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Published: August 23rd 2007
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I woke up this morning and took one of the best showers ever. We were lucky enough to have hot water, and after all of that traveling, it was amazing. After getting ready, I headed down to breakfast where I had some toast with laughing cow cheese spread. I also had some oatmeal-like substance but it was made with rice, and well as some sausage and pineapple. I also enjoyed some pineapple juice and some coffee - coffee in Ghana is instant Nescafé - but still good. After breakfast, we changed our American dollars into Ghanaian cedis and went to mass at Christ the King Parish of Accra. We were joined by some of Martha’s friends who told us that this was a very conservative parish. There was not too much dancing in the pews, although I hear that is very common. Martha’s friend joked that since the parish was so wealthy, the people would not dance in fear of their money falling out of their pockets. This joke reminded me of one Thomas said at breakfast that morning:
The $1 bill, the $50 bill, and the $100 dollar bills were having a conversation. The $50 and $100 said “Oh, we’ve
Uniforms!
You can see the black and white uniforms from the Christian Mothers Association been around...the US, the UK, Italy, Spain, Germany...” The $1 chirped in... “I’ve been around as well... just going church to church”
At church, there were many different associations (such as, Christian Mothers Association) who dress in a “uniform” of sorts. It is a very African-esqe fabric, but has their logo repeated in the fabric. Everyone would wear their uniforms and sit together if they were apart of an organization, or if they were visiting from another church, or for whatever reason. The really fancy dresses and headdresses (which I am told is more common in Nigeria) are worn by women who just recently got married, or are celebrating their anniversary. Her friends and family will also wear similar outfits to show that they are in solidarity with her. There was also a tribal king at the mass, crown and all, but I did not get a chance to get a good glimpse. I hope my fellow trip-mates got more pictures than I... I know there are some video at least that I have yet to get my hands on. From here, we went back to the hotel where I took a chicken sandwich and some water, which was rather
Beautiful Dress
(taken by Elizabeth) This lady was sitting in the pew in front of us scrumptious.
Following lunch we went to Tema (about a 20 minute drive from where we were... I assume it is something like an outskirt/suburb of Accra) to visit the Missionaries of Charity there. As you probably already know, this is the line of work established by Mother Teresa. Here we visited the orphanage where abandoned children reside. These children are abandoned for many reasons: either they are unwanted, or perhaps they have a deformity or they are a twin, and are thus seen as a bad omen. Or, their parents died from HIV/AIDS, so they have no one to take care of them, especially if their uncles/aunts cannot support them. To my understanding, many orphaned children are taken care of by their parents’ brothers and sisters, which demonstrates why family is core to a Ghanaian society. I admire that. At the orphanage, one little girl came straight up to me. She just wanted to be held. So, I spent my time with her, and she was a very beautiful 3 year old girl, dressed in a bright yellow dress. She was so full of joy. She had been abandoned, and just had a heart surgery for some heart condition that
Completely Open Air
(taken by Sarah) The breeze would just rush through the church -- it wasn't hot at all! she had. She looked to be doing well. My glasses fascinated her. She kept taking them off of my face, and putting them on her, then back on me. She did know what to think when I stuck them on top of my head, other than she didn’t like them and that they looked better on her. She didn’t want to be put down, but she eventually let me let go. It was hard to see so many children, crib after crib of abandoned babies.
From the orphanage, we went to the AIDS care shelter/home at the same facility. It was quite heartbreaking for me to stay in that room, so I quickly walked outside. Something about randomly walking into somebody’s home was unsettling for me. Outside though, we spoke with a few of the ladies, one of which told me to go back to the States and share her story, and talk about the good work that is being done in places like this, and that more still needs to be done. She had only found out about the place through a support group she had joined.
From here we returned to our hotel and had about a 2
The Church
(taken by Sarah) hour break before dinner. Sarah and I went with Thomas, Ezekial, and William to the CRS regional office, where Thomas and I had a much-needed coffee break, and Sarah checked her email. Luckily for me, Thomas is just as addicted to coffee as I am... so he made sure there was always time for a coffee break. I met few other people that worked at the office, all of whom were absolutely delightful people. I have never met such nice and friendly people as I did in Ghana.
From here, we had to run errands before dinner time. We went to Koala grocery store, which would be the Central Market/ Whole Foods of Accra (where, as Thomas put it, the expatriots and wealthy people go). It had all the imported food... even nutella! At least I know I can now survive if I moved to Ghana. We also stopped by a wine store, an ATM, a filling station, and we dropped off William so he could get home to his 5 kids!!
We made it back to the hotel and had reflection time and dinner. We were joined by some of the CRS Accra staff. We met Adjavon, the country
CRS Accra Office
(taken by Sarah) representative, who was originally from Togo - a delightful, welcoming and extremely intelligent man. We also met Alice and Mary, two warm and friendly ladies. Alice wanted to dance with us, but sadly this night we had no live music. For dinner, we had grilled fish, chicken and beef skewers --- EXTREMELY SPICY --- but soo delicious. The sauce was made from mustard, chili powder, oil, some other spices. This evening I enjoyed some Gordan’s Spark, which pretty much tasted like Sprite. That evening, we all shared our stories explaining the reasons why we were actually in Ghana, and Adjavon shared his wisdom and experience in light of ours. After everything wrapped up, I ended up somehow drinking a ROX energy drink which tasted exactly like Red Bull… it was good. The day was a very, very full day with a lot things to process (namely, the stop at the orphanage). That night was summed up by most of us getting sick, Sarah, Elizabeth and I having a “girl’s night” talk, and a random phone call to my room (but at least, a very nice one). I slept like a rock.
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