Broken road

This spot was not marked at all -- good thing we weren't driving in the dark!   There were a lot of bigger trucks coming in and out of that area hauling sand.  They are totally destroying the roads and making them difficult to travel.   They haul the sand into Accra for building.  They use a lot of sand.   They just go out to this area and get it wherever they find it and ruin the land.  Sad!  

There was another route around this bad spot but it wasn't too great either. 

Our road to the farming Villages in the Bush

The truck that was leading us in got stuck but after moving a few logs around that their wheels had spit out of place they managed to get through.  Clarence put our truck into 4-wheel drive and got through okay by going slower.  

They had cut a lot of trees and bush down for the electrical lines.  There were some huge trees that had fallen across the road and they had cut out a section to clear the roadway.  There is no lack of wood for the people to use in this area.

Cocoa farms

Cocoa trees were introduced here quite some time ago but now Ghana is one of the biggest producers of cocoa beans and apparently it is really good cocoa.

The little flowers on the branches and tree trunk will each produce a pod.  It gets fairly big and when it turns yellow they cut them off and make a pile on the ground.  After they have sat for a bit they open the pods and let the beans ferment for 2 or 3 days and then they take them out and put them on drying racks in the sun.  They then must sell only to a certain place and the price they get is set by a gov't. board.

Random Pictures from trip

One is of Jim, John Buah, Clarence Kofi and the girl in charge of collecting money for the use of the water (about 5 cents) for a large container.  They need to collect so they can do repairs if something goes wrong.

They grow a lot of pineapple out where we were visiting.  They are soooo good - nice and sweet and not very acidic at all.

We saw these kind of fuel pumps a few times out in the bush. 

Jim's new calling

Today when we got to Church the Bishop hurried over and said that the Stake President wanted to talk to Jim.  Anyway ...  he got called to be the 1st councilor in the Bishopric of the La Ward.    They are wanting him to help get things running smoothly and give some direction as needed.    I guess the Ward has some problems.

I taught my Young Women's class today.  There were six girls there.  I think it went okay.

Also, here is a picture I took of a couple of kids.  I just love their smiles.

This farming Village will be getting a hand-dug well soon

We drove out into the 'bush' to visit this farming village.  They currently get their water from a pond.  They say that they boil the water for the children to drink but the adults drink it 'as is'.   We met with the people and talked about the project and they  chose people for the water committee and swore them in.   It was all done in their own language so we didn't understand much -  although it is surprising that we could kind of tell what was going on some of the time.   They are so pleased to be getting fresh water.   It will be a hand-dug well that is capped and will have a hand pump on top.  That keeps the water from getting contaminated.   It is exciting to be part of getting clean water for them.  

When we left they cut down a bunch of Plantains and gave it to us.  Plantains are kind of like bananas but they have to be cooked.  Bro. Buah and Clarence took them home.   

Our Ghana Tour of humanitarian projects

We spent 3 days this past week touring some projects.  We had Clarence Kofi and Bro. John Buah with us.  Clarence is a site monitor and manages the projects (thank goodness for him) and Bro. Buah is the Area Welfare Manager.   Clarence did  the driving and that was nice for us -  he knows his way around rather well and of course knows where the projects all are.  We did drive on some wild back wood roads which I will send some pictures of later and write about them.  I do this in a few different emails so that it shows up properly on the blog.  It might take me a day or two to write and send pictures of our tour. 

These pictures show a mechanized water system that Latter-day Saint Charities has completed.  We hadn't seen 'standpipes' before but they are great.  The people can stand under the pipe and fill their container while it is still on their head.  It saves them having to lift it on their head when it is full.   Also, notice how they take their shoes off before entering to get the water so that they keep the area clean.