We arrived in Accra midday Tuesday, and we’re elated to be back in West Africa. Of course, the people are as friendly, generous, and hospitable as ever. Smiles and laughter abound as we attempt to say “Thank you” and “God bless you” in Twi, one of the local languages.
Even in the first few days, we’ve made abundant memories. We’ll attempt to capture their essence through our words and photos:
It is getting late here – nearly 10 pm (four hours ahead of Eastern Time) – and we plan to keep our habit of getting good sleep! So we will say good night for now and hope to write again soon.
Even in the first few days, we’ve made abundant memories. We’ll attempt to capture their essence through our words and photos:
- After applauding the pilot’s smooth landing and walking once again under the “Akwaaba” (welcome in Twi) sign into the airport, we were greeted by several immigration officers, who were friends of our hostess. They guided us through the customs and to retrieve of luggage before heading outdoors to meet our hostess herself, the amazing Rose Kotoe!
- With Rose’s nephew Gideon in the driver’s seat, we navigated the Accra streets swiftly and stopped amidst errands to get local food to eat in the car – grilled plantains, fried sweet potato with shito (a sauce made of dried shrimp, onion, oil, and red pepper), and bananas (smaller and sweeter than those in the US)
- Gideon is a great man and an excellent driver! The traffic in Accra is horrendous at particular times of the day secondary to construction on the ACT highway (the road we’ll take to Tamale), which has been underway for 8-10 years. This inconvenience causes Gideon to take a necessary and extensive detour to get us home in a more reasonable amount of time (instead of the three hours that it took us one evening). We cannot complain about the lengthy travel time too much though, as it provides more time to talk with Gideon about Ghanaian culture and the family.
- The house is a small urban farm with chickens, pigeons, rabbits, dogs, and fruit trees (tangerine and mango) in the backyard. The chickens lay eggs continuously into a tray which makes for easily obtainable fresh eggs!
- Mama Rose prepares us a true “breakfast of champions” – fresh eggs, brown bread toast, oatmeal, and hot tea.
- Wednesday morning as we left for the Manna Mission hospital, I (Alli) went to hug Mama Rose as a way to say goodbye and thank you when our lovely host literally ran away from me shouting, “No, no! I’m too dirty! No!” She was quite huggable in my opinion, but she was worried because she had been washing dishes and not had time to shower yet. Jeremy thinks I should try it again when he has the camera ready so we can catch this dynamic scene on video.
- We have been to the Manna Mission Hospital for two days now and will return tomorrow for our final day of service and orientation to the mission hospital environment. During our first day, we took a tour of the Manna facilities with Lucy, a young accountant who is about our age, which helped us to immediately connect with her. On the 30 acre plot, Manna has the hospital with its many wards and surgery theatres (or surgery rooms) as well as a primary and junior high school, a two-story church, several computer training classrooms, a canteen (cafeteria), and 30-bed house for missionaries and medical students.
- At Manna we are helping in the pharmacy by inventorying the drugs. While we would have loved to visit and love the patients at the hospital, we have enjoyed talking with Christine, the pharmacist and learning more about the drugs used here. Lucy told us that most of the medicines are provided by mission groups and private donors, while others are bought here in local pharmacies.
- On a totally different note, we have continued following the world cup while here in Accra ad the men in the house are faithfully following it to the end. Of course many people are upset about the Ghanaian team’s close loss against Uruguay. They are also proud, as it was the first time an African nation competed in the quarterfinals. One article in the local newspaper encouraged people to see it as a victory for the country, demonstrating that Ghanaian players are competitive with the best from around the world. The same article said that the loss was due to the “HAND OF THE DEVIL” – they take their football seriously! By the way, no one has said anything to us about beating the US and the victory that may have signified for Ghana … are they trying not to offend us?! The US is getting better too…
It is getting late here – nearly 10 pm (four hours ahead of Eastern Time) – and we plan to keep our habit of getting good sleep! So we will say good night for now and hope to write again soon.
