Days 5 & 6

June 18 2009
Yesterday I didn't write because we didn't have time. I was both physically and mentally spent. We visited 10 wells (I think) and several villages. We went to the market (which was crazy) with this small middle-aged woman and her daughter. They took us on a 45 minute tour. The market was disgusting, but it was still very cool to see.
Today, we said goodbye to the 4 villages Inn and headed to Cape Coast. We took side roads and got there in 5 hours. It was an extremely bumpy ride. I will never complain about potholes again! Though I personally enjoyed some of the ride (I compared it to a roller coaster), I know the rest of the passengers were not fans of the mini road-trip.
We have 2 drivers take us around. Takyis (TAY-CHEE) and Freedom (who was my driver as well as Lea's and Esther's). I want to marry Takyis. BIGGEST SWEETHEART EVER. But he is married with two beautiful children and lives in Africa...oh well!
Cape Coast is beautiful. I feel like we are in Hawaii. we are near the beach which has tons of palm trees and rolling waves. We had dinner on the beach. It was great!
When we arrived in Cape Coast, the school of deaf kids performed some dancing for us. They wore beautiful and colorful outfits. This shcool is the top ard winning school in several academic areas (I will recall later) and has a population of 371 students: about 330 of them deaf and the rest blind. It was such a relief to come here and see such a successful happy group of people. It gives me hope for Africa and other villages.
I am really excited for Cape Coast. I think I will be teaching dance. Tomorrow we are going to discuss what we will do. This trip is great!

day 4

June 16 2009
This morning we left for Dr. Addai's clinic. We picked him up and went to one of his clinics in the village. We saw lots of women with babies, a few sick people, and lots of children. I taught them how to play Duck Duck Goose. Lea taught them the hokie-pokie. This one little girl was my favorite. I wanted to take her home with me. After that, we went to another village/school and gave more soccer balls. I bounced a ball on my knee and played with the kids. It was a little overwhelming though because there were about a hundred of them. A lot of them asked me for cash, but they didn't beg as much as the Krapa school. The real begging was when we went to the fabric stroe and guys my age were begging us to buyt all these embroidered keychains. Well at least I'm prepared for the market tomorrow. Overall, today was a successful day. I'm exhausted!

The first eye-opener

June 15 2009
Today was a more eye-opening day. First we went to an art fair type area and bought some souvenirs. I bought a beautiful card and a small wooden sculpture. Total cost was 6 cds. That is around 5 American dollars. The exchange rate is odd. After, we went to Dr. Annie's clinic. We saw many malnourished babies. there were hundreds of women there, many of them teenagers. Many women travel to the city with some guy and end up in the market, pregnant and abandoned. So it's hard for them to ask for help when they have been abandoned. I saw a two year old with eye liner on. It was unsettling. Many women buy make up over food to get attention from the men that abandoned them. It was hard to see all of it. But Dr. Annie is extremely positive and its amazing to see her work in that environment. We gave stuffed animals and many women left their babies on the ground crying to go and fight for the best animal. I saw a woman whose baby's neck was bouncing around. She didn't care. There was another woman with twins: one boy and one girl. She only fed the boy. The size difference between them was huge. I would have thought them 8 or 9 moths apart. Another baby had malaria and was attached to an IV. There were so many babies. After we left the clinic, we visited the Kenilworth Union School in Krapa. The Kipharts have done an amazing job. We delivered gifts like pencils, sharpies, cards, soccerballs, and the game Jacks. One of the difficult things is that the kids thinkw e are Santa and can bring them anything. Some of them had an attitude and no one was gracious. I guess we should deal with that. Part of real giving is not expecting anything in return. It's just hard when we've put a lot of work into our gifts and projects! Regardless, it was great to see all the progress made.

Sunday Sunday

June 14 2009
Today was awesome. We woke up at 7:30, ate breakfast at 8, and were picked up at 9 by our drivers to go to Church. We met up with Annie, her daughter Saint Anne, and Peter, our leader. I started the first of our videos. The church service was nothing like I've seen before. People in the audience would raise their hands and would get a chance to make a comment or ask a question regarding the discussion. Then there was a forty minute or so singing session. It was so powerful and so lively. It felt like there was so much spirit in the room. People go on their kenees. IT was nothing you would see at KUC, where peopel are more self-concious and more solemn during a service. Honestly, it was an incredible thing to witness. After chruch, we went to a village and met the midwife, Anna. She is this wonderful old woman who is a nurse that helps women through their pregnancy and can treate people for other medical issues (such as a snake bit). I videotaped her speaking about her role as a midwife. In the area, there were wandering chickens and goats everywhere. And really, all over Ghana. We saw these caged "grass cutters" which have some relation to groundhogs. The next thing we did was visit a village. There were tons of kids everywhere, all wanting to tell me their name. I've never seen so many elated faces. One girl's name was Sandra. She was about 4 or 5. We went to their communal area where honored and thanked us by giving us weaved scarves. We then gave them candy, toothburshes (ironic), and soccer balls. And we also gave them Obama shirts. Man, he is like a Saint here. Everyone knows who he is. The men we gave the shirts to just about died with enthusiasm. After we left, we went to another village that had recently been flooded. The houses were made of mud, so many of them were ruined. Mr. and Mrs. Kiphart gave them some money to fix their generator. After visiting this village, we mad our way back to 4 villages. We had a great dinner. Desert: spectacular. It was hot oranges and pineapple with ice cream on top!

day 1!

June 13 2009
So we finally arrived in Ghana! What a trip. We landed in Accra at 8:30 and then set out on our 5 hour drive to Kumasi. I've never seen so many children in my life. My favorite thing to see is the mothers carrying the babies on their backs. The babies look so content. We stopped at a rest stop after 2.5 hours of driving and of course see a giant lizard. Little was I aware, there are millions of them everywhere. Our next stop was at the first school the Kipharts built. It was great to meet their first friends. Also, I forgot to mention a Ghanaian clebrity was on our plane. When we landed, everyone clapped! he was wearing a leopard suit. It was so bizarre. Peter's daughter Naomi had no interest in the celebreity. It was such a difference between our cultures. Anyway, we just arriaved at 4 Villages Inn. It's beautiful!

The Adventure Begins...

June 12 2009
So the adventure begins...I left for the airport at 8am with Mom, Brit, & Lo. Everyone arrived at the gate at around 11 and our flight was delayed just an hour. We had a breezy trip to New York and here we are about to leave for Accra! I'm so excited. We are due to arrive at 8:30 in the morning which I think is about 4:30 am New York time. Then we have a five hour car ride. I brought 3 cameras so I'm sure I'll have hundreds of pictures. I kind of wish I bought a memory card with more GB so I could taken even more. Oh well...that's why I have three. I started "The Lecture" on the previous plane. What a perfect book to read before this trip, Alright, I'm off! Time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the movie they put on.

Charter Day Ball @ Miami