A Quick Ghana Update

We were talking today, walking to the orphanage, about how you just can't describe this to people. You could try and try to explain things, but unless you actually brought the person here to see it with their own eyes, they just can't really know . . . young men "mowing the lawn" with a machete, goats roaming the streets, neighborhood kids shouting "obroni!" and then hiding behind their mothers' skirts when you turn and wave at them, and, most of all, the children at the orphanage. They are beautiful. They are heartbreaking. I can't tell you how many times in the past three days I've had to fight back tears. One week here is just not enough. Knowing how little love and affection they get, we want to spend every moment we have with them, just cuddling them and tickling them and making them smile. Alicia and Mia have spent hours in the baby room bathing and feeding and even (ugh!) changing diapers. I've been hanging out with the older crowd (ages four to ten) singing songs and playing endless games of Go Fish and Old Maid. Today we started our "Vacation Bible School" . . . which is basically lots and lots of singing, a Bible story, and then endless coloring. They love it! This afternoon we recruited our first knitting students and have girls lined up, anxious to learn. We started distributing the toothbrushes and toothpaste Dr. Klein sent along and you would have thought it was Christmas. One high school girl was actually doing a little happy dance, clutching her toothpaste in one hand and her toothbrush in the other. There have been some great improvements -- all of the girls were staying in one room the last time I was here, and now they are spread out into two with about twenty girls per room. They are very, very happy to have more space and I'm amazed at how clean they keep their rooms. They even have some pillows and some teddy bears. And they are all super excited about their new showerhouse. Before they had to take a bucket of water behind a building and hope no one saw them naked while they tried to clean themselves up with a bucket bath. Now they've got two nice big rooms, one for boys and one for girls, with running water and electricity.

We're tired at the end of every day but we're happy to be here bringing smiles wherever we can. Thanks for keeping us in your prayers!