Week 2

I am at the internet café across from the Liberian refugee camp. Sister Sylvia thinks I should take a taxi from the village to here but it costs 60,000 cedis which is way too much money to waste. My daughters think I should walk the whole way from the village and back home again. I did walk the whole way here. It took about 75-90 minutes. (In case you can’t hear it, Mark is cheering right now.) I will take a taxi back home though for 30,000 cedis. By the end of my stay I may be walking both directions but not now.

Week 2 at the home has ended and all is wonderful! The children are great. This Sunday a photographer came and took a family photo when everyone was dressed in their church clothes. It looks great! I’ll get this picture uploaded when I can with the names of all. For now, I’ll try to capture a little of the children’s personalities for you.

T H E B O Y S

Kofi – is the son of Mother Beatrice. He is a typical 2 year old. It’s his way or you are wrong! He wants to do everything himself and everything that all his older brother and sisters can do. When they go to school, he’ll walk into a class, sit quietly and listen. After that is too boring he’ll get up and walk back home. The school to the home is very close and the mother’s can see where he is going and when he is coming back. When he goes to school he will be very prepared. He is learning both Fante (spelling?), the native language of this village, and English from all the volunteers.

Justice – He is very quiet so I don’t really know him as well as the others. Writing this has made me realize that I need to spend more time with Justice and Benjamin. He is very polite and always “minds his manners” (that was for you Rose!). The children are supposed to offer their food to us before beginning to eat. We are then to thank them and tell them to eat it. Justice rarely forgets to do this. Father John rarely does this.


Father John – Yes, his name is Father John. He was named after a Catholic priest hence the name. When I was first here it was very hard not to laugh when I heard a little short mischievous 8 year old boy being called Father John. Now it is as normal a name as Florence. This is a typical Father John story. One day after school an older girl from grade 6 came over to the house asking for her money. Mother Sylvia asked what money she was talking about. The girl said she had given Father John some candy to sell and she wanted her money. The girl thought Father John would sell the candy to the Obrunis, the white people. Of course he didn’t. He ate the candy and had no money. Mother Sylvia told the girl she should have better sense than to give that boy candy.

Benjamin – He and Justice are buddies and hang out together most of the time. I’m not sure how much English he knows versus how shy he is. I’m going to spend more time with these two boys this week.

Prince – He is a very good little artist. His drawings are very detailed and good for his age. He is also a master manipulator!!! He has a beautiful face with expressive eyes that he knows how to use. He can get teary eyed if that will serve his purposes to get the volunteers worried about him. He can also get his sister Patricia to do his work for him. So, it’s not just Obrunis that are charmed. He also likes to test the limits set by his mother knowing that the volunteers will be upset if he is spanked. He’ll steal your heart before you even realize it’s gone!

Stephen – He is the oldest boy. He speaks English very well so he can interact with all of us easily. He is very smart and wants to learn. That is when he is not playing soccer. A boy has to have priorities you know. He is the natural leader and organizer of family games. He taught us the Ghanaian version of musical chairs. There is one less chair than there are people. Every 3 people are named a fruit (banana, pineapple, orange, mango, etc.). The person in the middle, who does not have a seat, will name one to all of the fruits. The people whose fruits are called must get up and change chairs. The one left without a chair is now in the middle and calls the next group. It was very fun for all ages.

T H E G I R L S

Suzanna – She is a little 6 year old sweetheart. When we were walking from the village up to the main road, she kept trying to carry my purse for me. She is 6 years old and is a small girl but she would gladly have carried my purse on the whole 40 minute walk. She was walking with me because she had just helped with my laundry. Her mother does her laundry but she helped me do mine!

Regina – She has a laugh that lights up her whole body with joy. It’s infectious. I start smiling even though I have no idea what was just said. She has the same body type as my niece Lexi. She’s tall, thin and muscular. She’s absolutely gorgeous. She is also kind to her baby sister. At bath time she helps Suzanna carry her bucket from the water tank around to the back of the house for bathing.

Patricia – She will do her brothers’ work for them before finishing her own whenever they ask. The other day I had to stop and tell her she was being too nice. She had to let Prince do his own chores. She is the quietest of the girls but still a little treasure.

Patience – She is the oldest child, she just turned 12 last week. She is tall and maturing into a young woman. From a picture you might think she is older, but talking to her and seeing her interacting with her siblings she is still a child. As the oldest girl she has a lot of responsibilities around the house. However, she must go to school and do well at that also. At the end of the day you can find her playing singing and hand clapping games with Patricia. The intricacies and changes in the patterns amaze me. They’ve tried teaching me some songs to peals of laughter all around. I almost have the most basic one that Suzanna mastered years ago.