Yes, we did pack all that into one day. Our team split up for a while - Jennifer, Mark and Kyle sat in the Mpobi school classrooms while Lisa, Marissa and Kelsey went to Esther’s seamstress shop to take new items for the apprentices to learn so they can earn income. We spent a lot of time talking about sewing stuff that I know little about, but fortunately Kelsey and Marissa were able to talk the language of stitching and communicate things I could not. One of the many advantages of having a team is that there are people on the team that know much more than I do. And this is so good.
The “school half” of the team spent the day in the classroom watching some of our staff teach and some of our sponsored students learn. The team members were interested to see the contrasts of the U.S. classrooms and the Ghana classrooms. For instance, in Ghana when the teacher enters the classroom, the children stand up and give a greeting in unison, and when a student stands and answers a question, the entire classroom has a special “clap” they give. Children also do not have textbooks, so lessons are written by the teacher on the chalkboard each day (therefore, chalk is always in short supply) Team members were amazed at how quickly they became famous - children chanting their names and wanting to touch them, wanting the team members to notice them and wave at them. And do they ever love to have their picture taken!
After school, we visited the homes of a few of our sponsored children in Mpobi (thank you sponsors for the gifts and letters you sent), and then we traveled on to Philomena’s house to take all the baby gifts (thank you FBC staff for bestowing this precious mama and baby with some much-needed items!) You should know that our mode of transport today from place to place was the RV car, which is a very small Toyota Scion. We were seven people crammed into the car in relentless heat and humidity. This is a team with a great sense of humor, because no one whined, but instead found something to laugh about as we bounced along the rutted dirt roads, sitting on laps and arms flung around the person next to us. It was special.
We finished the day by pounding fufu. Well, okay, the way it actually worked was that Esther (our cook) allowed us to pound for just a few moments before the real pounders took over (the Ghanaians). So once again, we are tired, but it is a very good kind of tired after a very long day.
Tomorrow starts early for Kyle and me as we trek to Kumasi to appear on a morning radio show, and then meet up with the team to shop for fabric and items from our seamstress friend in Kumasi, Saraphine.
The fufu and light soup is on the table, but no silverware since we eat with our hands. So it is time for me to say goodnight, again - from Ankaase, Ghana.