2 weeks into the adventure

When I first set up this travel blog I didnt think that I would have much to report everytime I managed to get to an internet cafe but I was completely wrong! Something interesting or something new happens everyday.....not enough time or patience (!) for me to write everything down but I'll try...

When I arrived at the orphanage on Thursday there was a little boy sat under the tree playing with the younger children, several of the aunties had tried to talk to him in both Ga and Twi but they said he wasnt responding to them and that they thought he was French..Out of all the volunteers I was the only one who could speak a little of his language, so I sat down with him to try and understand why he was here etc....Through broken english (the boy) and broken french (me) he managed to communicate his story to me with the aid of drawing too. His story is heart wrenching just to warn you but it really puts your life into perspective when you complain about what you want to watch on tv or what you want for tea please remember this little boy who has lost everything.

His name is Abdoussalam, he is 13 years old and is from Sudan in Eastern Africa. He saw his father shot by local police and watched his sisters and mother die when they burnt down his village. He travelled through Chad, Cameroon, Togo, to name a few, until he arrived in Ghana and was taken to Osu Childrens Home. He speaks French, Arabic and a little English.

I was completely unprepared for the maturity at which he related his story to me. He drew pictures of his father dying and his house burning down without shedding a single tear. Its hard to put into words the sadness I felt for him and to top it off he told me it was his 13th birthday - i asked permission from the housemaster to take him to the nearest cafe for a sprite to celebrate and to find out more about him....He declared to me that he wants to move to Manchester and play from Manchester United and in a couple of years wants to marry me!!! Its amazing that someone so young has been through so much and can still be positive about the future.

As the day came to an end he spotted the wooden bracelet I had on my wrist and told me to wait until he came back from his room as he had something for me. He came back with a wooden necklace handmade from his village as a present for me.

It's days like this that I dont mind being away from home because I know that I've helped someone and impacted on their life. After everything he has been through he still manages to smile which shows how brave he is and makes others laugh..including me when he got me up dancing whilst he sang an old arabic folk song.

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