Mole Park, Northern Ghana

"Hi Hunny,

I'm back from my 5 days trip to the North part of Ghana to see the elephants :) I'm glad I did it because I got to know the country better and how people live in many different places. As you know we spent 2 days traveling by bus to get to Tamale, from where we traveled 4 more hours to get to the Mole Park where we would go on the safari. The roads are really bad, and people drive like crazy so we had scary and funny moments. And when we got to place where we would start the safari I was covered in red dust, everywhere. I'm sure you would never recognize me if you saw me like that.

The safari was really nice, I got to ride on the top of a 4x4 jeep with a few other people. We saw many different kinds of antelopes, monkeys, wild hogs, birds, and of course the elephants. They are huge and wild, looking like dinosaurs with their gray and thick layer of weather-beaten skin. The real thing! I walked until about 20 feet away from them and when I was all excited taking pictures I had to back up because one of them got "mad" at me because of the flash of my camera, and even the armed ranger got scared. I wish I could send you the picture of his mad face looking at me.

We stopped by Kumasi, our favorite city until now, and got to know more about the history of the Ashanti tribe, one of the main tribes in Ghana. We saw some forts and even a three hundred year old sword.

People up North are mostly Muslims which made things a little harder for us because they clearly didn't like us, or any white people, mainly the ladies who sometimes wouldn't even sell bananas to us. But of course we also met some nice people. I saw many villages where they live in houses that look like Indian houses, made of mud and wood and covered with palm tree leaves, very different and interesting.

I was surprised to see so many people saying they love Brazil and soccer, in many places where they can barely get water to drink, they had Brazilian shirts. And whenever I said I'm Brazilian they would start a half hour conversation about games and the best players, asking me to "please tell Ronaldinho Gaucho that he is the man, the best ever", it was funny. They say Ghanaians became Brazilians when our team is playing :)

After 2 days traveling to get back "home", we arrived tired but were happy we got to see the elephants in their natural habitat as we might never see such a thing anywhere else.

It was one of the little boys' bday yesterday, one of those who came to play soccer with me in front of our house, so I took him and two other friends to the place where they have TV to watch the match Ghana vs. England last night. They were all excited and even though I was so tired I had fun seeing their happy faces, drinking soda and celebrating the end of the game with Ghana scoring in the very last minute.

Today I was back to work at Good Sheperd, and I spent the day working with the kindergarten kids. They are working hard and I can see a big progress after almost two weeks working only with them. It is for sure the hardest thing to do since they basically share the classrooms with 3 other classes, and by noon everyday I have no more voice because I have talk very loud so they can hear me and they don't really pay much attention since there is so much going on around them. But we will get there :) I take them outside a lot and we sit on the shade to read stories and they get to run around and spend some energy. I have plans to organize their "classroom" before I leave to work with the 1st grade, so I got paper with the alphabet, words and pictures to cover the holes on the wall.

There is no water or electricity here, they have a noisy generator outside to get the internet to work, so I got only a few minutes to write to you. I'll try to send the pictures sometime.

muitos beijos

Ely

Food

Fitting Right In..

No shoes, no problem

Donations! :)

Boys vs Girls Game..my favorite

More Good Shepard

Independence Day Marching

Good Shepard Orphanage

Teachers

Soccer Team Praying Before Match

Town

Market

"A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words"

Soccer and Prayers

"My Hunny, thank you for forwarding me all these nice messages. It helps a lot, when I read it I feel like I'm doing it for everybody.

This third week of work at the school/orphanage was great. The 5th grade students are really close to me and we have such a good group. As I told you, they were so happy playing with the soccer ball we gave them, but one of the teachers took it from them for some reason. So I went to talk with the teacher and got it back, and it is great to see them organizing themselves at break time to play soccer. They invited other kids from other classes, set goalposts with bamboo sticks and they play until the last minute of break. I cheer for them with the girls and take pictures of them running bare feet in the dirt, running in a heat heat of more than 100 degres. Today they said I need to play with them so I'm now organizing the girls team!!! they are all excited and our game is Monday.

I've been talking to them about respect for each other they are starting to be more friendly with each other, the boys help the girls and they don't hit each other as much as they did before.

They were not doing very well in their writing, so we worked hard this week on essays and readings. One of our essays was about family, which gave them a lot to talk about, and many of them wrote about the family that they have now and the parents they already lost. But in all of them I found many sentences expressing their faith, happiness and hope for a great future.

As a treat for making such a good progress and working hard I gave them starburst candy in the end of the week. Oh my gosh hunny, they devoured it in a second... haha

I'm really proud of them, and I heard from more than one person this week that they are the best class in the whole school :) you can imagine the big smile on my face!!!

I'm also working with the kindergarten, they are really cute, and they ask me everyday to come to their classroom. They stay alone, without any teacher for hours almost everyday. So next week I'll focus on working with them.

They call me "madam" all the time, and even if say they can call me Miss Eliana, or just Ely they won't :)

In the 5th grade there is an student who is 16 years old and he has learning disabilities. He is usually in trouble with the teachers for bad behavior or for not doing anything, I've seeing a few bad attitudes from him but I'm sure his only defense is to be rude sometimes and he works in a different way than the others. Well, on Wednesdays they have "worship" in the morning and I was watching them from outside, and I saw him singing a worship song with his eyes closed and his hands lifted, he sang passionately and beautifuly, so I thought with myself: I'll see this kid in heaven!! Later on I had a song about Jesus to sing with them because they have MRE (Moral and Religious Education) and I could hear him singing louder then everybody else! I filmed some of it to show you :)

Remember I told you they have to share chairs and sometimes they have to sit in 3 or 4 in a chair that is supposed to be for 2. So I used some money from the donations to fix all the broken chairs and they will have new chairs next week. The carpenter is working right outside and we get to see the progress of his work. The kids are excited and I told them some friends from US are giving it to them so they want to write letters saying thank you!

There is a lot I want to tell you hunny but I left my journal at home and its so hot in here that I can barely think!! haha

I'll tell you more on the phone.

I also would love to answer all the nice messages and comments from everybody, but the computer doesn't help that much. So please tell them I say Thank you so much!"

Holding 'Little Richmond' at the Orphanage

"Here is something to post"...

"Thanks to of you who are always praying for me and supporting my mission here in Ghana.

Also, thank you again everyone who made donations, these children here really need help and they are always so happy and thankful for every and each little thing they receive. I've never seen happier children than they are when they get a pencil or a notebook, or even a little sticker.

I'm happy to be here, Ghana is a beautiful country, people are friendly and it is a fairly safe place to live. But there is so much poverty and need for help, mostly for the children, because education and health care here as everything else, are in development and usually not available to all.

The orphanage/school I work at is called Good Shepherd, it was founded by a Christian family who still live there and take care of the children. There are 65 children living in the orphanage plus more than 200 others who came everyday for school, from Pre-school to Junior-High and there is also a nursery. The orphanage is not big, there are maybe 3 or 4 dorms with bunk beds, and I was surprised when I saw one of the boys' rooms with about 5 bunk beds and I asked one of them how many kids sleep there and they said "18 of us". They all share the same bathroom to take showers with a bucket of water, and their toilet has no flush water.

Most of the kids living in the orphanage are partially orphans, they still have a father or a mother or somebody in the family, but because they can't support the children or because they are sick, they send them to the orphanage to live. Their age range is between 2 to 16 years old.The other kids that came everyday for school are from the neighborhood and they have to pay 20 cents per day to attend the classes, and they also have to pay for their lunch, which is served in a shared bowl where sometimes 3 or more eat at a time.

There are 15 teachers for these children but I hardly see all of them there, many classrooms don't have a teacher and the kids sit there alone for hours sometimes. As a volunteer I get the chance to teach any class I want, and I end up teaching from kindergarten to 5th or 6th grade, and they also ask me to teach even the junior high class. Sometimes I walk in, teach English or Math and when I finish and am ready to leave and go help another class somebody comes and ask me to teach the next subject - history, science, whatever is next, because the teacher is not there, so I have to improvise. I take 5 or 10 minutes to think and prepare a class, pray, and go for it!

The classrooms have shared chairs and they sit in 2 or 3 in each, there are usually more than 30 students per class room. The roof is made of some sort of aluminum things, I don't know the name for that, without ceiling which makes the room very hot, its also very dusty because they don't have enough water to wash it, there are lots of mosquito and the smell of dirty things is not pleasant at all. There is no fan or water to drink close to the classroom.


But even with all this difficulties these children are eager to learn and they work hard for it. I love teaching them! I've been working here for two weeks now and I really like it, there is always a good feeling of accomplishment by the end of the day, and anything I do feels like I'm helping them a lot. The kids show great respect and love for me, some of them follow me everywhere, and talk to me all the time, teaching me their language and asking about the place where I'm from. They, as everyone else on the streets here, call me "abruni" which means white person, and the little ones love touching my skin and my hair because they think it is so different. Sometimes I'm reading to them and I feel little hands touching my back and my legs and they lay their heads on me, sometimes 4, 5 or more of them at a time. :)

There is usually somebody sick, some of them sleep in the classroom and have high fewer. Many of them have open sores or other sorts of skin problems. They usually don't have any medicine to take, so one of the first things I did with the money from the donations was buying medicine for them. I also got text books for the teachers and the notebooks they needed, and I'll buy more kits of school supplies for the students this week because now I know what and how much they need.

This week I brought a soccer ball so they could play at break time, and it was one of the best moments to just see their happiness for having a simple thing that made them have so much fun. They don't have toys at all at the school or the orphanage, it is a privilege to have a soccer ball to play.

The place where I stay is a house for volunteers, about 45 minutes walking distance from the orphanage. It is in a small village which is very busy with many people walking around all the time and trying to sell things. There are 3 other volunteers here now but they are leaving next week, so I'll be alone for a while. It is a safe place to stay, and we have a shower and toilet working whenever we have water or electricity, but sometimes we don't have either one for many days. So I usually take a shower with a bucket of water that I carry on my head from the neighbor's well while the people laugh at me on the street because they think its funny to see an "abruni" doing this sort of work. Its ok, I laugh too!


The week days go by fast because of the work, there is always a lot to do and the though work and the heat of more than 100 degrees everyday, make me very tired. I work at the orphanage/school from 7 or 8am to 3 or 4pm, and when I get back to the volunteers house the kids from the neighborhood came to get me to play soccer with them in a soccer field that they cleaned up by themselves 3 weeks ago. We play until around 6:30, and by the this time of the day I feel so tired and hungry that after a shower, dinner and some reading I go straight to bed, usually around 8pm and sleep until next day around 5:30 or 6am when the chickens wake me up.I share a cab with other people to go to work, or sometimes I take the "Totro"/van which is packed, and we're all squeezed in for 15 or 20 minutes until we get to the school.


The weekends are quiet days, I read a lot and play with the kids outside. There is no tv or radio, and all the noise here comes from the old and slow fans - when there is electricity, and from the children playing outside. There are more than 30 kids from the neighborhood who come to play around or on the soccer field close to our house. Playing and talking with them is a good way to get distracted.

I'm holding up pretty well, and the only really difficult thing here for me, besides being away from Ben, is the food. I have bread and water for breakfast, pineapple or some other fruit for lunch, and a lady cooks some African food for our dinner, but whenever its edible or I like it I get diarrhea as a consequence. Well, I'll have the time and opportunity to eat better and be with Ben when I get back home, for now I'll keep doing whatever I can to help these children here and make sure they hear about Jesus' love.

Thank you all for your love and all your help, mostly Ben and his family who always contact me making me feel that I'm not alone and encourage me so much. I love you and pray for you everyday.

Eliana :)

Bed with Mosquito Net

3/5 Email:

“Hunny here is one picture of my bed, the only one I had time to upload. Let me know if you get it, and I'll try to send more tomorrow or monday.
We didn't have power until a one hour ago, so I couldnt write to you or send pictures. but i'll keep trying.”

Carrying Water Buckets (for daily shower) on the Head

3-4 Email:

“The day at work was short today because they had to practice marching for Sunday. It will be a big day for them here, it is only the 54th independence day, and they still talk about the day it happened.

We still don't have water, so I carried 5 buckets of water by myself on my head, haha. The ladies that were getting water from the same well were all laughing and they said I'm pretty and they are not because its too hot here... haha. And the old man, the owner of the well looked at me and said, you can't carry that, and I said: of course I can, I already carried 4! it was my last one because I paid for 5 only, so they helped me put the full bucket on my head and watched me head back home while they laugh and say things in their language. :)

I know you want me to post things. I'll write something and send it to you tomorrow so we can post it on the blog then send to everybody.

I'll try and send some pictures for you now :) if the computer doesn't take forever.”

Another Email

3/1 Email:

“It was so good to hear your voice today :) Thanks for calling.

I'll certainly write about my first day and first week and email you to post on the blog after you read and add or correct things. Thanks or doing it for me. I think it will be good to post once or twice a week, otherwise it might be too much, I don't know... what you think?

beijos from your Ely”

First Day Teaching

2/28 Email:

“Thanks for keeping the blog working and for being so awesome with me, supporting and helping me so much in this mission. Whenever things get hard here I pray, than think of you and your great attitude about everything and it makes all easier :)”

“…Today was my first day working at the orphanage, I liked it hunny, even though it is very very hard. In the morning I cleaned up the library and read with the kids that came in, then I walked around at lunch time and talked with many of them and took pictures. Then worked with the kindergarten class, they are so cute, we sang songs, played, wrote a few words and I took them to the library and read to them. I had the chance to ask 3 or 4 today if they know who Jesus is, and they answered positively and wanted to know more, which made me really happy.
I tell them that Jesus loves them more than anybody else, and they look at me really serious waiting for an explanation :) it is very good to talk with them about it.

But the biggest surprise was when I got in the manager/director's office to talk about the things they need the most, and about how I was bringing the donations, and I saw a picture of me with the soccer team, hahaha, they think about me as a supporter because I go to the games and cheer for them, so they printed a big picture that they took the day I went to see the orphanage's team play (the one I told you about) and have it in the office. They really love soccer

I'll bring the donations tomorrow, and they said that they want the Bishop to see it and thank us personally for that. But I will save some of the things I have to give to this other orphanage that is even in more need than the Good Shepard Orphanage."

"Abruni"

2/24 Email:

“The internet is at a cafe close to the place where I stay, its 10min walk, and I love coming here to read your messages :)”

“..Yesterday (Wed) I went to a soccer game hunny, it was amazing, you would love how passionate they are for soccer (or futebol as they say). The orphanage has a team playing in the a league, and if they do well, these 16 year-old guys may have a chance to play in the national team one day.

When I got in the bus to go with them to a neighbor city for the game, they wanted to take pictures with me and with the English guy who was going too. they are usually very impressed and happy to have a white person around. When I walk on the streets they call me "abruni" which means white person. I think it is funny!

Today I went on a tour in Accra and it was really nice. I visited 2 museums and now I understand more about their history, and admire these people even more.

It is very very hot here, and today we don't have electricity, so I'll just get a bucket of water and take a shower early then go to bed probably around 7 or 8pm.

It is really hard to call from here, I can't find a card and the internet is too slow (it took 20 minutes to open your message). Hopefully on the weekend we can get a good phone card and talk a lot. I'm taking notes so I don't forget anything I want to tell you about :)”

“…Life here is not easy at all hunny, but there is a lot to learn from it.”

My First Week

2/22 Email:

“I just got to the internet cafe, after my "language class" where I learned a few words that I have to use in the market later, where we'll go to buy some oranges. And as I waited for a computer I was looking at the picture we took at the airport before I left, and I ended up showing it to everybody in the place, because there was somebody behind me who asked if you were my husband, then everyone wanted to see it as I told them you are my boyfriend. they smiled and nodded positively... :)”

“..I have a lot to tell you hunny”..

Hello

I apologize for the delay in postings. Eliana has been very busy with getting her work started as well as dealing with a slow and spotty internet connection. As for me, I have no excuse. For these next few posts, I will paste some excerpts from her emails to me.

-Ben