I came to realize today that I haven't really told any of you too much about the orphanage, and what it is we (try) to do there. I realized this today as I was sitting on the floor, three children on my lap, two playing with my hair, and one searching my pockets. Several thoughts went through my head: 1.) White people hair really is strange. 2.) I had no idea it would be like this. 3.) Get out of my f*&^* pockets! To that end, I thought I would give all of you back at home an idea of a normal day at Ahado Christian Orphanage. After about a 25 minute walk through town, shouts of "yevu!" coming at us from all sides (we can dodge them now, matrix style) we arrive at Ahado. A ... read more

Friday, I had written about half of an amazingly funny blog entry about getting peed on when, gasp! the electricity went off in Hohoe. Now, if I had one Ghana Cedi for every time that happened, I would be a rich lady. In short, and because I have donkeys to write about, I will just let you all know that two days in a row last week I got peed on by one of the orphanage children. Sorry for the hype. We are currently in our third day of a fabulous weekend at Lake Volta, which is about two hours in a tro-tro from Hohoe. Although the ride down was oh-so-short compared to last weekend, we were able to murder yet another animal on the ride, this time a small black goat. It has been decided ... read more

To everyone who has been reading and writing, I wanted to start off by saying thanks again. It has really meant a lot to me to see that all of you are tuning in to my ramblings, and thinking of me as I am surely thinking of you (especially if you have the ability to either 1.) brew some coffee in your own home 2.) take a hot shower.) Thanks for your comments/messages. Yesterday was insane. We started off for the trip home from the coast at about 9:30 in the morning... all dreading, I think, the same hellacious trip we had experienced on Friday. Thankfully, it was not to be. After about 3 hours, we stopped off in the capital, Accra. By divine intervention, my trip here happens to coincide with the African Cup, Africa's ... read more

Hello all! Because the computers are so slow here (we've been here for an hour, gone through a power outage, and now I am onto the first thing. An hour!) I thought I would take care of a few housekeeping things first, that pertain to only a few people. First, Kristen, this is me! Read on, sister! Second, Aunt Wynn or Mom, please call Walt and tell him this link. He sent me an email and in the subject line asked for the link. Smart man new it would take half an hour just to open it. Third, to all of you that have been messaging and commenting, thank you. It means a lot to me and I will get back to all of you personally upon my return. On to business. There have been a ... read more

I'm sitting here at the computer closest to the door, watching the goats pass by and listening to tribal music over the loudspeakers. This is the second computer I've tried, and the owner of the internet cafe hovers behind me and the other volunteers, making sure our computers are working fast enough for the spoiled Westerners. (they aren't.) The amount I have to tell you, after only being here for two days really, would take ages to write. Today, then, the highlights. Left the homebase yesterday morning for the first time with a group of girls I'm here with. Walking out of the gate it struck me immediately where I really was. Hollowed out buildings, two of them, were all I could see beyond dust-covered palms and shrubs, goats, and roosters. Walking on a little way ... read more