Ghana!!!

Hi all!
We finally made it to Ghana. I wish I could post pictures, but I'm at an internet cafe so I can't really do that. Bear with me. This may be a long one. The whole traveling thing was kind of a hot mess for me. I've traveled alone before, but I am clearly not an international traveler. I messed up about a hundred times and walked through the London airport holding back tears. This poor man working one of the desks laughed and then he realized I had no idea what was going on and got me to my gate. That airport is a nightmare though. There has to be a better way to do things. I finally met up with all the other girls and we headed to Ghana. That flight was so long especially since I was motion sick, but we landed and I felt so relieved. I could not believe that I was in Africa. (I still can't really.) We got through that airport an hour later and met up with the IVHQ staff. The 17 of us piled into a tro-tro (minivan type things that are the public form of transportation here) and headed to the main staff house in Accra where met some of the staff before being put up in a hotel for the night since the main house was at capacity. I use the term hotel loosely, but it had A/C and running water. That's luxury here in Ghana. I didn't sleep at all, but it felt so nice to be on solid ground and in cool air.

The next day we headed back to the staff house for orientation. I made it halfway through before laying down and passing out because I felt so sick. I didn't feel any better before piling into another tro-tro for the 2 hour journey to our placement near the town of Somanya. The ride was rough, but I could finally look outside and see what Ghana really looks like. You buy everything on the streets including coffins, mattresses, food, clothes, etc. Like I said, you buy it all there. You can even shop straight from the tro-tro which can be scary at first but I'm slowly getting used to it. People are everywhere and traffic laws do not exist (I see what you mean about India, Jaclyn). It gets pretty freaky and people just beep all the time. I would not be surprised if we got in an accident at some point. Total mess. 

We got to our placement and immediately the kids were staring and waving. My guess is that this is the first time most of them have seem oburoni (foreigners in the local language). We are a rare type here and everyone stares and wants to touch us. I think we are starting to understand the life of celebrities. We met the main staff members: Mama Peace, Erin, Veronica, Irene, and our 3 cooks. They gave us a short orientation to the home (Bright Futures Children's Home) and showed us our rooms. We spent the rest of the day playing with the kids. It was pretty awkward at first because of the language barrier, but once we got them laughing and chatting it all went well. They are so much fun and just looking for love. They adore being tickled and held. One of my favorite moments was when all of the kids started singing for us. They started with "Jesus Loves Me" and then followed that with tons of church songs. One of the girls has such a beautiful voice and she is so captivating when she sings. You can tell that she just takes herself to another place. The trust that these people have in God is amazing. They have so little and yet they have everything they need. 

We had the day off on Monday to relax and play with the kids because it was a holiday here so they didn't have school. We went to town with Erin to see the internet cafe and banks. That was an experience. So many people, so many tro-tros, and so much to take in. We headed back to our placement and I took my first shower in 3 days. Yep, that's right. Three days. (Beth, I hope you are proud of me for that.) Not to mention, it was a bucket shower since we don't have running water or much electricity. It actually wasn't bad. I was just desperate for anything to make me feel somewhat cleaner. You never actually feel clean here. Still getting used to that. In retrospect, I really can't say I ever thought I would be taking a bucket shower...God's plan was apparently way different than mine on that one. We followed showers with a trip to the home that the children actually live in. It is about a 10 minute walk. This is where my heart broke for the first time. They don't have any beds to sleep on and they just pile into rooms to sleep. There are flies everywhere and the water is so dirty. Becky and I read a book with a few kids and realized that that book was the only one they have. I ended up reading it with my new little friend, Bella, at least 3 times that day. The kids love to sing and dance. They have so many games that they play, including football. Oh my goodness, they play so much football. (James- Brian & I are on the look out for your jersey! They have so many here.)

Bella is so smart and so beautiful. She is 12 and wants to be a nurse when she grows up. I hope with my whole heart that she has the opportunity to do that. She loves school and has so much potential. She is very quiet, but you don't need words to communicate love. We always sit together and today we just walked silently, hand-in-hand to school. These kids have already stolen my heart. (I know dad, I won't bring them home no matter how badly I want to.) Annesty is 8 and so quiet. You look in her eyes and can tell she has been through more in her 8 years than most people will experience in their lifetime. However, she loves being tickled and has the sweetest smile and laugh. My heart breaks every time I see her. She doesn't talk to many people and she is so tired. She falls asleep on my lap each time I hold her. Annesty loves to hold hands and just feel loved. There are so many other kids I will introduce all of you to in later post, but those are my two girls right now. Please pray for them.

Today we woke up at 5 am. Gah. Not fun. But we woke up and headed to the children's home to prepare them for school. It was such a mess. We really have no system in place yet to get them ready in an organized fashion. They all had to shower, get dressed, find their shoes and books, then get to school. We were told that the kids had to leave the home at 7 am so we were rushing them along only to get to school at 7:15 am after a mile walk only find out they were an hour early. The school is enough to make anyone's heart hurt. It is literally just some sticks holding up a little thatch roof. We had to walk to get their benches. There are no walls, no floor...just mud. They are building a new school, but who knows when that will be finished and who is paying for it. Ghanaians do not care about time. Their motto is "It happens when it happens." That's very hard for us Americans to adjust to, but I'm working on it. After sitting with the kids for awhile we headed back to the house for breakfast. The bread here is so delicious. We are all obsessed. So good. This is where we get to today. Becky and I walked all the way to town (an hour and a half walk) on a mission to buy apples off some woman's head and use the internet. We didn't expect to walk this far, but we haven't really gotten the tro-tro system down. Oops. 

Just some random things I forgot to put above:
--- Mama Peace makes her own beads and jewelry to sell. That's how she makes money to provide for the kids. She offered to let us buy her jewelry or she will teach us to make our own. (Mom- Look forward to that! Can't wait to pick something out/make something to add to your crazy collection of jewelry.)
 --- Our rooms are the definition of "roughing it". I am staying with 3 other girls. (Becky, Margeaux, and Rachel) We have two beds and that's about it. It took us a long time to figure out the maneuvering of the mosquito nets, but we did it. Those things are so annoying to have up. There are times when you just want to collapse onto bed, but in order to do that you have to crawl under the net and then tuck it back in before actually laying down. Quite a process. We have one light and a fan which work whenever the house decides it wants to give us electricity. Oh, and our view is of the backyard and a whole ton of goats. I have yet to get used to the noise they make. I jump every time.
--- Food is alright. Still getting used to it. My stomach hates me right now. (Grandma- You had the right idea about worrying.) Francis (my friend Hannah's boyfriend and one of the IVHQ staff members) said I should be better in a few days and he will take me to the local pharmacy to get something for motion sickness. That should help!
--- Also, I can't get on Facebook. I set up this stupid security thing a long time ago that requires me to enter an access code that they text to me every time I use a new computer. Obviously, my phone doesn't work here. Please forward this on to anyone who may want to read it!

Overall, the trip has been amazing, exhausting, eye-opening, and fun. Can't wait to see what the rest of the time holds for us! Sorry this was long! Not sure when I will get internet again so wanted to give as many details as possible. I am forgetting a hundred things, but I'll get around to those details. Love you all! Thank you so much for the prayers and support. Katie- The letters are awesome. Beth- The journal...wow, no words. Thank you so much. You always keep me accountable for staying on top of my faith. Christine- Letters= Awesome. Devotional= Rocking my world and Margeaux's! Miss all of you so much. See you soon! 

Sending much love from Africa,
Steph