Ghana Update Week 1: How Sweet It Is

How in the world has it been almost 2 weeks since I arrived in Ghana?
I promised several friends that I would be a better writer this year
than I was last… So on Saturday I made a list of all the things that
I wanted to write about. Then I turned around and it was Wednesday.
I don't know how that happened!

After 3 uneventful flights I arrived in Ghana Saturday afternoon,
cleared Customs, and was greeted but two students and Tommy. I had
expected Tommy, but the two students were a wonderful surprise. We
made a bit of a scene in the middle of the waiting area – which I
didn't mind at all!

Groups of Americans come to the Village of Hope rather frequently
during the summer. There is a new group every couple of weeks. The
two guest houses where they stay can hold about 35 people. Well, last
week the guest houses hit capacity – the group was actually so large
that half stayed at a little hotel on the beach about a mile away.
All in all, there were 56! Plus the 5 interns that were on campus…
That's a lot of mouths to feed. So understandably, it was all hands
on deck. I was on KP at the guest houses every night last week.
Which I loved! I love being busy and I love doing something that I
can see get done. But I also love being in the kitchen and there's
something about doing work as a group in that space – especially if
you have the luxury of time. It's a great time for chatting. So it
was just so sweet to be able to start my trip off by catching up with
Ruben and 2 students, working along side them, laughing with them, and
hearing more of Ruben's life story. He's a great storyteller and I am
a very willing listener. 

I spent some time in Ma Georgina's kitchen too. She's one of my
favorite Mas here. She used to be a substitute house parent, stepping
in with her husband to care for the entire house when the regular
house parents traveled or went on vacation, but now she is a full-time
house parent. All the kids love her. They respect her and jump up to
obey her but still manage to tease her and laugh with her. It's
beautiful to watch, a beautiful testimony to her character – when your
job touches everyone and you've earned the respect of an entire
community, that's saying something. And it doesn't hurt that she's an
awesome cook. I've been eating her rice and stew for about a week
now.

When I wasn't in the kitchen I was prepping for a seminar with the
lower primary teachers – that's grades 1-3. Originally the plan was
to travel to the Eastern Region and do a seminar there, but who really
expected that my schedule would stay the same once I got to Ghana….
Certainly not me. I know better than that! The seminar went really,
really well. Basically we sat around and did math problems together
or watched videos of children doing math problems. While this might
sound like torture to some, it sounded pretty awesome to me and the
teachers really seemed to enjoy themselves. They were laughing a lot
and challenging each other jokingly. So all in all, it was
successful.

The last year of junior high (J3) is sort of an odd year. Students
take a high school entrance exam in April. Some of you will remember
writing letters to many students to read during that week of testing.
Once students are finished with exams, they graduate from junior high
and then begins the period of waiting. Waiting to hear the marks they
received on their high school entrance exams. During that time, J3
students here at the Village of Hope go back to the villages where
they came from to remember and to reconnect for several months with
family there. The J3 boarding students also return from where they
came. But this weekend several boarding students came to visit.
Although Felix, Obed and Mercy could only stay for a couple of hours,
it was great to see them. All of their friends were so excited to see
them. I couldn't help but smile and say a little prayer – of
thanksgiving and continued blessing – as I watched them walking
hand-in-hand with friends. We all exchanged numbers and made plans to
visit each other. Mercy and I hope to go shopping tomorrow and then
I'll see the boys when I go to Accra in a couple weeks.

Stay tuned for the next few updates…. They're going to be exciting!
That's all I can right now, so I hope you like cliffhangers!

(Song Title: How Sweet It Is to Be Loved By You, by James Taylor)