Sunday 27th August

Had a great afternoon with lil angels, watched a football game the boys of lil angels played against the village boys. They looked so smart in their new Jerseys the founder Madam Angela gave them....

Its really good the founder came to Blessed yesterday gave all the kids brand new clothes and toys, lil francis was carrying around a big v8 racing car, so cute he was holding it like it was his baby. She is coming back next week to give them more toys. She also gave Asare the manager a double bed that he can sleep in cause he sleeps at Blessed works all day then sleeps their at night as well with 21 children, Amazing!!!  

I just kept cuddling them and kissing them and telling them how much i love them, i have fallen in love with every single child, Francis has a special spot in my heart... Love them so much, so recommend anyone to come to Ghana meet these beautiful children who are always smiling and just want to be kids, you will also fall in love with them :-)

Wednesday 24th

Today was a great day went to the other town Kosoa which is like 40 min away, decided to go on tro- tro because it is faster to fill up (vehicle wont leave till the bus, tro- tro seats are all occupied) . Some of the road was being fixed up, so not as many potholes.The tro- tro didn't need to swerve as much thank goodness.  I was watching the news and in the northern region the road is so spoilt due to rainfall it has trenches in it, people have to walk 15km to and fro because vehicles can not pass through. The problem that they encounter due to the damage on the roads, is highway armed robbery. Mostly happens in Nothern area because the police cannot or choose not to patrol the area. Sadly deaths do occur, the robbers block of the roads then rob the drivers. This only occurs late at night and not from Accra (the capital of Ghana) so you never travel at night you always stop over in the town you are currently in then continue travelling the next day... Theft is not looked on lightly in Ghana if caught severe Jail sentence or the community may beat the person to death (they show the bodies on the news) i do not believe they deserve the punishment for the crime they have committed. Then again it is a different world over here and people struggle financially so it is not fair of these robbers to do what they do but i still wont fully understand it... You will never see men fighting because if they do everyone will come to their aid, everyone looks after each other here.

The children wanted to do so much maths and English today they are so eager to learn, English language definitely is not easy and they do really well. Gracie in particular always wants you writing up maths sums for her then she loves to mark it herself, i say Gracie that is cheating. She is a clever girl with alot of creativity i can see her traveling the world one day she is fascinated about everything, craves to learn. The education system needs a lot of help to improve, some teachers sleep nearly all day.
There is this educational book a volunteer gave to them "Children of the World" kids love looking at it, teaches them about children from all over the world in different countries; Asia, Australasia, Europe etc. Asare was looking at it and turned to Australia there was a picture of two full blood aboriginal children, Asare said to me do they live in Australia so I explained the history of Australia (Aboriginals were there first) then the English settled, stolen generation. He said "I saw a documentary on it but I didn't believe it", now you have told me i believe it is true" Maybe Australia would be like Africa if the English didn't settle.

Ghanian's hospitality is amazing, I left Blessed lil angels yesterday was very hungry and thirsty so i bought something from the little shop. A lady who lived right next to the shop said "come and sit (pulling out a chair for me) down and eat, then you can keep going" It was lovely i said "you are invited" (what you say when you are offering your food) she said medasse (thank you) but she didn't have any. I asked her how her day was (Ete sen) she said "not to good" and asked "why" she replied with "not much money" it broke my heart.

I definitely recommend visiting Ghana it is so peaceful everyone wants to help you with everything. I cannot count how many times people have helped me in the Markets looking for items. If you a woman you will get a million wedding proposals you just don't worry about them they are harmless they just all want a white wife ( they love the white skin) children will yell out to you Obroni (white person) but it's children so its cute the first hundred times hahaha, no i think maybe i will miss it... Its been a lot of fun an amazing experience that has taught me so much i am definitely learning another language when i get home:-)
 The kids, Asare and me are going back to Winneba beach Tuesday hope the weather is perfect for bathing (swimming)

Saturday 20th August

It was very exciting at Blessed yesterday, Mosquito nets for the children's beds were set up. My host bro Kobi got a great deal 7 cedi for each mosquito net. They are medically approved, the kids were so excited i just hope that they don't get spoilt then again the children know how important they are. Kobi is the best.....

The cultural in Ghana is the men walk around holding hands cuddling and dance together, Homosexuality is illegal here and they are always debating about it on the radio...

Most of the business's are set up in Shipping containers in Swedru were they sell clothes, electronics, food etc... I figure they would be quite secure and easy to lock up

I am so excited about getting my traditional dress, Mumma Joyce's friend Comfort is making it for me. Mumma Joyce is so sweet, I think alot of the Host families get volunteer's traditional dresses made. :-)  next week is my last full week with the children :-( then i head off to Accra the following Friday with mumma Joyce who is accompanying me

Sunday 14th August

The Ghana Flag represents;

 

Red on the flag - this stands for the blood shed during slavery
Yellow/ gold on the flag - this stands for the gold the country had

Green on the flag -this stands for the forest

Star - a symbol of Ghana emancipation and unity in the struggle against of colonialism - although another version is that The Black star on Ghana's flag was placed there by Kwame Nkrumah (first Ghana President, he fought for Independence. The Star was placed there as a symbol to all Africans in the diaspora to come home (to Africa).

Ghana's last President wanted to bring all African Countries together to make the continent one country. I went to the Swedru Government Hospital with Mumma Joyce (she works there) it is very well established and has adequate resources and the grounds are kept neat and tidy.

 

Thursday 11th

Yesterday lil angels got a parcel from a previous volunteer in Germany, the kids were so excited they all got hats and frisbees. Books, shoes and other items. It was so much fun watching the kids getting their gifts. I still have not met the Founder of Blessed Little Angels, they still have to get donations of food from the market which i dont understand if the owner is in Ghana.

The kids helped me paint today we are trying to give the place a bit of a makeover. Painted map of Ghana, flags from some of the countries in Africa. Tomorrow i am going to the hospital with my host mumma Joyce to get a procedure done, I'm glad i can be there for her.

One thing i don't really get is what the Government literally does for the people, the amount it costs for families to send their children to school. University's fees are way to high, the students are protesting about it in Accra a lot lately. The roads are not in good condition with hundreds of pot holes everywhere. The public transport is not very helpful for the Ghanain's but sadly they have to live with it this way and have no choice about it, the Government must be so corrupt, they are amazing people to deal with all the problems of everyday and are so thankful for what they have. Everynight on the news people are pleading with the Government to help with food shortage, water shortage and high fees with education. Mumma Joyce was talking to me last night about it and said you have to be careful what you say about the Government because they will come and get you and lock you up. Then on the International News every night it shows the Somalian People dieing from hunger its horrifying and so sad. It is a beautiful country but they definitely struggle.

Tuesday

The tradition in Ghana is women wear these beads on string around their hips which they don't usually take them off, tribal children wear them too. Today at Blessed Myriel the German volunteer brought beads and string elastic to make these beads with the kids. The girls made the beads to put around their hips, the boys made bracelets and necklaces. The funny thing and tad annoying was the beads hole was too small to put the string through, very difficult but a lot of fun. We of course helped the little ones, I made Francis a necklace which took at least an hour and it will prob only last a few days oh well he loves it....

Then on the way home i found a lady selling the beads so she wrapped it around my waist and tied it. Yay now i have a traditional African bead on me for hopefully ages. Myriel still wears hers and she has had it overr 6 months and never taken it off.....

Then after making beads we started painting Myriel American volunteer Jake and me started painting the outside of Blessed, going to paint on the walls Ghana map, African map, flags of countries in Europe, Australia, America so on. Elephants, lion. Its so much fun painting and the kids gets heaps involved it feels a constructive thing to do. Myriel and Jake are leaving this week so its just going to be me at Blessed for the other 2 weeks and a bit (wow my times nearly up, that's sad) I am loving this experience but to be honest i don't think i will miss the Obroni thing. Seriously every where you walk it can be cute but then get very old quickly. It is so funny when a little baby has never seen a white person they just scream and look at you like you are a monster. It is an amazing place everything is so simple in ways, and then just about survival in other ways. Thanks for reading my blogs

best afternoon with lil angels at Winneba beach

Best afternoon me with of two other volunteers and two guys that work at blesses took all the lil angels to Winneba beach. We hired a tro tro which drove us all (23) to Winneba beach which is like 40km away. Instead of saying they are going swimming they say going to bathe or bathing. They wear their clothes in the water not swimmers, which makes sense. The kids all got spare clothes which we put into bags we also took food for lunch that was previously cooked.

The beach was so clean and absolutely beautiful surrounding, the kids really enjoyed them selves. I went and found big bag which holds 30 sachets of water for only 1 cedi 50 peswas. It was really safe to cause the beach had one of those pools built in the ocean. The little ones stayed on our backs or shoulders, some of the older kids were swimming okay. It was alot of fun for the kids to just enjoy themselves aswell as the guy who works with them, it was a nice break for everyone.

Sunday 7th August

Today i went to a Roman Catholic Church with mumma joyce, the service went from 6:30am-9:30am we didn't arrive till 7 am though. The Priest spoke in Fanti so i did not understand what he was saying but they were singing the Hymns in English. The building is large but is not complete, most of the walls are not up yet so you can see straight outside. Everyone sits on plastic chairs the children sit in another end on wooden stools they are so well behaved through the whole service. The church was getting donations today for the completion of the building, they were getting donations the whole three hours. I felt really silly because did not take any money with me. Some people were getting up multiple times to make donations, everyone would cheer and clap. I think some must have gone home poor. Other people make donations of items to the church, if it is your bday you bring an item eg water, toilet paper food to the priest then he blesses you with holy water. I was defintely the only Obroni lol...

After church I went straight to another church with Mumma Joyce so she could test people for HIV. We sat outside the church with a table waiting for people to approach. I would then hand them a booklet and pamphlets about HIV. Then if they wanted to be tested Mumma Joyce would test them. It seriously takes no more than 2 min, she pricks them thumb then sucks up the blood which she puts on the tester with few drops of this solution with the blood. Then after like min half she can tell them the results. Mumma Joyce always wears gloves. She tested 70 people with only one positive, she does an amazing job. I was happy to be there with her, she had a lot of patience and understanding for them. There were signs up saying not to judge people with HIV, also to be bold and get checked and another one that had a guy kicking the symbol for HIV out of Ghana then it said lets work together to kick HIV out of Ghana. The symbol they use for HIV here is our Symbol we use for breast cancer. The Organisation that supplied everything except the tests (Mumma Joyce supplies them) is called Care Network (NGO) they were also finding out people's blood type at another section and blood pressure. It was so well structured the whole process, and no one was ashamed to seek results and guidance. It really was a unique experience

Friday 5th

Today was a great day at Blessed, the boys were drumming and singing, the girls were dancing. They have the best rythym. Helped the children sort through black beans to prepare for red red, the children are very self efficient they all help each other out in the kitchen. They had red red with this powder called Guri which makes the oily red red intoa  paste like form, the kids love it. I was dishing out their food and put what i thought was enough guri on their beans but obviously wasnt because the younger kids were asking for more, im like oh they really like it. They all help aroound the centre, I always see the same certain kids sweeping and cleaning up they look after the place. I wish i knew what they say to each other, its very hard trying to sort a problem out when you dont know the whole story. The older ones can get rough with the little ones but its usually because they have insulted them in one way or another, usually calling them a monkey or what most kids say to each other

It is amazing how many different heavy  things the Ghanians carry on their heads, amazing balancing acts. They put on top of their heads material wrapped around like a donut then the box, dish, bowl etc is placed on top, it is amazing skill.
I also love the way the Ghanian women carry their children on their backs with material wrapped around tied in a certain way, usually tucked into itself. The material is mostly the same color as the clothing they are wearing so it blends in. The babies bums look so cute sticking out. Even onder sisters carry their little siblings this way to take them to school. I carried a little man aroound at Blessed like that, he was a tad big but it is def a more comfortable way of moving around. The litle girls at Blessed carry their dolls the same way, adorable:-). I also saw a stroller the other day first time in Africa.

The way i travel in Swedru which is quite a small area, i take shared taxi. The way you do this you wait by the side of the road poiting to which direction you want to go to. Then if driver is going that way he will ask where and if that is the same destination you hop in. That fare will cost 40 pesewas you give it to the driver sometime through the journey, if you give him 1 cedi you just wait he will turn around and give you 60 pesewas back. They usaully drive around on empty or very close to it. Sometimes they will fill up while you are sitting in the car. Their are some really nice taxis, other ones that look like they have been in a derby. It is insanely cheap. Then tro tro depending on distance of  location usually 1 cedi, 1cedi 50 pesewas. Again bus is much safer and you dont feel the hundreds of potholes as much as in tro tro, most of the time buses are cheaper the only thing is you have to wait for it to fill up which would take longer than  tro tro. I have been lucky to hold the most adorable babies on tro tro sometimes the mother will pass the baby to me, so trusting.

Wow i only have a month left of this amazing experience i am adapting to so much more than i thougt Iwould. I have not seen much begging at all everyone is making an income though it may be the smallest amount.

Sadly i cannot drink purified water they way i love, through sachet becasue my mumma joyce said that 70% are contaminated and she said my stomach is not used to it. The water sachets are 5 or 10 peeswas not much at all i dont know how they would make much money from selling them alone. The water stays coller in these pouches more than bottles. but still a box of 1.5l bottle containing 12 will only cost 12 cedi.

We want to take the kids on a day trip Monday to the closest beach. So we will hire a tro tro to Weenemba.

today was a good day, all the kids are home from school so lots of energetic children running around. Sadly one of the older girls was sent back to her village. We painted their showers with the water theme they loved it, all the kids from around us came to see it. Its only three of us volunteers at the moment not sure if anymore are coming due to school holidays. The cat had two kittens they are so little i hope they survive, the kids do feed her a little bit so thats good. Wow its crazy when people buy chooks they cary them around in plastic bags with their heads poking out, crazy sight. Or you might be on tro-tro for hours then realise their has been  little goat or choc there the whole time. Im still amazed about the harmony between the animals, its crazy when you see ducks too its like what are you doing here in Ghana....

It is so peaceful here, the govt isnt to bad the cops are a bit corrupt but not excessive. Alot of people do live in fairly poor conditions but they do seem happy. The kids running out of the places to come and greet the Obroni it is cute. They say how are you and you are meant to say im fine and you, but i usually say i am great or good or fantastic and they just laugh and run away. They always answer everytime with i am fine, its funny. It was so funny this taxi driver picked me up after work and he said do you remeber me, i replied sorry i dont. He pointed to my leg and said i always know its you cause of the mark on your leg im like ohh my tattoo. I said yeah there are a fair few blonde girls. The way that some toilets work is a pipe hanging out of an outdoor toilet with a bucket underneath i think i have just got used to that sort of thing walking past it every day.