the reason why

Soo..it has been quite some time; but with good reason, so just bear with me.

As promised updates on two weeks ago, so much to fill in.

Tuesdays in Legon are Terrific Tuesdays at Bonjour. Bonjour is a gas station that, while always wonderful, transforms in to the hippest hangout on Tuesday nights where students can come and get two pizzas for the price of one. (Like two-for-Tuesdays at Gumbys :). And we have made it our taste of America night and our Tuesday ritual.

On Tuesday after my Social Work class I stopped in to visit with my professor; I wanted to ask if she had any ideas of places I could volunteer. I was a little frustrated with how things were working out, or more accurately the lack of how things were working out. It’s true I came here to be a student; hence studying abroad. But the reason I chose a developing country was not because of their stellar education system and I hadn’t been receiving quite the guidance from ISEP that I was hoping. But, it forced me to take action in to my own hands, which now I am grateful for. Rose (also the social worker that came and visited with us after our incident) was wonderful! She suggested a small organization run by a woman and her husband; half orphanage, half child aid organization. Rose called her up as I sat there and allowed me to set up a meeting with her the next day – things were finally starting to fall in to place. Rose also told me about an orphanage in the Volta Region for HIV/AIDS children that she is going to do some Child Development training at – she’s going to call me next time she goes up!

Because of traveling on the weekends it had been a couple weeks since I’d been able to attend mass, and I could feel the emptiness. There is plenty of time for prayer and meditation, but there is something about attending Mass and receiving the Lord Jesus through his Most Sacred Body and Blood that I can not go without. I had heard that there was mass every morning in Sabah hall around 6:30 so I decided to check it out on Wednesday. And so started the most amazing day in Ghana.

I woke up early and headed over to Mass, it’s so much easier to get up that early when you know it’s going to be spent with the Lord. As it ended up, Wednesday is the only day they do not have Mass in the morning but prayer service instead. Still exactly the couple hours I needed though to break down some thoughts and lay them down before Him.

After getting some delicious pancakes I headed off for my adventure to Medina. (Madamfopa, the orphanage, is located in a small ‘suburb’ of Accra; Medina). I’d received some directions the day before from Fati, but again, my sense of direction has a tendency to fail me when I need it most. But I had the most wonderful experience getting there. First of all, it was nice to be traveling alone, as any other time we’ve gone anywhere it has been with rather large groups of people. Every tro-tro driver I encountered was more than eager to help me get on the right bus; walking me to tro-tros, letting me sit in empty ones while I waited, telling me when and where to get off. When I arrived at the social welfare section of Medina I gave Fati a call and her husband Kwami came out and picked me up and walked me back to their house. He was the most amiable men I have ever met; very easy to talk to, inquisitive, genuine. I loved him right away. When I arrived, Fati jumped up, gave me hug, and ushered me to her sofa in her living room. And then she made me cry.

Fati was orphaned when she was 10, and when she left the orphanage she decided that that was what she wanted to do; care for orphans like herself. She said she does not travel, the volunteers and the kids are her friends, and she could never be happier. She wants to allow the children to experience life: the joys and the pains. She believes that when they have empathy, when they hurt if you hurt, then they are truly experiencing life. She told me this could be my family here. That I am always welcome. That her door and her arms are always open. I was hooked. This was exactly the place I was looking for. This was the person I had hoped to meet. This was the reason why.

I spent the rest of the afternoon with Fati and the children. I helped Joshua write his alphabet, I read stories to a group of 8 and 9 yr olds, and I wrote sentences with a little girl. Fati buys scraps of fabric from seamstresses and then sews blankets, quilts, skirts, bags, and purses from them. She then sells those to help support the children that stay with her as well as the ones that just come by for a full meal or some water. I helped her iron pieces of fabric and cut them in to squares. She started to teach me how to handle an iron, mom. I assured her I knew how to use one.

I returned home from my enriching afternoon to a Twi exam I had yet to study for, and performed accordingly. Kwami told me him and the kids would teach me Twi though, so I’m not worried :).

Last Friday we left for Kumasi. A few of us left from there to head up North for, what ended up being, an incredible week of sleeping under the stars, elephants and hippos, tro-tro rides, and discovery. More of that to come…

as always

love