Rain storm

We had a good storm last night.  It rained really hard and the wind blew much harder than we have seen it before.  The Palm trees were swaying pretty good.   It probably only rained for half an hour or so but I did notice that the pool was fuller this morning by a couple of inches at least.  It did really pour.   A couple that have been here for 18 months said that is probably the hardest they have seen it rain.   It isn't even rainy season but maybe the 'Harmattan' season had something to do with it.

Well it is New Years Eve.  We are off to have supper with the other couples at a Mexican place.  The food isn't bad - sort of Mexican!     Tomorrow we are having a pot luck dinner with some couples.  We are having turkey and all the trimmings.  One of the couple's bought turkey for it.  I'm making mashed potatoes.  I'm sure it will be extra good!

All is well.  Love to all and a Happy New Year. 

Nancy's first Humanitarian project

Erica came into our office about 3 weeks ago requesting help with a service she wanted to do.  She works at a Chemical Shop (pharmacy) and also goes to school taking accounting.  

The shop was previously owned by a lady who passed away this last year.  She used to give sweets and biscuits to the kids at Christmas time.  Erica and the shop owner (the deceased son) wanted to do something more.  They wanted to give free malaria testing, malaria medication, if needed, deworming medicine and a blood tonic (to build the blood).  Most children here have worms and it depletes the iron etc. in the blood.  They can pull down the skin at the bottom of the eye and see whether or not they have worms.

I wrote up the project and submitted the request and it was approved.  LDS Charities bought the medications and Malaria test strips for 1000 children.  We may have too much, and if so, we can take what is left and donate it to a clinic.

We just didn't want to run short.

A nurse volunteered her time to do the testing and Erica gave out the medications as needed.  We will pay her transport and lunch. 

When we were there yesterday and again today, there was a fairly steady stream of children being brought for testing.    The free service will be announced at Churches on Sunday so we expect next week will be quite busy.  The project will be carried out for 6 days (3 days this week and 3 days next week). 

Bro. Obeng, a councilor at the MTC, lives in the area.  He also works with NGO (non government organization) teaching children about HIV etc.   He helped us a lot with this project and made sure that Erica did things properly.  We really appreciated his support.

When we were there yesterday we realized that we needed to give the kids a biscuit (cookie) after they were done to make them happy!  :)   Bro. Obeng picked some up for us (pkg. of 24 for about $1.00 U.S.).  It was nice to have them today for the children.

Picture # 5 and 6 are of a young boy who was scared to death of getting his finger pricked.  We never did do it - he was not about to let us.

Picture #7 - that cute little guy didn't even flinch when his finger was pricked.

We thought we had ordered malaria test strips that tested saliva, not blood.  O well, we got what we got! 

Christmas

Christmas Eve the couples went out to a buffet at a hotel nearby.  It was very nice and they even had a nicely cooked turkey  - but no mashed potatoes and gravy :(

We are doing our own pot-luck on New Years Day and having turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes/gravy, etc.  :)

Christmas day we got together for a potluck brunch with fruit, sweet rolls, breakfast casseroles etc.  It was nice.  We played a few games and had a white elephant gift exchange.

The picture (#3) is of Jim and Pres. Graham, the MTC president.  We were recently at a get-together and Jim recognized his voice.  Pres. Graham was the coordinator for the French missionaries at the Language Training Center when Jim went there many, many years ago.  Fun to meet up again after all these years!

Picture #4 - the African couple (Pres. & Sister Afful) are the Temple President and Matron of the Accra temple.  Very nice people! 

Glass Bead Factory

Yesterday E/S Stoker went with us and we visited the Glass Bead Shop.  The owner gave us a tour and explained the processes.   There are two different kinds of beads they make.  One is made by breaking the used bottles (green, brown or clear) into small pieces and putting the pieces into different sizes of molds and then they go into the oven until they melt.  It is then brought out and while hot they pierce a hole in the centre and work the glass around in the mold to form the shape they want.   They are then cooled and cleaned.  They can mix colors of glass in the molds but only have the three colors.  

The second process he showed us was where they take the glass bottles and break them in a heavy container and then grind them with a metal rod until they are turned to a white powder.  It is put through a sieve to get the fine powder and then the powder is put into the same type of molds and melted at a lower heat than the other ones.  Those beads are then put on a small twig (from the cassava plant) and they are painted different colors and designs.

They have a thriving business and receive lots of orders for their beads.   I bought two necklaces and I'm sure we will be going back there a few more times!  :)

The last picture is Sister Stoker and myself - what we really wanted was a picture of the mango fruit that is just coming into season here!  Interesting how it hangs from a rope type stem.  We are all looking forward to Mango season.  Yummy!

Transporting goats

I snapped these pictures as we were driving in Accra.  They do what they have to do to move things around.  

In the 3rd picture - the mini bus is called a Tro-tro.  There are lots of them and they drive like they own the road.  There a LOTS of the taxis -( the small cars) and they pretty much drive the same way.  Driving in Africa gives a whole new meaning to being a 'defensive driver'. 

Driving in Accra

I know the pictures don't really show what it is really like but on the first two pictures there are no traffic lanes on the right where two rows of cars are trying to butt in.  We just get squished in from both sides and somehow don't get hit or hit anyone else.  It is rather nerve racking.

The 3rd pictures shows what it is like when we stop for a red light.  The vendors come and want to sell all sorts of things - water, soda, snacks, toilet seats, plantain chips, fruit, phone time, sunglasses, towels, baby blankets, toys, etc. etc. etc.    We did our  little bit of Christmas shopping while we were stopped for red lights!  We bought a Scrabble game and a racket that zaps mosquitoes (electrified).   As soon as the light turns green they all scurry to the sides of the streets and walk back up to the lights and start all over again with the next batch of customers.   There are also lots of handicapped and blind beggars at the stop lights.

Harmattan Season

It is Harmattan season.  We get a thin coat of dust/sand on our vehicles if they sit long.  The sky is hazy at times -- looks smokey.  Today was nice and clear though and it is still very humid and hot.   They say that January and February are our cold months in Ghana -- but the lowest temperature is going to be about 70 F or 20 Celcius.  The locals say that the harmattan wind will blow until about the end of January and they don't like the dust in the atmosphere.

The attached picture shows the haze from the Harmattan winds.

Here is what google says about this:

The Harmattan is a dry and dusty West African trade wind. This northeasterly wind blows from the Sahara into the Gulf of Guinea between the end of November and the middle of March (winter). The temperatures can be as low as 3 degrees Celsius.^[1] The name comes from or is related to an Akan cognate.^[2] On its passage over the desert it picks up fine dust particles (between 0.5 and 10 micrometres)

In some countries in West Africa, the heavy amount of dust in the air can severely limit visibility and block the sun for several days,^[3] comparable to a heavy fog. It can even break the trunk of the pine trees, growing in that region, through their dryness. The effect caused by the dust and sand stirred by these winds is known as the Harmattan haze, which costs airlines millions of dollars in cancelled and diverted flights each year,^[4][5] and risks public health by increasing meningitis cases.^[5] The interaction of the Harmattan with monsoon winds can cause tornadoes.^[1] Humidity drops to as low as 15 percent and can result in spontaneous nosebleeds for some. The wind can cause severe crop damage.^[6]

That is live chickens in the pan on their head -- just in case you can't tell.

Always amazed at what they can carry on their heads

Jim entertaining the kids

Christmas Party for the street children of James Town, (a part of Accra)

Saturday we were invited to this party.  LDS Charities have helped this organization a couple of times and they hope for more help from us.  They were expecting about 1000 children but I don't think they got that many.  They had activities for them and entertainment.  They were given some clothing and a meal (rice, chicken and a drink) when they left.  

We walked around to the different activities and talked with the kids (the ones that knew English).  Jim showed them how to whistle with their hands and tried to teach them to juggle some rocks.  They always like that.   It was rather hot and after about 1 1/2 hours we were ready to go and get back in our air conditioned truck.   

The organization is called Street Children Empowerment Foundation.  They are trying to help with education, school fees, etc. for these children.  James Town is a slum area.  Things were pretty bad there.  You can check out the organization's website if you want ---www.scef-international.org

There were several young adults helping out - they were all from Germany, here doing some charity work.  

Signs on the washroom doors

I've never seen signs quite like this before. 

Couple's conference

We had our couples here from Sierra Leone and Liberia.  We had a great time together and learned a lot of each other.  They are amazing and have done some wonderful humanitarian projects in those countries.  Things are not easy for them there and they were grateful for a little pampering - warm bath/shower, some good food and time to share their experiences and wisdom.  They said it was 'the shot in the arm' they needed to finish their missions.   They go home in a couple of months so we learned a lot from them.   There are replacement couples coming.  Yeah!!   We will do this again with the new couples at the end of March. 

I thought Liberia was the poorer of the two countries but Sierra Leone is.  Civil wars in the countries have really taken a toll.  Luckily the people are able to grow food and survive. 

We had a great video conference with the humanitarian people in Salt Lake City.  We talked and shared with them for 2 1/2 hours.  They appreciated the input from the couples of what is working and what their frustrations are.  Technology is wonderful - we could see each other on the big screen and talk as if we were all in the same room. 

We went on an excursion one day and visited a dam, had a wonderful lunch and then went on a nice boat ride on the Volta River.  It was beautiful on the river and I am attaching a few pictures of what we saw.  ;)

Fruit and Vegetable market

This is the market where we have gone to a couple of times to purchase our produce.  They do have a nice selection of things.  Some things we have never heard of before but we decided to try a couple of them this week. 

The eggs are never refrigerated here but they seem to be just fine.  It was the same on our other missions.  We do wash them in a mixture of water and bleach and then put them in our fridge.  We always make sure they are well cooked -- no soft yolks to be eaten here.  Actually it is the whites that we are advised to be sure they are cooked well and we are to wash our hands if we get any egg white on them while breaking the eggs. 

Area office/Temple Pictures

Here are some pictures of our office building we work in as well as the Stake Centre and the Accra Temple.  The temple picture was taken from the backside -- I will have to take a front facing one next time.    These buildings are all  in the same complex and as you can see it is very nice.    The Church owns some land beside this complex and will be building the MTC (missionary training centre) on it.  That will be nice.  Right now the MTC is about 20 km. away in Tema. 

All is well with us.  We picked up the humanitarian couples from Liberia and Sierra Leone today at the airport and we will be spending the next 3 days with them and sharing experiences and learning together.  We will do a video conference call with the head of Church Humanitarian (Sharon Eubank) from SLC on Tuesday afternoon.  We are looking forward to that. 

Love, Jim and Nancy/mom and dad

TOGO

The first Stake was formed in Togo this past weekend.  The Public Affairs couple were there and said it was wonderful. 

 

We will drive (with Bro. Buah) through Togo and into Benin approximately March (when we get our Ghana visa and then of course visas for Togo and Benin).  We have some projects to work on and check out and will also be looking for more projects to do in both of those countries.   It will be fun to see those places.   We hear the border crossings can be a challenge but should be easier having with Bro. Buah with us.

 

By the way....  Benin is pronounced 'Beneen'. 

 

All is well!

 

 

What makes missions so rewarding?

We recently received an email from our dear friend Mercy in Zimbabwe.  This is part of what she had to say to us:

 

Anyway ............ WOULD LOVE TO COME AND VISIT GHANA BEFORE YOU GO BACK!!

thank you for giving me the gospel.... thank you a million times over..... its the greatest thing for me...... love Sister Mercy

 

It is a great story how we met and taught Mercy the gospel.  She feels, and we feel, that we were meant to meet and that we knew each other before in the pre-existence.  She is such a special person to us.  Her sweet little daughter, Malaika, turned 8 in August and was baptized.  Mercy is in the Relief Socity presidency in her ward.   We are so proud of her and all she is doing.  We love you Mercy!!

Our first projects

#1 We have started writing up some projects.   One came from Church headquarters --  We have been told to write up one for Mali.  We do not have any church presence in Mali but we will give $2000 to a NGO (non-governmental organization) who is doing work there and they will use it to buy mosquito nets for children.

#2 The Church is giving a used vehicle to the military who patrol around the temple in Aba.   It is good to keep good relations with them.  Their vehicle is old and broken down (beyond repair). 

#3  We will run some water pipes from a water storage tank down to the showers at a boarding school.  There is a good downhill slope so it will be gravity fed to the taps.  We already did a water system for them at the school so this will just kind of finish it off for them to make life easier.

#4  A girl came in to the office with a request and we are writing that one up.  She works at a Chemical store (drug store).  The lady who owned the store died --- In the past she gave out free malaria medications and de-worming meds to children from 2 yrs. - 5 yrs. at Christmas time.   They came to us asking for help because they would like to continue doing this.   She dropped off an invoice on Friday with the cost of the medications (malaria, de-worming, and black tonic) for 1000 children.  We are looking at buying the medications for them to give out.   The black tonic (I think it was called that) helps to build up their blood as they are usually anemic after having worms and malaria.   We have someone in the Church who works for an NGO in the area and he will go check on things there and make sure that if we do this we are not duplicating someone else's efforts.

So ...  we are starting to get into the work. 

Friday was a holiday here - Farmer's Day.  The Area office was closed so I swam, Jim walked, and then we went shopping, did laundry and just relaxed a bit.  

Elder Curtis, the Area President, stopped by our office one day last week to visit with us for a few minutes.  I think he was just making sure that we are doing okay and feeling good about things. 

We are having a  couple's seminar from Dec. 16 - 18th.  The couples in Sierra Leone and Liberia are coming here.  It will be great to meet them and hear about all they are doing.

We are settling in and feeling a little more confident with the food, driving etc.   Sister Dube told me that the pork chops are good here so we tried some --- and yes, they are good, so we bought some more.  Nice to have something else beside chicken.  We have also used some ground beef (mince) and it is okay when we spice it up a bit.  We brought a Costco container of Taco seasoning.  We continue to eat a lot of pineapple (so yummy!).  

The gardener brought me three pots of dirt that are outside our door.  I planted some kale and cilantro seeds that I brought.  They are starting to grow.  We will see how they turn out. 

We are doing fine and all is well.   Thanks for your emails -- we love to hear from home. 

Love,  Jim & Nancy,  Mom & Dad

More about the 'Bats'

Remember the bats that I told you about that fly across the sky at dawn and dusk?  Well I have learned more....

When we were out with John Buah and Clarence Kobi, I ask, "where do the bats come from?" (thinking that there must be some cliffs or something   off in the distant).    Anyway, he answered my question with an exact address.  I thought he had not understood my question so I ask again and got the  same address - the military  hospital.    It seems they all go there and hang out in the trees; sometimes getting so heavy on the branches that the branches break.   These bats are big.  

Apparently some environmentalists (yes, even in Africa) has decided they need protecting.  They are not allowed to kill them on the military property.  People can kill them elsewhere but not there.   So, if you can imagine -- there are thousands if not millions of bats hanging on the trees there everyday and then they fly off at night to find food.  Apparently they like to eat fruit like apples and papayas.     It is just hard to imagine the filth that they must cause over on the hospital grounds.  Anyway.....that is the deal with the bats.  Yuck!!!!

View from our hotel at Cape Coast

The big building across the water is a Slave castle from days gone by.  There are 30 plus Slave castles in Ghana where they would put the people when they were captured while waiting to put them on the boats.   We will visit one and have a tour one day when we have time.

The many boats you can see are just going into shore in the morning.  They go out at night and cast their nets and bring in their catch first thing.  There were a lot of them.  Also many small boats on the ocean  fishing for their livelihood. 

Instructions on how to use this toilet!

The word on the left is 'Good'.   Women often stand here too I think.   Anyway, we thought this was rather interesting.  :0

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.