President Atta Mills

7 days ago the president of Ghana passed away. Atta Mills was sick with throat cancer and had previously been treated in America. He was rushed to hospital on Tuesday 24 July where he passed away.

News of his death spread like wild fire.

At the time I heard, I was in a trotro (public transport) and people began to talk louder and started to call friends. The 'mate' (person who collects the money) explained to me that the president had died. At first, I thought he was asking me if I knew the president personally- I was very confused- but we clarified.

For the next couple of hours the country seemed on edge. People were in shock and were unsure what to do. On my way home, I stopped at a chop bar (street food restaurant) where everyone was crowded around watching TV. Everyone was glued to the TV hoping to hear more news.

Although there was talk about the President passing for the next week, it was not tense. The vice-president was sworn in within a couple of hours in line with the constitution. This meant there was no room for uncertainty or fear to take hold.

Today was the remembrance day of the Presidents death. There was a ceremony held in the city centre and the family were in town also. The whole city was covered in red and black as these are the colours you wear to a funeral. I bought some red material to fit in. There was dancing and singing and it seemed like everyone had descended on Accra City Central to remember their late president.

The funeral will take place from 8-10 August.

Everyone will wear red or black.

Funerals are big events in Ghana. Depending on the tribe, funerals can take place soon after the person has passed away or many months later. Families will have savings in case there is a death in their family because funerals cost so much money. The family has to pay for catering, hiring of marquees, sound systems, and gifts for the extended family. Funerals are also a time where guys and girls can meet. They are such big events that sometimes boys will wander around till they see a funeral to join- there they will get a free meal, some drinks and get to meet some girls.

Please continue to pray for political stability in Ghana. Elections are in November.

All about food..

Over the past week I have been feeling sick. What I initially thought to have been malaria has now passed and I am left with nothing but a sore throat. However, this week of sickness has meant that I was able to catch up on missed sleep which was SO nice. I also managed to make a chicken noodle soup (from scratch), bake banana muffins and tidy my house. Turns out I get domestic when sick.

But I have been busy. Last Saturday I had a fun time at a lady's house from church, Ruth. Ruth sings in the choir and invited me around to learn how to cook. I arrived promptly at 8am. But seeing as I am living in Ghana, 8am to a white person actually means 9 or 10 for a Ghanaian so I watched some Ghanaian evangelism TV while waiting. We went to the market and bought our ingredients and began cooking. I can't believe how much I ate in the space of about 3 hours.
1) I ate her left over Banku (heavy dinner meal),
2)then we had Fried Plantain (delicious),
3) followed by Tilapia (whole fish). The Tilapia was cooked in some incredible tomato hot sauce.
4) Following this we had Rice Balls and Groundnut Soup. I helped make all this but I doubt that I can recreate any of it. Many more lessons to come.
All of this is eaten with your hands.

This Saturday, my girls' group are coming to make Jollof Rice at my house. I am expected about twelve 14-15year old girls to be coming. I am sure conversation will revolve around boys, cell phones and scandals that happened at lunch the previous day. Photos to come.

It's been a long time...

I am guilty of bloggers neglect. Apologies.

My routine in Ghana has finally been set and I am enjoying being busy and helping out. Yesterday I had my first day at a creche run by S.AID. The creche usually has upwards of 100 kids with about 7 other helpers. I was escorted to the creche by one of the social workers who, after proposing that we marry, told me all about the plight of street children in Ghana. In one publication, it says there are about 61, 492 street children in Accra. Most are from the rural regions (76.9%) who have come to Accra in search of money.  He introduced me to one girl, who lives in a squatters village, that sells food on the streets in the times she is not at school. People live incredible lives.

The creche that I will be working in is for street children whose parents work during the day. They get dropped off in the morning then picked up anytime after 3. The children are taught for 3 hours, receive lunch, have a nap and then are free to play until their parents come. I will be helping out in a classroom, as well as with feeding and then will get to play with the kids. This will be for 2 days a week.

I have recently had two other associates stay with me for a couple of days. They have been working in the north and came down south for a holiday. It is so cool to hear about what others are doing. The north of Ghana sounds like a completely different country and I am hoping that I will get to go there sometime.

As for culture, I am learning Azonto (some dance that is not made for white girls). People laugh but I take that as encouragement. I am going to the market every week and sitting with some ladies that only speak Twi, so slowly I hope to improve. I have become addicted to buying the icecream which comes in plastic wrappers. It is called FanIce. Bit of indulgence especially after a hot day. I still love the number of Hawkers (people who sell stuff on their heads on the streets) that come up to the cars. You can do your whole weeks shopping if you go through enough traffic lights.

Today I am off to the market to buy some more cloth for dresses/skirts (I am getting addicted to Ghanaian cloth). Another associate and I are also showing a new associate around the market.

I am loving my time here, even though it is getting busy!
Thanks for the encouragement.

One month down

Hello friends and family,
I have been in Ghana for one month and am loving my life here. The missionary who I am taking over from, Sherri, left on Tuesday so I have had my first solo week. I thought this would be so daunting and perhaps as time goes on I will notice her absence more and more. Sherri is a wealth of knowledge and took me wherever she went.

Last Sunday I took over my role as Sunday School teacher. It was my debut as a Sunday School teacher but thankfully it was Easter so the theme was easy to work with. The church I do Sunday School at lasts for about 3 hours so I have to plan a 3 hour lesson for about 30 kids of all ages. Initially this was intimidating but the 2 times I have done it have gone well. I thank God for his strength that he gives me. The children are so polite as I sing in front of them (painful experience for all!!) and learn how to teach. As always, God has put me in this position so I trust He will help me.

Wednesday Sherri runs a morning school assembly which she has passed onto me. This is only half an hour but with a large amount of kids. By the grace of God, I managed to do this morning assembly. For the rest of this week I was lucky enough to help another mission organisation (HCJB) with their spiritual life conference (SLC). Their SLC was held at a beautiful beach, with a pool and delicious food. I was to babysit their children while they were in their meetings. It was such a pleasure and I had a lot of spare time. I sat on the beach and read a lot. Was a nice break.

During this time, I felt that God was teaching me to be obedient. I still am unsure what I will do during the week but now I have an obedient heart which God can use. I hope to keep exploring options. There are some street children groups that I have contacted as well as some individuals that I will talk to this week. Please pray that it will become obvious where I should serve in Ghana.

2 Weeks

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone - Neale Donald Walsch

Today is my 2 week anniversary in Ghana and it is incredible to see how much my mindset has changed since I have been here. At the start I was scared as well as naive. Then I became intimidated when I met all the capable missionaries here and when I hear about the work I was going to do. Now I am less intimidated, less scared and less naive. This is going to be a learning curve for me. I will be pushed outside my comfort zone and made to do things that I have never done before.

I have been learning about sacrifices recently and what God calls us to do. God has called us to give our best to be a blessing to others. Sacrificing what is comfortable and easy has been hard for me but I hope that God can use me here in Ghana. Please pray for an obedient  heart as I learn what it means to sacrifice for God.

During my time here, I have managed to try a lot of local food. I've had uncreative army-ration-like meals at home because I haven't done much grocery shopping so it has been great when people have asked me if I want to go out for lunch with them. I have tried Kinki, Banku and Fufu. All of these are similar. Kinki is a ball of dough eaten with sauce (most fermented = most bitter), Banku is a ball of dough eaten with a stew (less bitter) and kinki is a ball of dough in a light soup (least bitter). The dough is made from pounded corn or yam (from what I can remember). I think it will take some getting used to. I don't love it. However, other street food such as rice, beans, chicken etc is DELICIOUS. I have also been indulging in fresh fruit.

Yesterday I went to a place called Ashaiman which is in the Greater Accra Region. It was nice to see a bit more of the country. We met a friend of Sherri's who made a dress for her. This morning we went to Tesano School to do the weekly kids program there in assembly. Sherri (my guru) does such a great job with the kids- something I hope to learn by watching her.

My language skills in Twi (properly said Chwee) are improving. I am learning the proper replies to questions and am getting more confident.
Twi lesson 101:
Etisaine = How are you?
Aye = I am fine

Day 5

I have had a very busy couple of days. I almost fainted in the market from the heat, but have since recovered and have learnt to take water with me everywhere. The heat doesn't bother me so much anymore. I am slowly learning how to use the public transport (called trotro's which are a public van-taxi and are very cheap) and am also slowly learning language (twi said tree). I have been given my Ghanaian name which is Ya (translated as Thursday- coming from the day of the week you are born on). I love the language and can't wait to learn more.

I am also slowly learning more about Ghanaian culture. Ghanaian's are very polite and friendly but are also very direct. For example, if a street vendor asks you to buy something, you reply with tomorrow (okyena) as opposed to no. This, however, can cause problems if you are doing something that is inappropriate, they won't come outright and tell you.

Saturday was a day off so I went to the pools with my co-worker (and mentor) Sherri, and had an amazing day relaxing.
As it is Sunday, I experienced my first Ghanaian church. It is interactive and alive. The people sing loudly and reply with Amen often throughout the sermon. I feel very reserved in comparison to them.

I am intimidated by the work I will have to do here. I do not feel like I have the skills to do it. I am learning that I will have to run Sunday School classes, run bible studies and other small groups. However, I have to remember that God has brought me here and He will teach me the skills I need.

First Day

First day in Ghana = first post.
I have been travelling for about 30 hours so it is nice to be sitting in my own room. My own room, which turns out had a faulty lock (would not open). The guest house manager has just fixed that problem with a sledgehammer so now I don't have a lock to complain about. The door doesn't close either.

The flight all went well. Watched many movies and tried my best to sleep. I am still too short to reach the ground when I sit back in the aeroplane chairs or to stow my luggage in the overhead locker.

I had dinner tonight with the SIM Director and his family which was lovely.Ghanaians drive on the other side of the road and have very different road rules. All so exciting and adventurous. I am off to the market tomorrow and will buy a cell phone. Temperatures are ranging between 28-30 degrees so it is HOT!


Photos to come.