

It's kind of a drag to wash all your vegetables and eggs in a bleach wash and then rinse in filtered water. But you do what you gotta do. We bought a piece of beef for a roast to cook in the crockpot on Sunday. They just have huge slabs of meat and you point to what you want and they cut off as much as you want. I don't know how it will turn out but the lady said it will be tender. Too much weird meat in the butcher department. The boneless chicken breasts are packaged as they are at home so I'm sure we'll eat LOTS of chicken. 

This is the road into the church parking lot. Take your pick, either direction is pretty bad. The picture hardly tells the true story.

Friday the sisters took the day off and went batiking. This is where you take white cloth, stamp it with whatever pattern you want with hot wax (hundreds of different patterns), dye it in whatever color you want, rinse in cold water, set the dye in boiling water which also melts off the wax so your design is preserved in white. Your fabric is laid on the grass to dry, then you have your fabric to use anyway you want. Some women wanted to have clothes made, I just wanted to make a tablecloth. We were also given fresh coconut to drink. I don't like it now anymore now than I did in Hawaii. Warm, sweet water is nasty to me.

Mixing and setting the dye

Dipping the fabric in boiling water to melt the wax.

Finished tablecloth, folded and used as a table runner at the moment.

Surprise, surprise, we got an email that said we could go to the local hospital to get a Covid vaccine. We waited outside on these hard benches for 3 hours. We did have shade and an occasional breeze. It was open from 8am 'til 4pm and we got there at 12:30. There must have been a dozen senior missionaries in front of us. It was a tender mercy that they stopped the line after the last missionary. You don't want to ever go to the hospital if possible. It certainly wasn't clean inside where we got the vaccine. If you were lucky they gave you a cotton ball to hold over the shot spot. Lots of used cotton balls on the floor. If you go to the hospital you take your own sheets and bring in your own food. One mission president said they needed to get a missionary discharged because they were tired of taking in 3 meals a day. Of course he was happy to do it for the missionary, just a nuisance they don't provide like we are used to.

Ordinary things like garbage pickup are so inefficient. The men were taking bags out of the can and throwing to the top of the pile.

Just bring in the goats if the grass gets too long on the side of the road.

The African people are very spiritual. If you can read this it says 'Clap for Jesus Motors'. They often use religious words in their businesses, Celestial tires, etc.

Don't get to close to this guy. He's a tro-tro full of 12 passengers and their belongings on top.

All of you book clubbers, you would enjoy this book. It's non-fiction and a wonderful story about an African lady named Peggy who left Ghana and worked in the Washington DC Ghana embassy for 30 years. She got a call one morning saying she was next in line to be the new king of her little village of 7,000 people on Ghana's central coast. It's full of history and tradition. When she gets to her village she finds there's no running water, no doctor, no high school and many of the village elders are stealing the town's funds. She is a strong, modern female king that transforms her village. I recommend it to open your eyes to many of the ways of Africa.

Another mama and baby at church.

This is a beautiful mosque we pass on the way to work. At times I think I can hear the music call their people to prayer. There are so many faithful, religious people having an impact for good.

Tidbits:

I have to pinch myself to think we're really living in Africa. Isn't that half way around the world? We do live a pretty good life here and we're far removed from the poverty around us. Getting off the main streets it's hard to believe the people live as they do. They have no stores or a way to get to a store so everyone sells from their own store front and live in the back. Sadly trash is everywhere. You don't want to go to the ocean because it's full of raw sewage, trash, plastic bags and bottles.

We haven't seen a single bug. So nice not to have ants in the kitchen or beetles in the bathroom.

We take our doxycycline every day to prevent malaria. I really haven't seen any mosquitos out at night but we are always in by dark. The streets are not lit at night so you don't want to be driving either. The people dash across the roads or bike or walk along the edges.

I have been playing the keyboard in Church since no one else was. Hey grandkids, keep up your piano lessons so you can play while you're on your missions! 

Every night we have a green salad of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and boiled egg with Costco french-fried onion rings on top. It's so yummy and refreshing.

It's so fun to find familiar American food in the grocery store. We have Jiffy cornbread and Jello with whip cream often...fast and easy. I found a can of enchilada sauce and snatched it never to be found again. The chicken enchiladas were delicious but I can't find salsa. Siracha sauce gives a great kick.

We see familiar brands of car over here but they have different names and models, very rarely Ford, Chevy or Chrysler. Many large Lexus, Range Rovers, a few 4-door pickups. I always wonder who is driving them. Where do they get their money? Most vehicles are small beat up cars. We drive a very nice Honda Civic. 

Cooking with milliliters and centigrade are a little tricky. I just guestimate everything.

We heard that many of the beggars on the street are from Chad. 

"Only grades one through nine are free in Ghana and most families can't afford the fees required to send their kids to four years of secondary school. Kids who turn to farming or fishing in their villages can usually support themselves but those attracted to the glitter of the big city usually end up peddling stuff on the street twelve or fifteen hours a day for a few pennies profit." Quote from King Peggy.

Ghana declared independence from Great Britain on March 6, 1957. That is why English is the official language. Though of course many only speak their village dialects. The country has a president but each of the more than 100 tribes still has a king; with 50 indigenous languages. "You may wonder whether kings are necessary anymore. Kings are the custodians of Ghana's vibrant cultural heritage. Getting rid of them would obliterate most of Ghana's rich history, leaving only the sterile, Western, white part. Kings and all they stand for are what make Ghana Ghana, rather than just another former British colony like, say, Canada." From King Peggy.

Ghana's natural resources are gold, cocoa and oil in the northern region. 

In church one of the prayers and one of the speakers gave his talk in Twi, the local dialect. When someone takes off their mask, they have the most beautiful smiles. With masks on I can't understand much of what is said. Their accents are very strong. I need closed caption on everyone's speaking.

I drove home from church today and then drove to the office and over to the library. Of course it was easy with empty roads. Now I'm driving to and from work and enjoying the challenge of driving. 

We get our car washed on Monday and Thursday, for $2 each time. Every single car wash day it has rained. We've only had one huge rain storm, the other times just enough drops to collect dust and make a mess.

Did I tell you how much I like having my house cleaned???

Missionary opportunities just drop in your lap. One fellow who came in the apartment to work on our lost internet pointed to my badge and said he wants to join our church. One fellow came in to install fiber optics and was happy to receive a Book of Mormon. His name was Savior and he said he reads the Bible. We always ask first if someone can read. We give their names and phone numbers to the local missionaries. One young student at the library today pointed to a missionary badge and said he wants to join the Church. 

Electricity in the apartment must be prepaid. One evening we came home to a dark apartment. We had to take the facility manager to the pharmacy where you purchase electricity on a card then it was transferred to the meter for our apartment. There was a mix-up in having it paid so we were reimbursed. Our FM doesn't have a car, most people don't. They take Uber everywhere.