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!Tuesday, 31 December 2013
Friday, 27 December 2013
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.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]
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