Blogs from Africa - page 2737

I have some good news - I got my luggage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Extremely happy about this! June 9th has been declared national bag day. We had a lot of help from Paradise. We actually met Paradise the night I arrived. An American girl, Liz, arrived on the same flight as me. She was going to be doing a similar volunteer project (but through a different company), and had not been met at the airport. We ended up taking her with our group, and dropping her off at a hotel in town, where she was met by her project leader, Paradise. He made quite an impression on us straight away as he made a big deal of thanking the British for the things that we have done for Tanzania - roads, hospitals, schools etc. I'd better not go into ... read more

Southern Burkina is still holding out for rain. Now and then the wind picks up, dust swirls in the air, and a mass of dark clouds forms in the distance. Then the clouds blow past us and it gets sunny and hot again. Village farmers who normally start planting in mid-May are still waiting for enough rain to soften the ground. In Bobo one weekend I experienced my first dust storm. The wind picked up as if it were about to rain one afternoon, swirling fiercely through the city. People rushed out of the streets as the wind lifted dust from the ground and whipped it through the air. The swirling continued until the afternoon sky glowed orange with lifted dust. We did get one real rainstorm in Satiri. Under my tin roof even a ... read more

Throughout our trip, from start to finish, the one thing that gave our group its strength was prayer. “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." - Matthew 18:20. We came together as a team and reached out to Kenya in His name. The five day visit to Kisumu was by far my most powerful experience. God not only worked through us, but worked on us. That is the beautiful thing about a mission trip. It strengthens your faith and touches your heart just as much as it does those you encounter. The city of Kisumu (200 miles northwest of Nairobi) is the third largest in Kenya and rests along the shores of Lake Victoria, the second largest freshwater lake in the world (after Lake Superior in North America). ... read more

CREEPY CRAWLIES One problem with living in a house made of mud is that bugs live in mud. When I moved into my house the walls had been newly finished with a smooth layer of mud/cement mixture. The bricks underneath are made from a dried mixture of mud, cow dung, and clay or termite mound. So my walls were smooth to begin with, but it wasn’t long before bugs started to burrowing out of them, leaving small holes with piles of dirt on the floor below. Ants don’t seem to have much trouble tunneling into my house. Neither do mice. All of my food has to be well-packaged and stored in a metal box. I manage to protect my food, but the mice like to get into my garbage can and spread shredded paper all ... read more

Electronic ticketing is supposed to make the check-in process that much easier. Inevitably, Gene and I would learn otherwise. After being advised by our travel agent that postponing our flight from Egypt to Morocco by two days would incur no additional change fees, we decided to extend our stay in Egypt so that we could take the opportunity to explore Luxor. We were less than surprised, however, when the desk agent informed us at the time of check-in that we would have to pay an additional 500 Egyptian Pounds per person to change our tickets. “I don’t understand,” Gene countered. “We were told by our travel agent that there wouldn’t be a change fee.” A puzzled silence ensued. After several minutes of ticking away at her keyboard, the ticket agent confirmed, “I’m sorry, Sir. You can ... read more

Life in the village as the Ghanians say is 'sweeeeeeeeeeet'. My family is really great. My mum Mary is the funniest woman. She can't speak english very well but she laughs all the time with this deep shrill laugh. She finds us hilarious and is always saying 'my daughters i am your ghana mummy. I will cry when you leave. The 5 kids are all great too. They are so helpful and good most of the time. School starts at 8.00 and goes until 1.30pm. I am often escorted so school by a squealing mob consisting of the majority of the villages children. There are occasionally fights over who will carry my stuff and who will hold my hand. After school we arrive home to cooked lunch. Mary loves us to eat and gets very upset ... read more