Why?

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Some readers wonder; why of late, Kojo Konni is mentioned so much in the blog and why Kirk is rarely mentioned? In addition, several of you wonder what my daily/weekly schedule is like. Let me try to explain …

I like to think of this blog site as a school blog not a personal life blog. Anything involved and/or connected to the school gets “space”. The sole reason I am in the village Apebouso is because of the school. As this particular village is very small (consisting of aprox 50 adults) life there is kind of like one big family. A major event and/or personal illness affects everyone. In addition to Kojo Konni’s serious wound, he happens to be the husband of the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother is not “mother of the chief” as you might assume. She is rather the leader or spokes woman for women of the village - a very important role. Like the Queen of England, it’s a life long position not chosen by election but by the family line. So for these reasons, I feel obligated and compelled to post his situation.

Yes, Kirk is still in my life - just not in the blog. For the first semester of school, this year, he was only handling Monday morning worship time. If you remember we had volunteer teachers for a most of the term so Kirk was less involved. Now that Alesha and Hannah have each returned “home” Kirk will be back. In fact, this Monday he will wear the hat of “handy man”. I have several things on the “honey do” and “handy man” lists. School reopens Tuesday so from 8-10am, he will wear the hat of “school pastor”. From 10am-12pm he will quickly exchange that for the “English teacher” hat. Expect to be seeing more of his name in the near future.

As far as my daily/weekly schedule … hmm? For now, let’s keep that info simple and just mention a few changes. I plan to cut out A LOT of work that I do outside school days. Every Saturday and Sunday I do some sort of school work whether it’s photo copying, laminating, shopping for supplies, etc. This term I plan to (and hope to) hand one class over to our head teacher, Madam Hannah. I also plan (and hope) to spend my weekend hours with Kwabena (whom you haven’t heard much about) and our students that now live and school near us in town (Ophilia, Grace and Cynthia).

Kwabena is 15yrs old and has been in our lives since he was in kindergarten. This is his last few months living in our house. In April he will complete exams for junior high. After exams are scored graduates will be appointed (by the school system) to a high school in town. Exactly what town will be determined by their personal scores. I already miss him and he’s not even gone yet! He is such a joy and has grown into a “right hand man” for me. Life will surely be difficult in his absence. I want to spend every available day with him. The “Dunkwa Girls” as we call them so appreciate our time that I don’t want to cut them out of the few hours we have available together (i.e. Saturday evening and Sunday morning).

Why am I feeling such a lack of available time with these kids? Kirk and I are in the planning stages of a trip to the US. Our rough plans are for a summer trip; April-Aug/Sept this year. April is only 4 months from now. We leave Ghana, but the kids stay. That’s not easy for any of us. Will Praise join us in the US? Well, that’s a big prayer topic. We’re in the process of obtaining an American Visa for him. There’s no guarantee that it will be granted. He was denied last time but by the grace of God was granted a “re-view”. There’s a lot of red tape and prayer needed here.

I have really grown attached to these kids. It is honestly “fun” to watch them grow in wisdom, understanding and life skills. I teach life skills as basic as how to use a toilet and turn on a water faucet. I teach them how to use a fork and knife so they won’t be identified as “villagers” when they are in town. I/we have the daily/weekly direct impact in their lives. But many of you have also played a major roll and have helped push them to this point of development. I thank you for your various ways of support and involvement. I long for a day that you can meet them face to face.

In closing - I’ve saved the best for last - Kojo’s foot is healing in a marvelous way! I merely expected scar tissue to cover the three tendons that lay bare on top of his foot. No way! So much more then that! He’s actually growing new flesh/muscle/blood vessels/nerves etc where just recently there was nothing, nothing at all but bare tendons. Witnessing this, the theory of evolution is just not possible! I am in awe of God and His design of the human body!

Well, so much for a short blog entry. Sorry to have kept you reading for so long. Having explained my feelings of a time crunch, I hope you don’t mind if you don’t hear much from me/us in the coming weeks. I’m trading “blog time” for baking cookies and playing games with the kids. If all goes well, we will see you face to face very soon! Please continue sending your personal emails to us. Blog time may dwindle but personal emails remain top of the list! (smile)

Christine & Co

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