Blogs from Ho, Volta, Ghana, Africa - page 7

Woke up and instead of going to Christ I worked on teh grant with Michelle. We took four big steps back---it is near impossible to find organizations willing to give us a grant. We worked on the presentation that I'll be giving when I get back to the U.S. I felt awful in the early afternoon so I took a nap and woke up with terrible chest pains and a rash all over my neck and fingers....still have no idea what it is. This afternoon we went to a place where they make pottery. We then went to this extremely beautiful park that showed 15 different phases of the crucifixion of Christ. The park was amazing and it had a beautiful view. We stopped for a Coca Cola on the way home where a woman asked ... read more

HAPPY EASTER! Woke up at 6:00 as we were supposed to be at Christ by 7:30. Got a really late start and arrived at 8:00. It didn't matter though; the service started at 10:00. Ghana time. Everything starts at least and hour after the scheduled time. No wonder they don't get anything done around here. The service was really something to see. Instead of having a designated start time, the bell rings for the first time when the travelling priest arrives at the church. It rings a second time roughly 45 minutes later to let you know church is about to begin. The kids looked so precious in their super extravagant Easter outfits. When we got to the church the music was unbelievable. As the service started, a little boy that was sitting by me pooped ... read more

Woke up and started the morning at Christ Orphanage. Because it was Good Friday we didn't have class and went to play in the field across the street. A lot of extra volunteers came to Christ which was nice, as their placements were not operating because of holiday. Taking them to a field was actually a bad idea. In the middle of the field was a Roman Catholic church where people were praying, and the kids frequently ran inside screaming and hollering because they liked the echo of their voices (the churches there don't have doors.) After Christ we ate lunch and went to the market where I bought gifts for my secret bunny, Diana (we did a gift exchange kind of like secret Santa.) When we left the market we suffered walking through the worst ... read more

Woke up and was off to Christ Orphanage. I skipped eating pineapple for the second day in a row, which is actually very exciting and unusual here. Pete and I are now expecting that I get the "scurves" or the "vurvies" (scurvy to everyone else) because it's now been two days since I have had this staple food group. When we went to Christ we took the youngest class to the river where they were all too afraid to go in the water. When they finally decided to hop in, they all stripped naked and started to pee in the shoreline. They all threw their clothes and flip flops into a big pile and I was really surprised to see nothing was lost in the end. Oh, Ghana :) As I held a little kid in ... read more

Woke up and went to placement at Christ Orphanage. One word: overwhelming. There were over 100 kids at the orphanage, thirty of which live there and share two double bed matresses to sleep. After being treated like a celebrity and mauled for over 25 minutes, we sang. Hearing the kids sing is unbelievable and never gets old. They are so full of life and God's spirit. We even sang "Give God the Glory", which we sing with the "Arky Arky" song back home. When we first arrived, the children all screamed "YEVU! YEVU!" which means "white person" in Ewe. We then split up into small groups and tried to learn the alphabet which was awful. Everyone crying, no one listening. After leaving, we ate goat, rice, and plantain chips for lunch. In the afternoon we visited ... read more