Gone to Ghana: My African Adventures

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September 3, 2014



I have met so many people from all over the world. Currently there are people from Austria to Australia in the house. We even have a volunteer from Israel. Every one of us falls in love with the children at the orphanage. Many of them go back and fundraise for Dream Africa. Right now I’ve been staying in touch with Maria Ennamorati (a fellow American from Maine) who immediately started collecting donations from friends and family. She has been posting her progress on Facebook and has filled 10 boxes of things to send over as well as almost $300. Yesterday I picked up the first box, which had clothes (mostly underwear, which is essential), a few school supplies, bandages, sanitary pads, and most exciting of all was the special gift from Maria. She asked me to send her a list of all the children’s names so that she could color a picture for each of them. Her hope was that they would hang them in their rooms, so she included a roll of duct tape as well. Taking over those pictures was so much fun. It was so amazing how excited the kids got when putting their pictures on the wall by their beds. I promised Maria that I’d take pictures as the boxes arrive. Maria if you’re following my blog I just want to say that you are an angel for everything you’ve organized for the kids. I miss you and so do the kids.



On a side note later in the day Grandma handed out cans of Sprite that someone had brought over for the kids. They hardly ever get treats like that, and I got some adorable pictures of the kids drinking it…especially of little Ajeley.



I also wanted to thank some family members who donated money for the orphanage. Chuck and Jane McCammon and my parents Kit Rawson and Kathy Thornburgh your generous donations will be put to good use. Erica’s 14^th birthday is coming up on October 3 and I’m going to use some of that money for a little party. I mentioned my idea of the kids making piñatas to some other volunteers and they thought it was a fun idea. I promised her and Ebenezer, who will be 12 on November 16, that I’d be here on their birthdays. So I figured out 5 weeks in between both birthdays to go up north.

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Photos

Danny
I call this guy my cheeky little bugger. He truly is a cheeky boy.

Max watching Ajeley try to "eat" her Sprite
In Ghana it's acceptable to eat with your right hand. The traditional foods (bank, kenkey, fufu, etch.) are always eaten this way. Ajeley's only 3, so it was interesting to see her trying to "eat" her Sprite the same way.

Max with a child in each arm
The other guy is Grandma's son Andrews. He's only 27 and lives in the orphanage. He's great to have around, so the boys have a good role model living with them. Just like in the US most educators and childcare workers are usually female.