Dinner with the Americans

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14/08/07


Its been a very hard few days. There are a couple of children who want to fight all of the time & I find it difficult to control my temper when I see them hitting the smaller children. The hygiene of the orphanage is also a big worry. Since I have been ill I have taken more notice of what they do & their lack of knowledge on the subject is scary & this is just the adults I’m talking about.


On the 12th it was my birthday & I felt quite down because of the lack of organization for the orphanage. We ran out of water as they had not paid the bill, but they could still spend money on other less important things. Without water you cannot wash yourself, cook food, clean plates etc. There are many things that I can see that could be improved & it does not mean spending money but just a bit of organization put into place. Many of these things were getting me down but at this moment in time I’m starting to feel that these could be goals & targets to aim for. Soon these children will have kids of their own & they need to have the basics of hygiene & the knowledge that you just cant go to the toilet anywhere. I have started to speak with the leaders about a few of my concerns but stressed the point that I didn’t want to come across as a white westerner telling them what they should be doing. They told me they are happy I am making these points clear as this shows that I have the children’s welfare as a priority.


Tonight I went to dinner with three Americans who had heard I was at the orphanage. They thought I might like a break & bought me dinner in Takoradi. One of them, called Richard, worked at the Takoradi power plant & his brother & son had come for a holiday from Pittsburgh. It was a very nice evening & a chance to eat proper food!!! On the way home they asked me what I thought of George W Bush. I said I thought he was a nut & I didn’t like or trust him at all. They said that they had worked on his campaign to get elected & supported everything he did!!! How do make friends & influence people!!!

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Photos

Squat to trot!
Sometimes I feared for my life going to the toilet as there were lots of mosquitoes, scorpions & nasty bugs waiting for me!