Akwaaba obruni (Welcome white person) !

I am currently sitting in a simple room in a simple house lined with mosquito netting, after my first day of teaching beautiful obebini (black man) children in Asamankese, Ghana!

What a welcome we have had to this country...to this continent! We were escorted through immigration and customs by soldiers, so we didn’t have to talk to anyone and we had VIP access through a locked door to get out onto the street (which was awesome, but also caused me to miss a friend who was waiting for me at the airport to greet me). Our weekend in Accra, the capital city, was Africa overload. Think of everything typically African...We saw all that (though not the lions and elephants). Palm and banana trees are everywhere, people are super skilled to carry humungous loads on their heads, there are red dirt roads that cause extremely dirty feet, and the marketplaces are super crowded. Something positive has resulted from living in Paris(!) – I’m used to busy, crowded, fast-paced places and crossing roads quickly so as not to get run down by crazy drivers. We attended church with Emma (Mary’s mom and a wonderful lady who is taking care of like everything for us) and Doc (her husband). The service was in Twi, but we each sat with a personal translator, so we understood the majority of what was going on. Hopefully some week I’ll feel at home enough to go up and dance with them as we worship.

The people are incredibly welcoming and hospitable here! Everyone wants to know how we are doing and what our names are. In Ghana, people have day names. Whatever day of the week you were born on there is male and female name for it. Since I was born on a Tuesday, my day name is Abena. That’s easier to tell people when they can’t pronounce Cheryl. However, most people just shout out “obruni!” when we pass by, so I might not respond to anything but obruni when I get back to Canada.

Other common sites in Ghana: goats and chickens are free to roam anywhere and it doesn’t take more than 5 seconds of looking to be able to spot some. Lizards are insanely fast, but are super awesome to see..though they don’t tend to sit still for pictures. Trotros (a big van –like public transportation) are constantly honking down the road, swerving this way and that to avoid pedestrians and potholes. We had been told how bad the road is between Accra and Asamankese; those were no lies. I’m glad we drove up here in a truck because a car would have been eaten whole by the massive potholes!

School started today and though it was absolutely incredible to finally meet these wonderful (albeit crazy) children, naptime was one of the best parts of the day. I love working with children because they remind you of how simple life can really be and I love seeing how excited they get about the littlest things. I taught them “I’m a little teapot” and played “Ring around the garden” with four of the kids during one of our breaks outside. Their laughter, coming up to sit on our laps and taking terrible pictures with my camera warm my heart.  I find it interesting how we can come from Canada without an education degree and start teaching.

There is far too much to tell and so much that we’ve seen and experienced already in these few days that I should probably just write a book and become a best-selling author. I thank you for your prayers! I know that prayer really does keep us afloat because without God’s strength in us, we’d have no strength or endurance to accomplish anything here. I read Colossians 3:23 in my devotion yesterday, which says that we should do all our work as to the Lord and not to men. If I bless even one of these children’s lives during my three months here, it will have been worth it.