Happy Monday and Week 2 of Africa!!!
I know I just posted a few days ago but I am back and have a lot to write about...I hope you all (y'all as my southern family would say) can bear with me. I first want to apologize for how sassy the beginning of my last post was. I had my first "bad" day here in Ghana, but I made it through. I went to mass at St. Francis de Sales Cathedral over in Cape Coast and God kicked me in the butt. I was determined to go even though no one really seemed too excited about it. Where is my Newman community when I need it? I am definitely starting to struggle with this being my first service trip that is not faith-based. It is hard to not be surrounded by people that share my beliefs and reasons for being here, but I am adjusting and learning to rely more fully on God as He has promised to never leave me nor forsake me. Either way, I went to mass with one other girl and it was, of course, exactly what I needed. The 2nd reading was completely amazing. "My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness." (Check out 2 Cor) The homily focused on that line of "My grace is enough for you." The priest really stressed that our past and where we come from should never determine our future. He made me realize that even though I had a bad attitude all last weekend and had a skewed perspective my first week of being here that it isn't too late to change that perspective and start fresh this week. So good. Quick note: Mass in Ghana = same as Mass in America. I knew it would be but I continue to fall more in love with the beautiful thing that is the Catholic faith. I felt so at home in that cathedral. God is everywhere here in Africa, but He was so present there. I love that I can be thousands upon thousands of miles away from home and still know that my church service will not be different from my service back home. Love it.
We got back yesterday afternoon after a long ride. Our greeting was perfect. The kids were waiting and just attacked the bus. Every single one of them was smiling and hugging us. I looked down and just little Annesty smiling up at me waving like crazy as I struggled to step out of the van into a large mass of kids. I had no idea I would ever be that happy to be back "home." It felt so great to be playing with the kids again and sleeping under our mosquito net. Not to mention we were surprised with running water. Best shower of my life. Of course the water is no longer working, but those 10 minutes in the shower were just perfect.
The situation here continues to break my heart. I am so glad I have had other service trips to teach me some of the hardest lessons about helping the less fortunate, but there is always more to learn and that is exactly what I am doing. It is hard to not want to change every single thing about life here at the orphanage, but I am realizing that God is not calling me to change how these people live. He is calling me to help one child at a time. I know I cannot give them all beds, books, running water and more than one outfit, but I can give them the thing they most need and that is love. It is hard to look at Ghana and not think "Wow. This is so different from life in America. How do they live without all of these things?" The reality is, this is life for these people and they are content. I need to stop trying to teach them about what I think is a better life and start learning from them. The truth is that these people have more than you know. I look at this village and all I see is complete and total trust in God. How do these people in all of these booths make a living? They probably don't. They may not get any business yet the name of their store is "God Provides" and "I Know My Savior Lives." A simple shop name portrays the faith here. The children occupy their time by singing praise & worship songs. They have nothing, but yet they have so much. I have been taken down off my American high horse this past week and lowered to the level where God wants me to be. I have struggled with humility all year and it has been a constant prayer of mine to be able to let go of my pride. Well, hey God, I see what You're doing. He isn't teaching this lesson slowly. I'm sitting in Africa more humbled than I could ever imagine. God's timing is perfect even if it does hit like a tro-tro going 60 miles down a bumpy road.
I love everything about being here. The conversations I have had in the past few days have opened my eyes to so many things. Midnight conversations with Becky in the run-down hotel, talking with everyone in the tro-tro and have small group Bible study are all teaching me just as much as the kids are. I am realizing with the help of everyone here that I am limited but with God I have so much potential...we all do.
Alright, now for random details about life here and lessons learned:
--"Flashing" means "texting" here in Ghana. The policeman asked me to flash him the other day and I was pretty offended until I got home and Hannah informed me what that means here in Ghana.
--To get people's attention you hiss at them. Weird, but it works.
--Bargaining is a necessity. I got an authentic African drum from the man who made it for 5 cedi. He originally wanted 20 cedi. 5 cedi is something like $3. Yeah, I bet Michael would never think I would be good at bargaining...I learn from the best.
--Girls will be girls and boys will be boys no matter where they live. The boys love bugs and harassing all the girls. They laugh at everything and make inappropriate jokes. The girls take forever to get ready for school to the morning and the teenagers have the typical teenage attitude. The little ladies are total divas.
--People speak a billion languages here. We speak Krobo in our village but had to speak Twi in Cape Coast. It gets confusing.
--Advertisements here are extremely graphic. You want to see diseases and how they are transmitted? Just look for a poster or billboard. It is probably their form of education about things like HIV/AIDS but it's a huge shock when you see it for the first time.
--Fan Ice is heaven on earth. It is this ice cream type thing that comes in a packet. Like the water, you have to bite the corner off to eat it. Our group is constantly looking for the Fan Ice man on his little bike. You can get Fan Choco (like frozen chocolate milk) too, but that's just not as good.
--Goats are obnoxious and EVERYWHERE. Not to mention the ducks and roosters. We even saw pigs on the beach.
--Sarcasm isn't real here. The tro-tro driver asked Jen if she "had to piss" the other day and she said "No, I just did it on the floor." The mate (the driver's helper) looked down immediately and Jen had to explain that she was just kidding. He didn't appreciate it. From then on the tro-tro was a Joke Free Zone.
--I almost cried the other day when someone told me that the Ghanaians eat cats. WHAT?! I am still devastated about it. Not okay at all.
--Our neighbors here are worse than mine were when I lived on Chitt. At least the neighbors on Chitt stopped partying around 2 am. The neighbors here are up until at least 4:30 am. I have no idea when they sleep. All I know is that I don't sleep because they are banging away on their drums til the crack of dawn. Watch out, I have a drum now too. It's about to get real.
That's about all I can think about for now. It was long, however, I hope you feel well informed of Ghanaian life and life at the orphanage!!! Wish I could give every single detail and give a bio of all the kids, but that will have to wait. Love y'all! Shout out to BA7 Leadership as I sit here missing our first team meeting. Cannot wait to hear all about it.
With much love and a deep appreciation for my "real" shower yesterday,
Steph
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