It’s important while I’m here to focus on my work and the
experience I’m in right now. This week our days should begin to seem shorter
now that we have something to fill them up with. Tomorrow I begin work at the
clinic. I am very excited about this rare opportunity to volunteer in the
Wiamoase Clinic and learn about the clinic and begin my research on why mothers
choose that as their primary health care plan for their children.
Cassie and I had dresses made for
us out of fabric from Rosemary’s shop! It cost us 12 cedi for the fabric and 7
cedi for them to make it! On the first Saturday they have all the funerals of
people who died the month before. Jackie and Lauren came over so we could go to
one together. We went exploring all over Wiamose again and despite putting on
70 spf I got burned pretty bad. The funerals on Saturday last around 6 hours.
The whole entire town dresses in black and red. The family sits in a huge U
under tents while the townspeople go from funeral to funeral shaking the hands
of the family members, dancing, and giving donations. We got up at one point
and started dancing with some older woman. Sunday morning was a bit scary
because as we were leaving for church I threw up. It ended up being an effect
from my doxy but it made me nervous so I stayed home from church. I ended up
being completely fine after I slept so I was bummed that I missed church. Next
week is General Conference here but I suppose it will be in Twi. On Monday we
went to the Kumasi market and it was crazy! I don’t really like it too much.
People were grabbing us and pulling us. Thankfully we had Mama Esther’s son
King to help us out but I don’t think I’ll be looking forward to our return to
Kumasi soon. Cassie, my roommates, LOVES crowds like that and can’t wait to go
back. I bought a phone! So I’ll be able to call soon! We actually had a really
nice experience and found a store similar to a tiny Walmart. I bought some
American type food that we don’t see anywhere. I bought a Dr. Sammy soda as my
birthday present for myself. Apparently it’s the African version of Dr. Pepper!
We went back to Asamang and ate dinner at Mama Doris’ house but as we were
leaving it started POURING. We ran through the town to get to the station at
night. The Ghanaians were laughing so hard at us.I left all my stuff at their house so it
wouldn’t get wet and also left our room key! Thankfully Esther had an extra and
I was able to change into dry clothes but they think we are such helpless
Abrunis.
I am hoping to start working in the
clinic on Wednesday. I am very anxious to begin my research project and get a
clear focus on things. Living in the culture for 9 days already has shown me
the changes I need to make to my project. The Wiamoase clinic is amazing. I
can’t wait to start working with the nurses and doctors. Most speak English
really well so finding a translator shouldn’t be too difficult of a task. I
went through my course contract material and realized I have a long road ahead
of me but the material is exciting and I’m ready to learn!
Still alive! Today was extremely productive.
This morning I woke up drenched in my own sweat around 7. Matilda who rents a
room next to mine was yelling “cockroach!” because there was a HUGE cockroach
about 4 inches that came out behind the stove as she was sweeping. Emmanuel
started preparing a delicious breakfast for us. We had fried eggs and oatmeal.
The stove we cook on is a gas four burner stove top. We add canned milk and a
little bit of sugar to it. Emmanuel also cut 4 mangos for us. Those, like
everything else, taste much better here than it does in the states. Today was
our first day out in the town and I LOVE THE PEOPLE HERE. I honestly don’t know
how I’m going to leave them already. My heart is so full with love for them.
They have so little and share so much. The friendliness and community aspect
makes me think twice about my life and how blessed I am.
Today was HOT. I woke up sweating
and haven’t stopped since. Even at night sweat just rolls down my back.
Esther’s house is right behind the primary school and today they were out
playing. They yell “Abruni” at us ALL the time. I love it. Our conversation
goes like this: Etesan (How are you?) Elle (Fine) Wo din de sen (What is your
name) Me din de sen (My name is….). We walked uphill to the town and we got SO
much attention. The first place on our way was to the clinic. OH MY GOODNESS. I
may never come home. The clinic has about 10 wards. Gideon the pharmaceutical
man showed me around the whole clinic. We went to the lab, records office, OPD
(Out Patient Department), Exam Room 1 & 2, Maternal, Female & Male,
Post Natal, Rehab, Eye, and Pediatrics. We met Samuel Baffour (Esther’s
Husband) outside the pediatric clinic. Next we went through the market and
caused again quite a commotion. We walked past a cocoa shed and stopped in to
ask him a couple of questions. Bakro gave me a bite of cola? which is
apparently the main ingredient in diet supplements. He said it would make me
very full and thirsty if I ate a lot of it. It tasted like dried up garlic and
was very bitter. I don’t want to eat that anymore. He kissed our hands and we
went on our way. It was only about 9:15 at this point and I felt like the day
was almost half over because we had accomplished so much already. We took a
taxi to our next stop. We stopped off at a cocoa farm so Cassie could see what
they look like. Then we went to the Secondary School or High School for ages
13-18. We took our taxi back to the market place and Emmanuel showed us where
to buy fabrics to have skirts made. Rose Mary is the shop owner and the fabrics
are GORGEOUS. All hand dyed with beautiful African prints. She sells them for 4
cedi per yard in bundles of about 3 yards each. That equals about 2.25 USD a
yard! We also stopped by the cemetery and we saw an empty spot because someone
is dying and will be buried there by the end of the week. A lot of Ghanaians
are superstitious about Ghosts and don’t go in there. Emmanuel called up his
Aunt Nana’s daughter Christiana because she could help us go around the market
and prepare our dinner. She used to cook for the other BYU students. She took
us into the market and Emmanuel told her to take us on the back roads because
we cause a lot of commotion and don’t get to places very fast because of the
little kids greeting us. We tried the back roads and about 10 minutes into our
walk we ran into about 12 kids in absolute rags but were so happy to see
Abrunis. They were yelling “How are you?” and laughed every time we began
speaking Twi. They followed us and held our hands for about 50 feet. We said
bye bye but they kept following us. I can’t believe how many people were
smiling and waving at us. They have so much love for complete strangers. The
kids here run around in rags and sometimes naked but have no care in the world.
It really humbles me when I see how little people have and can be completely
happy with all of it. We finally got to the market place after stopping every
minute to greet a smiling face and shake the hands of the happiest kids I’ve
ever seen. We were getting ingredients to prepare Tomato Stew for dinner that
night. We bought 3 onions, spices, curry powder, 2 green bell pepper, a handful
of spicy red peppers, garlic, and ginger all for 3 cedi 50 pesewa (roughly 1.80
USD). We made a quick stop to buy chicken and then we continued our journey
into the station to buy our oil, sugar, milk, Milo, rice, and tin tomato. We
came back to the house around 5 and began preparing the food. Christiana
wouldn’t let us help too much because she wanted us to just sit and watch her
prepare it. Two little neighborhood boys Kofi and Kobi just sat and ate their
dinner in Esther’s back porch and we talked to them in our limited Twi. We sat
and talked about America and Ghana with Emmanuel and Christiana. They used to
like Obama but are very disappointed in him but are in love with Beyonce and
Oprah Winfrey. Emmanuel likes Rihanna too, haha. After dinner we did our dishes
and walked back into town to buy more water. We made it back to our place all
by ourselves for the first time! Honestly I am BLESSED. The place I am staying
is 100x more than what I was expecting and the people here are so friendly and
hospitable. I was offered about 10 meals from strangers. I am grateful for this
opportunity to spend time with these people.
Today is the first day of May and Ghanaians
celebrate it someway, it looked like a pretty normal busy day. We woke up
around 5 to take a bus to Kumasi at 6. There were so many people out walking
because they get up around 3 or 4 to avoid doing heavy labor in the middle of
the day when it’s the hottest. The bus that was going to leave at 6 was too
full so they told us to wait for the next bus. We sat and waited, and waited,
and waited. We made friends with a man that helped us speak Twi more properly.
We bought our huge Voltic water bottles and left around 8:15. Our friend sat
right next to us so we still got to ask him all of our questions. So far I feel
like Ghana has an amazing Live and Let Live kind of policy. No one gets into
your business they’ll do anything for you. The selfless attitude I see is
humbling. I feel as though I will have countless humbling experiences while I’m
here. On our bus we had a Christian preacher that gave us a mini sacrament. We started
out with a beautiful prayer and hymn then he began preaching. I was soaking it
up. He was a very passionate preacher, screaming at some points. He said “Your
destiny is in your hands because you make choices that decide your fate so be
mindful of your mind and thoughtful of your thoughts.” Justin Bieber’s song
Boyfriend came on which reminded me of home and made me sad for a little bit
that I won’t be able to see anyone for a long time but I am already so in love
with the people here I am not as homesick as I thought. We had to fill up on
gas 20 minutes later where I had my first public bathroom experience in Ghana.
I’m going to say it now, I am thankful for indoor plumbing and toilets. This
was a room with a raised ledge that you stand on, squat, and go! Our bus
apparently broke down so we waited an extra hour just sitting. The bus was very
comfortable but the roads were pretty bad. I fell asleep most of the time woke
up around 4 and we were in Kumasi. We took a taxi that takes around 1 hour and
40 minutes to get to Wiamoase from Kumasi. It took a little longer because we
got caught behind a bad accident. We pulled up in front of the Wiamoase police
station because Esther lives right next to it. Emmanuel helped carry our
luggage to the door greeted us. We then met Mama Esther. I am already in love
with her. Cassie and I are both in the same room. She had dinner ready for us
in our room. It was a spiced rice with hard boiled egg because she wasn’t sure
if we ate meat. Afterwards we went into her house and sat and talked. She told
us she has four kids her oldest daughter (I don’t remember her name) just got
married, then Emmanuel, David, and Grace. She asked us if we wanted to call our
mamas because I’m sure they are very worried about us. It was such a bummer
because it was 2:30 in Houston which meant everyone was probably out but I was
able to leave a message so at least everyone knew I was safe with my new
family. I can’t wait till Thursday to get a phone and call them for a little
bit. It’s about a 5 hour difference and I’ll be able to call them on Sundays
once their out of church. We went to bed around 10.
I’m sorry to everyone especially my family
for making you worry about me! Today was filled with so much adventure already.
I’ll skip the part about the airplanes, cranky TSA, awful flight attendants,
and plane delays because none of that matters now that I’m in GHANA! We got off
of our 10-hour flight and the sweating began then and hasn’t stopped since. It
is HOT here but I hardly notice the sweat rolling down my back because I am so
fascinated with everything around me. Cassie’s friend Bofoo’s dad had offered
to pick us up from the airport and let us stay at his house. We exchanged 100
USD for 178.70 cedi Shannon Dunn was also at the airport patiently waiting for
us. She taught Jackie how to play the piano years ago. Such a small world! Brother
Kwarteng took us to his VERY nice Ford 150 truck where he had a driver waiting.
That was our first indication of how well off he was. He asked us what we would
like to do and we told him that we would like to see the Accra temple. The
traffic is horrendous here. There is not a direct pattern of traffic. It is a
miracle I am alive still with the way people drive here. The Accra temple is
gorgeous. It is located in the middle of a very busy area. On the same grounds
is Missionary Home and Stake Center. It was very relaxing after our long day of
traveling to remember how much the Lord has blessed us with safety with just
getting here. Afterwards we drove around a little more to go to a shop to buy
phones to call home. We made it to the phone shop around 6 but the shop had
already closed so we couldn’t buy phones yet. The boys all make kissing noises at
us and hit on us. We then went back to Brother Kwarteng’s house. It was more of
a palace, haha. His 2 story house had a pool, pond, gorgeous detailing everywhere.
He had 2 domestics and a driver. We all agreed that the interior looked like an
old James Bond movie. His wife had beef sauce over rice ready for us. We were
so disappointed when she told us we probably wouldn’t get it in Wiamoase or
Asamong. Afterwards we changed into skirts to take a tour at the MTC. We saw
the kitchen, chapel, and each of the classrooms. We passed by some Abrunis who
at first seemed very happy to see us but then quickly looked disappointed
because we were not looking too cute. Too bad they don’t like the sweatpants,
hair tied, chillin with no make up on look because that’s what we’re going to
look like for the next 3 months! I’m not mad about it either! We each took a
shower and fell asleep to the sound of rain. We are going to read the Book of
Mormon in 85 days while we’re here and I’m very excited about it! I have been
slacking a lot recently on scripture reading and I’m glad that I can take this
opportunity to really grow closer to God and get back into the habit of
remembering Him in every aspect of my life.
I made it!
Accra Temple
Ghana MTC
Public restroom
Wash room
First meal from Mama Esther. Curry Rice and Hardboiled Egg
My room!
First bug encounter, Esther laughed at us because that's a small one and we were freaking out
Emmanuel preparing breakfast for us
Best breakfast ever!
Empty tomb, someone in the village will be buried here within the week.
