5 30' 59.59"N 0 29' 16.41"W
21-22 Jan 2010
Travel begins. I am joined by Bill Busath and his 14 year old son Thomas. We drove to Denver and caught a flight to Atlanta, then to New York, then to Accra. Flights go relatively fast. I get an entire 3 seat section to sleep on from NY to Accra, Ghana, Africa.
23 Jan 2010
Arrive in Accra at 0730, clear immigration and walk outside to a steamy awakening. Glad I had shorts and t-shirt in my travel bag. We meet Brother Eshun “Kingsley”. He is only an hour late. We were not worried and enjoyed the people watching. He piles us into Nissan exterra and heads into the backload’s. He has some supplies to collect. We travel through neighborhoods that would mean certain death in America, yet the people seem friendly and very loving. He stops at a roadside kettle, where he orders us food. Beans, noodles, red sauce and a hard boiled egg are put into bags and handed to us. We will eat with our hands. We arrive at the Luckyhill orphanage around 1600. I spot the boys (Ebenezer and Joshua) immediately. We embrace in a touching and somewhat awkward greeting. We take them to a local market for dinner, along with Hope. Bill and his wife Kara are adopting her.
Typical market in Ghana
The Dad’s and their kids (Thomas, Bill Busath, Hope, Me, Joshua, Eben, Joe Ketarkus, Samwell, Eugena)
24 Jan 2010
We rise early and prepare for Church. The chapel has permanent vents in the concrete blocks on one side and window on the other. They have never seen snow here. The sacrament and other meetings are the same as in any other LDS chapel on Sunday. The Church is true here and everywhere else. I was really edified by the Spirit. I had fasted in order to deliver a blessing to Kingsley. I also gave a blessing of health to a sick 13 year old girl. I am glad that I brought my oil, as I would need it again later in the week.
Eben (13), Me, Joshua (10)
The girls walking to Church
The children engaged in a game of football (soccer) in the late afternoon. Wow are they fast. The field has a 20’ rise/drop, is not flat, has very little “grass” and is covered in rocks, nails, dirt and various other items. The children cut what little grass there is with machetes, which they carry to school with them on Friday’s. They are very good players. I sit this one out, waiting for the “big” game on Friday. Bill scores two goals and lots of fun was had by all.
Later that night with the assistance of a bag of snickers, Back Country Dave makes his fictional debut. Not having a bank of stories at the ready, I attempt to entertain the children with the adventurous exploits of Back Country Dave. They seem to enjoy it very much and would ask for BCD stories every night.
25 Jan 2010
The day of rejection. Kingsley has hired a driver (Kofi) to take us (Bill, Thomas and myself) into Accra. We have an appointment at the US embassy at 1400. Kingsley is late in getting our paper work and we don’t arrive until 1530. Bill is accepted right away, while I was rejected for not having the right form. I would have to call home and get it scanned and emailed, then print it, sign it and pray for another appointment tomorrow. The appointment system is based on email and can be very tough to coordinate. We leave Accra during the height of traffic and it would take almost 2.5 hours to get back. I don’t know how to explain driving there, chaos comes to mind. Sometimes you will see 2-3 cars turning into traffic from a single lane side street. Backing up across 4 lanes of traffic is not uncommon and my personal favorite, when the traffic on road perpendicular to your intended road is 3 lanes wide and the oncoming traffic is only 1 lane wide, then its time to drive the wrong way on the shoulder of that lane. Cars are very run down and the pollution from them alone would be enough to keep the entire EPA busy for years. I was so thankful to return to the “country” of the orphanage, I would kiss the dirt.
Laundry room
Kitchen
26 Jan 2010
Try again. RaeLynn had got the papers together and emailed them to me. There was to be another American (Joe) arriving this morning at 0730. Kofi and I would leave the compound at 0530 to avoid the morning rush. Joe had an appointment at the embassy at 1400, so we would stay in Accra for the day. I was dreading the drive back in traffic and wither or not I would get an appointment. We head off to an internet café, still no confirmation. I have no choice but to crash the gate. We arrive 10 minutes early and to our surprise the guard remembers my full name and give me heartfelt greeting, followed by the words “we are prepared to receive you”. Joe picks his jaw up and says “I am with him”. We would both be successful in filing our forms and be dismissed before 1500. Again to our surprise the traffic at that time mild and it seems like we flew back to compound.
A word on the paper work, think US government, think triplicate and put into three 3 binders. Then you get to haul that around with you everywhere you go. Add laptop, food and water (none lf which is allowed in the embassy) and you have a long day.
We took the kids to the Liberian refugee camp at night. It is an amazing carnival bizarre type feeling. There wasn’t any “real” entertainment. However the music blaring at the modest closet stores and the colorful lights everywhere made it festive and fun. There are some really rough areas in there, however most people are trying to get by, selling items and goods and behaving in a loving manner. We would eat some tilapia with peppers and African spices.
Dinner
27 Jan 2010
Day to play. The Americans pull their five adoptive children, plus Edward from school for the day. We hire Kofi and 2 of his buddies to take us to Cape Coast and Kukawa. They arrive at 0600 in a “trotro” (basically a 15 passenger van). The country is filled with trotros, which basically act like an independtly run taxi system. Each driver has their own idea of an unmarked route. The collector opens the door and manages the stops. They can stop anywhere, anytime and getting back into traffic is an art form with waving motions
Fishing Village
Cape Coast is the “cleanest” city we would visit. Since it’s a school day we decide to visit the history of the castle. It was very informative and impact full to their heritage. It was built by the Portuguese for trading of goods and trafficking of humans. They would venture out into the country and round up slave candidates (the “lucky” ones would make it into slavery). They would hold them in dungeons for months at a time until the next ship arrived, then they would cram them in tighter than a commuter flight and send them to Europe and the American South. At the castle many a kind, loving and gentle man died due to the conditions. When the excavated in the late 70’s, they took out over 2’ human remains, bones, urine, defecation, blood and finger nails. This did not come from a grave site, but from the slave quarters themselves. My heart hurt as it has never hurt before. If any man spend 5 minutes there and does not feel that pain, than he is not human. We left as a group (3 Ghanaian men, 3 American men, 6 Ghanaian children) in a very somber mood, not an ounce of anger was ever expressed, just sorrow.
Bill, Thomas, Hope
We needed to pick up our cheer again and headed toward the Kukaw national park. It is a rain forest with 7 suspended bridges the width of a person. Almost everybody loved it, I sure did. Walking out over a rain forest was awesome and uplifting. We would eat traditional Ghanaian food (tilapia, banku, red pepper sauce and plantain) at the park. I ate the local fare whenever I could during my time in Ghana. The drive back was long and joyful.
Canopy walk. 7 bridges and 5 decks along the way. Awesome!
28 Jan 2010
More money. We had hit a snag on getting passports for the children and would need to come up with 350 cedis per child (700 for me, roughly $500 US). We drove to Kosoa and found a bank that would accept American bank cards. They would only dispense 400 cedis per day. I tried to use my Visa, but could not remember the PIN. In the process of trying to get my card out of the machine and trying every PIN I could think, Visa cut off our card. I can’t blame them and was thankful that they were on it. I did not call to tell them that I would be in Ghana. RaeLynn would eventually get the card back on. Back to business at hand. I had 200 cedis in pocket was able to get 400 from the bank card. Bill had got 400 and he was covered. If I borrowed his extra 50, I would still be 50 short and we would both be out of money in a foreign country. We tried every other bank with all of our cards and finally Bill got a machine to pop for another 150. He gave me what I needed and we raced back to the school to meet the passport lady. We would eat at the compound tonight, a wonderful dish of boiled yams, mackerel heads and a red sauce with fish parts. We never drank or brushed our teeth with the local water (most of the locals don’t either). We tried to stay well stocked on water. The most common package was .5 liter plastic bags. You never questioned the lid or pureness and you simply nibble a hole in the corner to get your drink. The countryside is littered with these and about everything else you could think of. We very rarely saw a trash can anywhere. There are always fires burning on the side of roads or in front of houses. They burn most of their trash...
The children are beautiful. About 350 daily students at the school.
Toe the line students. The teaches are very good. Most cover 2-3 clasrooms. They can do amazing things with chalk. English is the primary language during instruction.
29 Jan 2010
Market time. We worked on the sanitation systems at the compound in the early morning. We worked most every day, cleaning, teaching, building cement blocks even helping with some cooking chores. Most days we would awake around 0430, and work until school started at 0730.
Mixing cement on the ground. Eben is an amazingly hard worker.
Passing the stone. Building blocks are made most day’s and need about 3 days to dry. They are used in the construction of everything.
Friday is PE day at the school and that meant the older kids would play football. This would include most of the teachers and us Americans as well. It was hot and sweaty. The action was fierce and fun. The referee even issued a couple of yellow cards. Then right as I was dying from exhaustion, he blows the whistle and crosses his arms now I am thinking game over, nope just halftime. We would play the two 45 minute halves and the injury minutes. Bill would score the tying goal on a header from a corner kick. Being a little older and more fragile, I opted to play defensemen with “Brother Frank” (the best player on the field); he sure made me look good.
Running up the slope. Most of the kids play this field barefoot….
Eben in the background, Edward in the foreground. These two are amazing players and have to be on opposite sides, just for balance. Neither of them wear shoes on the field.
In the afternoon, when most Africans avoid the sun, we Americans ventured out on our own. The kids were in school and we wanted to get to the market to purchase some “trinkets” for our children at home. We found shirts, flags and local jewelry. Think of the biggest flea market you have ever seen and multiply it by 10 and you get an idea of how big the market is. I have been proud of my price haggling skills in the past and there were some guys where it was necessary. However for the most part, you do the math and realize that the necklace you want for your daughter will cost you less than $5 US. At this point you don’t even question their asking price, just give and be grateful. The Lord has blessed us in America beyond belief. These people live hand to mouth. The only time we encountered “beggars” was when we were near the airport in Accra. We say some interesting sales pitches, on guy tried to put a drum in my pack and followed (all because I looked at it in a curios way). When I told him no, he just walked away with a sad look. I felt so bad; he might not eat that night. I went after him and gave him 1 cedis. He said it wasn’t enough for the drum. I said “I know, it is for you to eat”. His face beamed with a smile and he thanked me profusely. It may be a tough task however, I should never question our economic situation again.
Last night in Ghana. We would take all of the children to the XXX for the last time. We would order our final Guinness malt there and some more Banku and FuFu. We would take Edward with us every time we went somewhere. My heart would break for him. RaeLynn and I are adopting his two best friends and he knows it’s soon. He is fine young man, kind hearted, hard working and an incredible football player. I pray to find him Edward a loving family in America……
Edward, Tim, Joshua, Eben
