Week 6 Report

School is back in session! Most of the older kids are already gone for school by the time I get to the orphanage around 9AM. They walk to government-sponsored schools around the city. They come back around 2PM in their cute uniforms and either salute(boys) or curtsy(girls) to me and say, "Good afternoon!" I guess that's what they're taught to do in school, because it never happened before when they were on holiday, and now it happens every day!

The little ones, basically grades three and lower, are taught at the orphanage. Two classes meet on the veranda of the dining hall and one meets in the dining hall. The six and under class is chaotic because some of the toddlers are supposed to be in school and some aren't, but they don't know which category they fall into, so sometimes they come in, and sometimes they run around outside, and sometimes they just lean their head down on the table and go to sleep. There's also a deaf class, both for the deaf orphans and deaf children from the town. It's my favorite because it's QUIET!

They have no qualms about hurting anyone's self-esteem by holding them back. Mr. Peter held back two of his three school-aged children last year because he didn't think they worked hard enough. There are two teenage girls in the class with seven and eight year olds because they came from French-speaking countries. You can imagine how much they enjoy that!

There's no principal's office, no detentions, no time-outs, just the cane. The teacher for the youngest class wanted me to be the disciplinarian one day. I wasn't real thrilled about that -- I didn't come halfway around the world to beat children. But she realized it was a bad idea when all of the kids just laughed at the white lady with the cane and made more noise by yelling at me to hit them next . . . maybe I need to work on my caning technique?

So they're working hard, learning every day. Much like American kids, they dream of being nurses and teachers and police officers in the future. They're off to a good start!

Week 5

Hello everyone! Today, at Morgan Kelly's suggestion, since the high school youth group found it funny that I had been proposed to several times, I will tell you some of the other random things that have happened to me during this first half of my stay in Ghana.

THE PROPOSALS: Yep, I've been proposed to so many times now that I've lost count. I'd like to say it's because of my striking beauty and mesmerizing charm, but it's really just because I'm white and it's the Ghanaian dream to marry a white girl, I guess. Earlier this week I told the other volunteer that if there were a Hobby Lobby here, I'd go buy some iron-on letters and make a t-shirt that says, "No, I don't want to marry you." He said he saw a kid on the street in Kumasi selling homemade t-shirts that said, "Obruni, marry me and take me to your country," so from what I gather it's just kind of a big joke here.

THE WISDOM OF MR. PETER: We share the volunteer house with Peter (the orphanage manager), his wife, and their four children. Mr. Peter is pretty much our source of entertainment. He is convinced that Eskimos, like UFO's, are just a myth. His two main points when arguing this are a) no Eskimos have ever visited Ghana, and b) no Eskimos have ever competed in the Olympics. We tried to explain that they don't have their own country, so American Eskimos would compete for the USA. He wants proof. He also gives great marriage advice. If a woman has hair and can cook, she will be a good wife. If she can't cook, she can only be a girlfriend. And you want a woman who is fairly big, because that shows she's a good cook if she eats a lot, but not too big. The other volunteer asked if a big woman was too much for him, and he said, "Yes . . . too much food, too much clothes, too much shocks for your car . . . "

MEETING A STAR: One night I was introduced to a guy that Mr. Peter was showing around the orphanage. He introduced him as the goalie of the Ghanaian soccer team. They beat us in the World Cup a few months ago. I joked with him about that and then continued on, playing with the children. It was only later that I realized this guy, in a soccer-crazed country, was probably the equivalent of Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods, and I should have been star-struck! Whoops!

THE WILDLIFE: There are goats everywhere. I asked Mr. Peter one night if they're for milking and he just laughed like that was the funniest thing he'd ever heard. So I asked if they were wild, since they are seriously all over the place, and he laughed even harder. He said they are for meat. Eeew. One day as I was walking on the dirt road to the orphanage, I heard loud rustling in the tall grass beside me and thought, man, that sounds like one big goat . . . and out stepped a giant white humpbacked bull! I about screamed! But it just kept chewing so I kept walking. Two days later I heard children screaming and looked up and there was the bull, chasing them. Did I somehow get on the wrong plane and end up at the running of the bulls in Spain?

SUGAR: The kids' prayers were answered last week when a donation came in that provided money for rice, flour, and, above and beyond what they'd prayed for, sugar! In celebration, it was declared "Ball Float Saturday." I immediately pictured ice cream, but they explained that no, you make dough into balls and drop them into grease and they float. Doughnuts. But they're called Ball Floats here -- which really is the more logical name, don't you think? So anyway, instead of bowls of mush for lunch, everyone had Ball Floats. Check out the picture of three girls hamming it up with theirs.

FUNNY SHOPS: One of the ways people show their Christian faith here is to name their business something that refers to Jesus or the Bible. English is the official language, but for most people it's their second language after their tribal language, so sometimes they inadvertently come up with names that an American like me gets quite a kick out of. Some of my favorites: The Lord is My Shepherd Saw Sharpening Service (try saying that one ten times fast), Only Jesus Can Do Mobile Phone Repair (you can leave your phone with us, but unless there's a miracle . . . ), Doctor Jesus Fuel Injection (I know he gave sight to the blind and raised the dead, but he does fuel injection, too? Amazing!), and Innocent Blood Barber Shop (do you really want to get in that guy's chair?).

So as you can see, it's easy to find a little humor in every day!

Week 4 Report

Today I will attempt to describe the headache, the joy, the mass chaos that is . . . THE BABY ROOM!

Everyone loves babies, right? Then you should all come here and hold some. They're so darn cute and so hungry for affection. When I hold one in a rocking chair, three more stand patiently by my knees, waiting for me to put that one down and pick another one up.

The babies usually either have Christian names, like David in the picture with me, or traditional names that state the day of the week they were born, like Kwasi in the middle photo (a boy born on a Sunday), or Akua in the bottom pic (a girl born on a Wednesday). I'm much better at remembering the Christian names!

Bath time is pretty fun to watch -- childcare assembly line style! The mothers (all of the women who work here are called mothers) strip 'em all down and sit them next to a big bowl. Then one washes, one dries, and one puts on a new diaper. There are currently seventeen babies in there, and babies aren't exactly the best at following instructions, so there are usually a few naked babies wandering around and getting into trouble while they wait their turn!

Once they learn how to use the potty chair, they're out of the baby room and into the toddler room, where they are free during the day to roam the grounds . . . so there are tiny little ones all over the place! They just trust that the older kids will help the younger ones, but the overprotective American in me is absolutely horrified that babies are wandering around! One baby got "promoted" last week and his bed was quickly filled -- two new babies, one six months old and one six days old, were brought in by the police on Friday. It's sad that kids just keep coming in, but good that at least there's somewhere for them to go.

Week 3 Report

So what do you do there? That's what I know most of you are wondering. Well, my usual way of going about things -- planning, preparing, leading, etc. -- is out the window. They simply want volunteers to be with the kids, which has been frustrating to me at times -- who knew I was so Type A?

So my days are random and unplanned. I hold babies (I've accepted the fact that their diapers will leak and I will go home smelling like pee every day.) I play cards. I hold kids who want to more closely examine my frecked white skin and my long hair. I push swings and go down the slide in trains (never as the engine or caboose, though, because then only one kid would get to touch me and mass chaos would break out). And more than anything, I sing. I am the walking juke box. Kids follow me around, tugging on my clothes, saying, "Do this." Then they'll do the motions to the opening line of Pharaoh Pharoah, My Rock My Sword My Shield, The Hippo Song, or anything else that has silly actions. I go through my extensive repetoire at least four times a day, which honestly drives me insane some days, but how can I deny these kids something that makes them laugh when they have so little?

I'm not sure how I can express how little the children have here. Yes, they have the basics. They each have a bed to sleep in, but no pillows, blankies, or stuffed animals. They all have clothes, but most of them are ripped, have missing buttons, have broken zippers, or the elastic is gone (I can't count how many times a day I get mooned by a little brown butt!). And they have three meals a day, but nothing you or I would eat, just bowls of mush to fill their little bellies. At a prayer meeting last week, the older kids were praying for rice. Rice! Because that's so good compared to what they get if money is tight. There are no toys or extras of any kind. The older kids (middle school/high school age) are crazy about soccer, but most of them just have flip flops, so they will share a pair of tennis shoes, hiking boots, or whatever's been donated, running barefoot on one foot and kicking the ball with their right or left foot, whichever one is covered by the shoe.

So although the lack of order drives me crazy sometimes, I understand the ministry of presence . . . just giving my time and love to whatever kid wants it. The kids in the pictures are Abby & Kofi on top (their names are actually much longer, but I can only catch the first couple of syllables!) and Emmanuel on the bottom. They are some of my most fervent song requestors!!

So that's what I do. Thanks for you prayers and messages. I wish I could get to the internet more and stay longer!!

Tiffany

P.S. If you want to make a donation online, you can do so at www.adullamorphanage.org -- it goes through a church in Georgia. They send a group over every year. They were just here a few months ago and built a great playground!!