Forever Changed. . . .

Below is a statement from a woman who recently returned from the same area of Ghana that Georgia, Brittany and I visited in May. . . .her words express exactly how I felt after returning from that part of the world. . . After our visit there, I am and forever will be. .. changed. .

"As I soaked in a warm bath last night and took another nice hot shower this morning I could not help but remember the thousands of women in Ghana who will never know what it is like to soak in a warm bath or take a shower. I still have the pictures in my mind of seeing them carry large heavy pots to their village's only water source, filling them with water, and then placing the heavy pots on their heads to carry back to their hut to use for cooking and drinking.

As I turned on my washing machine this morning to do laundry the picture came to mind of the people we saw washing clothes in a muddy water hole.

As I cooked breakfast in my beautiful kitchen with every appliance necessary, I could not help but remember the women of Wynamba as they cooked over an open fire in the center of their hut's compound and how much more heat the fire added to their already scorching homes.

As I sit here in my nice air conditioned home, I remember sitting in the center of a compound of huts as the woman said to us, "I never thought you would want to come and sit in my home and talk to me."

Yes, God has blessed us beyond measure. If not for His grace you and I would not have what we do. Now that I have seen people living in circumstances most of us don't even want to acknowledge existing, I understand that God has blessed us so that we can share. We must share. . . ."

-written by Beverly

Trip to Ghana- the Dickens & Baptist Medical Centre

Our purpose in going to Ghana was the visit Hollie and Joel Dickens and their children Colt and Abigail. Hollie is expecting their 3rd baby in August. We promised the Dickens we would come and see them when they left San Angelo, so Georgia (our 21 year old daugther) and Brittany (our 21 year old daughter-in-law) ventured across the ocean for the first time. . .it was definately an experience. .Joel works with 2 other full time doctors at the Baptist Medical Centre, which is a compound of about 500 acres with 20+ buildings and a large staff of local nurses, business office workers, pharmacy workers and grounds workers. . . Doctors and medical school students come from all over the world to gain experience in medicine that is so radically different that anything they might experience at home. . .We met doctors from Holland and Belgium, as well as med students from the US who were doing 10-12 week rotations as a part of their schooling.

While Joel is busy at the hospital, Hollie is homeschooling Colt at the school house each day with children from another missionary family and caring for Abigail. . .It was a joy to be with them. . .even if it was for just one short week. . . We made a boat load of memories!

Colt had made a welcome sign for us in our cabin when we arrived!

Georgia with Hollie, Joel and Abigail and one of the local nurses who also serves as an interpreter.

This is a clinic day -- Patients begin lining up before dawn and wait to see a doctor. . Brittany helped check in patients on clinic days. . .

Georgia was able to follow Joel around the entire week and she helped with surgeries as well . She was able to see more and do more in one week there than in an entire semester in the US. .

Trip to Ghana- FuFu and Ground Nut Soup

One of the local menu items that we enjoyed was FuFu, which is raw yams ( looked similiar to large potatoes) that have been pounded into a soft elastic paste and shaped into a ball, served in a bowl with ground nut soup poured over it. . .delicious! It was a work of art to watch the locals make it. . .they always worked in rhythm. . .Because yams are plentiful in this area, the locals said they have FuFu at least twice a week. . .

These three ladies making FuFu at a small outdoor restaurant in the village.

Here is Esa and his helper making FuFu for us for dinner one night at the Medical Centre. .Watch her hands. . . .yikes! She said she has never had her hands smashed. . .

Trip to Ghana-Local Funeral Celebration. . .

We were invited to attend a local funeral celebration with Elisabeth Faile, one the doctor's wives who has lived at the compound close to 25 years. . . .One of the hospital worker's mother had died in October, and the family was holding a traditional funeral celebration to honor her. . .the body is usually buried immediately, but the celebrations occur several months later when the family has saved up money to pay for the costs of the celebration. .

This man was playing a gourd with a stick attached to the end of it, with strings added to make a guitar. . .resourceful and good!

Traditional funeral celebrations are the most elaborate of all family gatherings, much bigger than weddings. . .the funeral celebration last 3 days, around the clock, with dancing, eating and drumming. . and a few small explosives thrown in as well! There were about 500 people at this celebration, and most of the families had brought food to donate to the celebration. . everything from cows to cases of cokes!

To add to the adventure, the locals men brought 3 cows, a chicken and a goat to the area right in front of where we were sitting and slaughtered them for the dinner that evening. . I was really glad we had hunters and livestock farmers in the family as Georgia and I had seen this before, but the others in our group were a little shocked. . Each family had its own drummers and entered village by family klans with singing and dancing. . it was amazing. . Elisabeth said this particular celebration was one of the largest she had ever seen. It was a huge treat to get to experience it. . . .

This was the beginning of the family klans coming in to the celebration area. . . Some of the men are wearing traditional dancing smocks which expand as they twirl around. . .

This was a professional dance group from one of the neighboring villages that had been hired by the family to perform. . .

This was a family klan arriving from outside the village. . .we saw about 5 of these groups enter the village from all different directions. .if you listen, you will hear explosives going off. . like really loud firecrackers. . .

The celebration was a huge dose of local culture and we enjoyed it immensely. . we gained a new appreciation for the local people just seeing them celebrate. .

Trip to Ghana-The market. . .

Wednesday was Market Day in Nalergiu. . .locals came from all the surrounding villages to sell everything imaginable. . .produce, breads, dried fish, grains, seasonings, clothes, bicycle parts, fabric, and much much more. . . Hollie can buy some supplies there, but most of her supplies come from Tamale (3 hours away) or Accra, the capitol city (13 hours away). . .

This is hand made lye soap for sale at the market. .

This lady was selling dried ginger root and dried peppers. . .

Hollie is buying some of the fresh produce here at the market. . .

I have never seen so much beautiful fabric for sale. . .the women's clothes are handmade and beautifully designed. . .I was definately envious . . .
Hollie is buying dried corn to take home and grind for conrmeal. . .

The Escarpment trip. . . .

On Saturday, Joel and Colt took us to "The Escarpment" which is a land formation similar to the Texas Cap rock. . it's a huge rocky cliff drop off which gives you a beautiful of the land . .. you can see for miles. . .It was about an hour's drive for us and we were able to see several villages and great views of the countryside as we travelled. .. Colt was the leader of the hike, as he had been to these formations several times and did a great job leading us in rock climbing to the top. We also visited with John and Denise who live nearby. . .John has been in Ghana for 48 years and Denise for 40 years. . .She was with the Peace Corp in the 70s and he had been a Dutch Catholic Priest. . they met and married, and have lived in Ghana ever since. . .Both of them have a reforestation project going with the local villages, where they teach the locals about replanting the trees that have been cut down for firewood. . .and Denise also works with about 500 local handicapped folks and she works to get them wheelchairs and transportation devices that they need. . .they have had a very interesting life. . .

John and Denise. . . .both have lived in Ghana 40+ years. . . .

Trip to Ghana - Public Health Clinic in a remote village. . .

Georgia and Brittany went with the public health nurses from the Baptist Medical Centre to a remote village about 1.5 hours away from the compound. The nurses visit these villages periodically to give immunizations to the babies, weigh them and also check on the other children in the village. Georgia helped give immunizations and Brittany played with the tons of children. . . .both really enjoyed the experience.