Parents to Africa

(Blogger admits some faults -- and paragraph breaking is one of them. Sorry, for the HUGE, long paragraph. My version had indents and breaks.) Soon after we got here (almost a year ago), Missy's (daugher-in-law's), friend, Rachel, asked us to contact a young man she knew while she was here in Ghana a few years ago. His name was Godfred, and he was 12 or 13 at the time. He was a cute, cute young man, and she thought he could use the church. They have remained good friends and have been able to stay in touch. After some delays, she got his phone number, I called him, and we visited several times (he's now 16). He came to the temple complex to visit, and I gave the sister missionaries his number and turned things over to them. We stayed in touch off and on, but he wasn't really interested in the "lessons," which is understandable; he seemed mostly to want American friends. This last week, he called and said he was getting baptized! No way. He told us today that a wile back he was at the market (these are outdoor vendor stalls), and the sister missionaries (a new set) approached him - the result was today. His baptism was very , very cool. He was in the front, we were in the back, and he came to hug us. We gave him a ride to his home afterwards, (these are rather rudimentary places to live -- his home reminded me of the wooden houses in Pirates of the Caribbean ride, without the water, and without the stilts), and introduced us to his 2-year-old sister, Mary, his 22-year-old uncle, and his 16-year-old cousin. They were so polite and generous to us. In the picture, Godfred is the one in a white T-shirt and some worn shorts. And, his face just radiates goodness - he just wants to do good things. David left a little money with the Ward Mission Leader to help Godfred get some church things. Next week he will be confirmed. The Ward Mission Leader conducted and is going on a mission soon. He opened with, "We are so much grateful...," and welcomed everyone. Later he said, "You will be glad you came and wasted your time here with us today." Their phrasing is just awesome. We sang 4 complete hymns before the baptism started, acapella, because there are only limited keyboards around, and always one person sings by him/herself the first 5-6 measures to give us the pitch, then the music leader says, "1...2...Sing," and everyone sings...loudly. In harmony. I was sitting with a new senior sister missionary, and her husband was sitting behind us with David. The closing song was, "Now Let us Rejoice," and people sing so loud, I can't hear myself...subsequently, I tend to make up notes. But behind me I could hear David singing baritone, and always on pitch because that is what he does. When I wander off a note, I can listen to him, and he brings me right back on...which is the story of our whole mission. It just made me feel good to hear him singing. The sister missionaries here are just darling -- all 2 inches of them. They are the thinnest little things, and dress way cute. Oh, they are sweet. When we walked into the building, they escorted us to the baptism room, and they were so supportive of the brothers running the meeting. No American sisters will be sent here, so they are all from other places in Africa. We are early...but we are already starting to say, "When we get home, let's ______________ (fill in the blank). There is a funny part: Godfred is yet a little limited in his English skills, so when he called, he told me he was getting baptized on Saturday. "What time, Godfred?" "Saturday, at 12:00." We repeated this conversation 3 times. We arranged our Saturday to include the baptism, and NO ONE was there. I called Godfred, "Godfred, we are at the church..." "Please, I am coming." This is how they phrase everything, with "please" in front. He walked from his home to meet us at the church. We were thinking we were just early -- come to find out the baptism was for today. Sunday. We were, however, thanked today for being on time, and David said, "Well, actually, we have been on time twice...we started yesterday. Africa.

Random and a wedding...

We've had a few random moments this last week that seemed like good photo opportunities. Then, we were guests at the Wedding of the Year. It.. Was.. a.. .Happening. Huge. We knew it was going to be a memory and a cultural experience, so we were so excited to be invited. Take a look--

First, on our drive to and from our office, some things start to look very ordinary and familiar, since we see them twice a day. But, when traffic comes to a standstill, and I come out of my reverie long enough to focus, I catch myself thinking, "What IS that?" For whatever reason, someone thought this place, alongside the highway, would be an excellent repository for old, dead motorcycles. So, here they rest. No signs of "no dumping here," or, "put old motorcycles here," they just appear out of nowhere, to reside forever more. No one is in charge, no one is watching, but the more I look at them, they look like a Modern Art display. When I think of all the people who rode them, the roads/paths they have traveled, there is a story connected with each one. Kind of cool...and many shapes to study.

Our Thursday night BYU-Idaho college English class has come to an end. This is just half of the class - but oh, they were fun, just sharp kids and quick wits. Our next class will begin in September and we are looking forward to teaching again. Ghana is getting a bargain in us...we're free. The class is already structured, and we just come in to do the grammar/writing part.

lean to the left...lean to the right...

The Wedding Speaker (me) with my friend Jocelyn Sowa. Our friend, Doreen was getting married, and in Ghana, they have a program with speakers. I'm not sure how I got on the list, but this is my 2nd experience as a speaker. Jocelyn also had a part on the program, so we were sitting on the stand together; she kept me giggling... for the 2 hours we waited for the ceremony to begin! Ghanaians don't always adhere to a strict schedule.

David had the camera and gave this lady "The Best Hat Award."

Waiting for the bride to walk the aisle...

David got a picture of Doreen before she headed down the aisle, and she seemed a little stressed with the lateness of the wedding. But, she was beautiful, and everything turned out wonderfully.

Guests

After the ceremony and pictures, the wedding party was invited to a gorgeous hotel for a buffet dinner and dancing. There were African dishes as well as continental food -- and it was delicious!

At the end of the dinner, the glow of the candle seemed symbolic of the love and romance in the room.

Over Half-Way....

We are over half-way through our mission..incredible. At first, the time seemed to go by s-o-o-o slowly, mostly because there were so many cultural differences to take in. Living in a different country is massively different than a 2-week visit, where you know you will be home in a short while. Cultural shock is real, but treatable, and you do recover. You arrive at the point that you embrace what was foreign before. Now that we feel more and more accustomed, we are scheduled to do a bit of driving to outlying areas to train/teach the districts how to implement the Perpetual Education Fund. We have our spiel down to a system and feel lot more confident in this second half.

Ben Gibbah and David. Ben is one of our best supporters. He is in the Finance Dept., a wizard,...and a very good friend.

This last weekend we were to visit two different areas: Swedru, then Kpong. The names sound like sneezes to me --- but the countryside is spectacular. Just beautiful.

These tall, straight trees are common.. but that doesn't mean that they become ordinary. I want to stop and take a picture of every single one. Their silhouette against the background is commanding.

On our way to Swedru, we passed this church, I believe it was Methodist, and it resembles a 19th century building with Gothic spires and windows. It almost looked like a page from my Art History book, so I was smitten.

This is the quiet, little Swedru building. We stepped out of the car to hear tropical-sounding birds, feel a soft breeze blowing, and see flowers like waiting bouquets.

On our way to Kpong, we must pass by the Shai Hills Preserve, which is one of the smaller preserves around. Baboons are plentiful inside, but they apparently can hop the fence and wave at the passersby. We stopped to snap pictures, and David was confident I could get out of the car and get closer shots. Uh,...don't think so. I'm good in the car.

We had time before the Kpong meeting to drive 30 minutes further and see the Volta Dam. This blocks up the Volta River to make the largest man-made lake...in the world! We drove up a windy road and came out at the mountain lake.

A view of the lake.

A view of the water. the dam

The dam.

We see everything on people's head. Everything. Puppies. Sewing machines. Patio furniture, and now a garden. There ya go. Everything.

Here is the Kpong church. I loved the drive there. It was simply breath-taking and gorgeous. We had a dvd to watch, but it just isn't worth watching one and missing the scenery right outside.

These wonderful,darling people had given up a Saturday to be trained in many different church procedures. We were only part of the meeting, but we were scheduled to teach after lunch, and here they are just starting to gather back together again.

We are all set up to start PEF. It takes us about an hour, then we allow time for questions and answers, which takes up almost another 30 minutes.

Mangoes are my absolute favorite fruit. I love how the road-side vendors display them; they are a work of art. Knowing we are on the "downhill" slide of things, our experiences are becoming a little more precious, note-worthy, profound, memorable. I'm thinking we won't be passing this way again.

From high-tech ipads....to the age-old tradition of bead-making.

Our "Ipad-Cafe." So many people have ipads here (ordered one!)that our group got together to share apps and "how-to-do-this." It was such fun, and the possibilities seem to be infinite. We met at Jane Curtis's house, hooked the ipad up to the TV, and started "school." (The home-made cinnamon rolls were the advertiser that got us all there!)

Five of us took the day to go visit the TK Bead Factory, owned by Florence __________. It took us an hour to get there, over good roads,..and horrible, rutted muddy ones. Our tour began right at the gate, with the mainstay of the product-- collected, cast-off glass bottles.

The glass fragments are pounded (I could hardly lift the metal post used for this)into a very, very fine powder. This material was so pulverized that we could touch it with our fingers without getting cut at all; it just felt soft.

The powder is mixed with whatever color of glass is desired, placed into molds, then lifted into the kiln. They actually use the remains of termite mounds to form the kiln, and from time to time they crack and have to be repaired. The heat was intense, even standing quite a ways from it. On a typically hot day, this kind of work would be highly uncomfortable.

Molds for the beads. They make their own molds out of clay, which can withstand high temperatures. After pouring the glass into the mold, heating it, then letting it cool, they use a sharp stylist-like-thing to rotate the bead making it round in shape. Then they can extract it from its hole.

These beads are "drying" on thin wires; they look more like modernistic bouquets.

This young worker is breaking etched glass into smaller pieces. He should be in school somewhere; but, on the other hand, he does have job security in a family-owned business. ??

Stringing the beads for different jewelry: Today was such a pleasant temperature, but we tried to imagine doing this in the heat of the day, say in November. Sauna.

The store: eye candy for girls.

The table full of beads...

It is the rainy season here, and we noticed that the workers had set out large basins to catch the rainwater.

Isn't she gorgeous? Florence. She has traveled to India, Europe, and other destinations collecting and trading beads/other items. She has built up her TK Bead Factory to the point that it is on recommended lists of places to visit. She is standing in front of her wood-carved door that depicts Christ knocking on the door, waiting for the occupants to open. (She was very concerned that I understand the message on the door...I loved it.)

The most interesting part, (well, for me) Florence,brought out her collection of 19th century beads, and Jennifer bargained to buy two of the necklaces, (and actually had one re-strung.) They were somewhat expensive, but their history is so interesting. Villagers save these old, "family-made" beads and trade them when they absolutely have nothing else to trade for goods. The original designs can no longer be replicated; the bead-makers don't even know how it was done, so today's patterns are a bit different. The beads started in 300 BCE in Alexandria, showed up in Rome around 300 CE, then flourished in Venice in the 15th century. Unfortunately, many of these beads were used in the slave-trading market - each bead(s) representing a human soul.

Doing the same things, but in a different way...

I read a book, Doing What Must be Done , by Chad Hymas (kindle version), that really impressed me. At age 27, this athlete, farmer, father, had a horrific accident that rendered him quadrapalegic. Now, he is listed as one of the top 10 motivational speakers, as he shares what is really important in life, and how he can virtually do the same things as before, but in a different way. I think about that a lot. My friend, Jill Davis, asked me to help her get two young men readied for their missions by shopping...African style. We did the same things we would do at home, but in a different way.

Our shopping area is called Makola Market - and it is a free-for-all, so to speak, of open-air stands and displays. If you want to go into business, set up some shelves, get a product, and go to work. Here they are: Joseph, Steven, and Jill.

Steven needed a pair of dress shoes, found the pair he wanted, and was assisted by the the vendor for size and fit.

He found a pair which pleased him and, voila: new shoes at a decent price.

Anyone seen a size 6 1/2, brown, little strap...left?

Take a closer look at these...see anything familiar...you may have sent to Good Will?

I had to get a close-up of this.. The Rack made it to Ghana.

The day was a success. The boys were thrilled and so grateful. We got 2 new large suitcases, leather belts, white shirts, dress socks, hygiene products, shoes...we just did it in a different way.

Jill's daughter had prom coming up, and she wanted a black pair of heels to go with her newly- made prom dress. We found the perfect pair, but they needed a small strap adjustment. No problem - we walked right by the professional shoe repair guy, and within 20 minutes all was fixed in a very sturdy manner.

On our way out, I saw this business sign and it summed up the day. We did smart shopping, for smart prices - we just did it differently, and maybe that is okay.

Lion King Country

Last weekend we had the trip we've been waiting for...to Ho. Yes, Ho. And it's sister city is Hohoe. We thought they were both pronounced "Ho, and Ho-ho," but no. Ho, and "Ho-hoi." We had been invited to speak to the Young Adults at the Institute, and we had been told it was a gorgeous drive...just like Lion King Country.

We headed for the central region of Ghana, called the Volta Region. The bridge to the right spans the Volta River, and it was a gorgeous crossing, but no photo-opps.

This is the first time we had ever seen the real banana farms - and the soil looked so fertile, a broomstick could sprout here.

One of our favorite trees here is this...but we haven't been able to find out the name, definitely a new kind of Orange Tree.

The scenery was breath-taking - we didn't know which direction to look first; however.. the roads are terrible, with unavoidable potholes.

Can you see him...goat? They have the funniest little personalities; they all remind me of my Sparky at home. sigh.

Here they are...the highlight of the area: Wli Falls. We hiked (walked) 45 minutes to see this, and the walk itself was nothing. BUT, the humidity was just killer. SOOO hot and humid.

Flutter by

Dad doing what he does best... the seminar was SO fun with such fun kids. Our topic was Self-Reliance, which is interesting because I depend so much on Dad.

Our "listeners."

Our hotel, Sky Plus Hotel, had a fabulous view. Few recommendations...give us some handrails for difficult steps, and butter with our toast, please. We took our foam bed-topper, so that problem is solved. LOVED, loved, loved the view. Have not proof-read this yet; may be some mistakes.