Ghana

Note: These are the updates I typed while in Kete Krachi, Ghana. Since I couldn’t update online while I was there, I almost didn’t post them at all and only post a more formal type of a report. But there’s nothing formal about this blog and the updates will carry the as-it-happened feel. In fact, I’ll apologize now for the lack of eloquence! Any more formal writing will be posted later. Hope you enjoy reading.

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Monday, April 11, 2011

I met up with the MMDR team (www.mmdr.org) at DC’s Dulles airport, flying from New Orleans while everyone else flew from Nashville. We had just enough time to visit a little before boarding and settling in for the long night flight to Accra. My ability to drop the southern accent in a professional setting has apparently left me and, in fact, I’ve also apparently adapted a little bit of creole already. It was a topic but one I enjoy immensely. Accents are so fun and when people enjoy mine, of course my vanity enjoys it right back.

Arrival and checkout at Accra was an easy and uneventful process, thankfully. Our hosts, Garrett and Kelly Nicols, picked us up at the airport in a groovy mini bus that must have the coldest AC in all of Ghana. It’s around 2 pm at this point and, rather than make the full 12-15 hour trip to Kete Krachi (pronounced kehtee crachee), Garrett & Kelly had made arrangements for us to stay at a great hotel in Akosombo in an outer-lying area of Accra. The hotel is situated right on the southernmost branch of the enormous Lake Volta and provides beautiful views of the water and the hills on the other side. It was a good evening and provided us the opportunity to get to know a little more about Garrett & Kelly and their love and commitment to Ghana. Departure time is 6am sharp so that we can arrive in time to catch the ferry around noon to cross another arm of Lake Volta. After the ferry it’s a couple more hours on the road before we reach the Village of Life orphanage in Kete Krachi. I’ll comment here that, while this is a lot of over the road travel time, the roads are in great condition. Nothing like Haiti. At all. Haiti, it takes an hour to go 10 miles, no kidding. Ghana, you’ll remember, is a former British colony. I probably shouldn’t say that the pavement is smoother than the pavement in most of Mississippi/Louisiana.

Still, travel is tiring and we’ve been doing it since Saturday. I think today is Monday. We are settled now in Kete Krachi, down the road from the orphanage at a credit union – of all places. Not sure why a credit union is equipped with rooms. It’s nice, though, each with it’s own restroom. This team of 8 women and two men appreciate the bathrooms very much, thank you.

When we arrived, I was informed that Ghana is considered the “Beginner’s Africa” because it is one of the most stable countries in Africa (if not the most), and is very friendly to Americans. We’ve seen that to be true. English is spoken by most everyone we deal with and so communication isn’t too much of a problem. The countryside is beautiful; lush and peppered with everything from mud huts to big stone and tile homes with nice metal roofs. The existence of an infrastructure is obvious here. Again, unlike like Haiti.

MMDR is partnering with an organization based in Texas called Touch a Life (http://www.touchalifekids.org/). Their work here in Ghana focuses on child slavery in the fishing trade of Lake Volta and supports the efforts of Ghanaians George Achibra, Sr. and Jr. They spend much time forming relationships with the owners of these children, giving them latitude to negotiate. They must do that in order to have an effect. To save a child, they have to work with the people who have control of them. Eventually, and hopefully, they convince the owner to release a child to them. They then bring the child to a new home here at the Village of Life and work with them to toward rehabilitation and education. It’s an absolute honor to even be remotely associated with these people for a few days. Please take the time to go to their website and get to know them a little better.

The MMDR association with Touch a Life takes form in a couple of ways: providing medical care to the rescued children and also providing certain services (and education) to some of the surrounding villages: medical clinics, clean water, alternative cooking methods. The prayer is that this will help fortify the relationships the two Georges are building with the villages and will aid in their efforts to secure the release of more and more children. As always, it’s an honor and an absolute pleasure to travel and be associated with the MMDR crew. It’s not just that they walk the walk…they do it passionately and  have fun to boot. It’s more than a little bit refreshing!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Anyone out there doesn’t believe that God is alive and real, that He doesn’t show His face, that He doesn’t move mountains or that He doesn’t exist? You still holding on to that? I’m here to tell you in love, but not in jest, that you’re wrong. Dead wrong. I saw Him today. I felt him. Real as the keys under my fingers right now, He was on Lake Volta today with us in the village of Bakpa. He stood next to the chief who declared he and his village were following our lead and appreciated that we were joining in “the struggle” with them, He was next to the women and men who carried lake water on their heads to fill a 900-gallon tank that we’ll purify tomorrow, He was next to the master who released an enslaved child to us today, next to that child as he placed his trust and his life into the hands of strangers. He was next to me and David as we constructed a fuel efficient (smokeless) stove from dirt, concrete and straw in front of the chief and his people. He was next to Dr. V. and the nurses who treated scabies and worms and sores, next to the women who prayed their hearts out with each and every person who came through the line, including some of us. You can bet he was next to Kelly and Garrett and George as they negotiated with the master to let us bring a small, scared and broken little boy home with us. If I didn’t believe before today, I believe now.

Did you read the part where a master let his slave go? Released him. Put a little boy named Jaejim on a boat with a bunch of Americans, handed over a small black bag tied up with a few of Jaejim’s things, and waved. The terminology I am using, “master” and “slave” may sound a little dramatic to you but I’m not being dramatic at all. It’s the proper terminology to use. Slavery is real, it happens today, in 2011. To children. They are sold and bought for not a lot of money for labor that you and I wouldn’t be able to do and for long workdays that I know you and I wouldn’t be able to endure. It’s hard to fathom, I know, for you reading this. To be honest, it’s hard to fathom when you’re actually standing there looking down at a little victim of it.

The release of Jaejim was the perfect culmination of an already perfect day. So many moments. The day shone like no other. I wish I could describe it but right now I can’t back track and talk about the other things because this one fact of Jaejim is so remarkable and so life-changing for all of us who witnessed and were a part of it.

All the while today I had a New Orleans jazz trumpet playing in my head. It was a pretty good soundtrack to one of the most amazing days of my life.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

This is the first time I’ve been in an area that affords me the opportunity to hear a public call to prayer at various times of the day. It’s interesting to say the least and is a good reminder that I am “elsewhere.”

Hey, how was your day? Let me tell you about mine. Like yesterday, we started with a 6:30 breakfast and were on the boat going across the lake well before 8am. I love these early mornings. We went to another island called Monniako (to pronounce, think “Monaco”)  to conduct a clinic and to hopefully secure a few children. The clinic went well and guess what? We were successful in bringing three children back with us!!! Two boys and a girl. That fact alone makes it an extremely blessed day. But it didn’t end there. We went from “Monaco” back to Bakpa, where we spent the day yesterday. They conducted another clinic while David and I showed George and Garrett how to set up the purifier. We chlorinated 900 gallons of water! We will go back to them first thing in the morning and have a ceremonial drinking of the water. I’m hoping they’ll break out the drums (there was talk of it yesterday but we didn’t have time because we needed to get back across the lake before weather blew in). We are all very excited about this in the morning! Stay tuned!

Let me tell you about a little boy I saw on Monniako today. As we were waiting for the chlorine levels in the water to rise to the appropriate level, David and I took a walk around the village to get a feel for their resources, how they live, etc. We circled all the way around the island and came up on a couple of boats on the shore with some kids untangling fishing nets. We engaged them and began watching what they were doing, the process they were using. One of the boys, no older than 7 or 8, kept smiling a big glorious smile at us and kept interacting, especially with David. When David began to photograph him, he got out of the boat and just stood there. Straight and strong, holding David’s gaze and smiling. He saluted and held the salute for what felt like ages. The strength and dignity this boy exuded was so beautiful and so remarkable for what I know to be his position in life. He held that salute for so long that David and I both, without discussion, held up our hands in a return salute. I’ll never forget that image of him.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Remarkable day. We took a later start because our schedule was a little looser than before. First thing after breakfast we conducted a clinic for the children at Village of Life. We documented each child so now they will have running medical charts documenting their conditions and progress. I scribed for Bethany and really enjoyed it. The kids are all so precious and sweethearted. They wrote their names for us, told us of any maladies or asked questions, and were patient and still as stones as Bethany checked their temp, blood pressure, and listened to their hearts. When she made them stick out their tongues and go “ahhhhhhhh,” every child got a little tickled and couldn’t help but smile. It was cute.

One of the children who had just come home with us yesterday came through our station. Bethany checked him and everything seemed ok. She gave him a sucker the same as she’d done for everyone else. When he walked away from us it didn’t take him long to hand the sucker to another of the children. Jaejim did the same thing the day he came home with us. We were loaded on the boat, waiting to leave the island. Jaejim was sitting with us, scared and silent. The ladies were loving on him as much as they could and one gave him a piece of candy. He put it in his mouth but when a couple of the other children waded over to tell him goodbye, he took the candy out of his mouth and silently handed it over the edge of the boat to one of his friends. Both children’s generosity and regard for their counterparts provides such a beautiful and perfect illustration to a message that I can’t formulate. Love your brother above yourself. No matter what.

We made one last run out to Bakpa. I have to say that Bakpa had already taken it’s place in my heart as one of my favorite places in the world but after today? No doubt. We returned to have a ceremonial drink of purified water with them, filling a large water bottle with water from the faucet installed on the bottom of the tank. Young David and I drank first, then passed it through the crowd gathered around us and the tank. They took long, deep drinks from the bottle, savoring the moment and the water. I stood there watching them drink clean water, possibly for the first time. I’m loving this moment in a way I didn’t know was possible.

Break out the drums! Yes, Lord. In celebration and as a show of thanks we were treated to drums and dancing. They circled chairs and took to the center “dance floor” by twos. Then, one by one, they pulled us out with them. It’s a particular kind of dance that uses mainly your shoulders and the top of your back. We were hopeless! I think footage was taken of the event but you won’t be seeing it posted here for any amount of money. A picture or two…maybe.

But this was such a special moment. Outsiders aren’t usually included in this type of thing and we are blessed to be able to witness it. For hours, we sat and laughed with them and danced with them and each other under a mango tree to the sound of drums, maracas and a low chant. True joy.

Friday, April 15, 2011

We were on the road this morning by 6:30, to make it to the ferry before 9. The trip was a particularly fast one and we made it to the loading dock in plenty of time. Everyone is in good spirits. We sat on the ferry and watched them load 9 big vehicles like sardines. No joke, big Mac truck-sized vehicles sandwiched in door-to-door and nose-to-tail. It’s an art, backing those things up onto the ramp and into place and also an art to be one of the guys standing on the ferry floor directing said truck into place. A little dangerous, too, perhaps. Today along with the same monkeys on board as last time, we had a goat on each of two vehicles. They were tied so I knew they wouldn’t fall, but they didn’t look particularly happy about being on top of a moving vehicle, on a moving ferry boat, on a moving body of water. Just saying.

We are about halfway through our 12ish hour trip from Kete Krachi to Accra. The countryside is more beautiful today because it rained this week. But my compulsion to snap pictures through the glass of a rapidly moving vehicle isn’t netting me very good results, I’m afraid.

I am so happy to be here. Unfortunately, I am not talented enough to put words together in a way that will sufficiently express how utterly and deeply happy I am. As we’re traveling toward Accra, I’m also happy to be going home. Let me explain. I am so blessed to be given the opportunity to travel like this and that blessing extends far beyond the experience and the pictures. It makes me appreciate home and my own country so very much. Critique our United States all you want but, brother, you are blessed beyond belief to live there. This travel makes me appreciate the people in my life more; I see how remarkable they are in a way I haven’t previously. I see and appreciate God and how He moves and works in a way I haven’t before.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Random Ghana tidbit: “Ghana” means “warrior king.”

I’ll take this chance to say how much I’ve enjoyed getting to know the ladies on this trip. Watching their work ethic, their faith in action, their fabulous humor , their compassion and love, has been so inspiring. They are all amazing and I’m a better woman for having met them. It hits me today that we are no longer in Ghana, we won’t be returning to Bakpa, and I have to part ways with this team. I can’t help but be a little emotional! I am undeserving of this entire experience but mightily thankful.

NOLA awaits and I’m looking forward to seeing her, and you, again. Thanks for reading and sharing this experience with me.

Shalom, y’all.