Hello from Accra, where the population is over 5 million in the city and close surrounding areas! I have never seen so many people in my life!... people everywhere.. it seems like more because everyone does business OUTSIDE, not inside like North America. Vendors line the streets inside and out, making use of every opportunity of slow traffic, walking between – they are very skilled at dodging traffic. They work late into the evening and are back at it at 6 AM!! Quite the amazing culture and we are getting used to it now. We noticed that there isn't nearly as much garbage around – apparently a year ago the government decided to pay city workers to clean up garbage. There's very little garbage pickup as most people just make piles along the road and burn it. The fog on the way home was only diesel smoke and burning garbage, and the thickness of it hurt our eyes. A little aircare would be helpful :)
The horn is an important tool in driving here, just as important as mirrors. They aren't honking out of rage, but just to let you know 'I'm beside you, don't move over'. Two lanes can quickly be made into 3 when traffic is thick, and drivers often conversing with one another. Another usual sight is men urinating alongside the road (no public washrooms). It's a good thing we sweat out all our liquids during the day.
Today at the camp was much more peaceful except our entry. The same UN Ghana police guy gave us a hard time, and he repeated everything he told us last night – time for him wasn't an issue so that wasted a good 30 minutes!! We had to call Prince Farley to the entrance with another big man from the church. They settled the disagreement, signed some papers and we were finally off.
The camp seemed a little "less" shocking than yesterday. The sponsor families were waiting at the church when we arrived an hour late! They are SOOOOO patient. After a debriefing, we headed off to start sponsorship and other men from the church distributed rice to the sponsored children. We headed out to the 4 schools at the camp that were closed. We learned that you get what you pay for in terms of education. The cheaper schools have less quality education. The prices have increased greatly but it's worth it. These people need a chance for Christian education so they can get jobs outside of the camp and provide for their future.
Prince is a man of great integrity and watching very carefully every dollar spent. He will go through great lengths saving quarters by purchasing school books and supplies at the market instead of the camp. We asked many questions from different sources about the camp. Many people left the camp last fall because the government was putting a tremendous amount of pressure to close the camp. People left out of fear. A few weeks ago, a new government was elected and now people are returning because they have a better chance for education in Ghana and the new government seems to be ok with the camp remaining open. Others tell us the camp will close in March/April. The education in Liberia isn't the same quality (YET!). Prince will continue to send the rest of the children to school throughout the week.
A generous donation was made for a need to be met as God moved our hearts. Yesterday there was a woman sitting near the back with this skinniest , tiniest little baby I have ever seen. I knew then that we should work with Hannah (midwife) to get good formula for these babies who were sick and not breast feeding. We were able to purchase 50 cans of formula plus cups with straws for these babies. The mothers were at the church and waited for 2.5 hours to receive this, not ever hearing a sigh or complaint. They were so grateful...one baby had malaria and was so sick. (see picture below) Hannah will do follow-ups in 3 days and pass out more formula as needed. She made a list of the 10 most serious cases and by the time we got through that list, 10 more mothers with babies arrived. Amazing how the word spreads!!! Hannah strictly warned the mothers to make sure their baby gets ALL the food given to them and they may not drink any of that milk themselves - she will check on them. If she finds out otherwise, they will be immediately disqualified for further help. Praise be to God ... there is hope for these babies!! They love their children as much as we do!
Hannah delivers babies at her house. The women come, she gives them an IV to speed up the process and after 4 cm, they deliver in 10 min. Wowzers!! She keeps them in her very tiny home (about as big as our kitchen) for a few hours, then sends them home. The next day the mother goes to the clinic for bathing and checkup.
As we were having a bite to eat with George, Prince, and Hannah, they had a TV screen watching the biggest waste of 43 million dollars: Obama's inauguration. Shame on our governments when there is so much physical and spiritual need around the world where this money could go a long way to those who REALLY need it.
We arrived back "home" at 8 pm. Tomorrow we leave for Liberia. We praise God continually for His guidance, safety and grace towards us. We are living on approximately 4 hours sleep each night, but He is sustaining us! In His grace we stand!
Here is the picture of the sick baby with malaria and high fevers that we saw today. We have provided for her to get some medicine:
More moms with their babies.
No comments:
Post a Comment