Today is the coolest it has been since I arrived in Ghana on Friday night. Upon walking off the plane I was unpleasantly greeted by some of the most ferocious heat and humidity I’ve ever experienced. Rain has befriended us the past couple days – amazing what a lovely benefit it has on my overall affect. I only left home 6 days ago now but it feels like so much has transpired since then. Here’s a brief recap: My flight to Denver was severely delayed out of Durango – had it not been for my informing the flight attendant my story and that I had an extremely tight connection to make, I wouldn’t have made it to my connecting flight to Frankfurt, Germany. I ran like mad with a 30lb pack on my back and barely made it – I was the last to board. It was a 9 hour and 50 minute flight to Germany. I boarded the connecting flight for Accra and counted down another 6 hours of flight time. After the hassle of collecting my luggage in an unbelievably disorganized airport and going through customs, I spotted the man who was holding a sign that read ‘IVHQ Ghana’ and joined the pod of other volunteers. It was a hectic and bumpy ride to the volunteer house – 15 of us were squeezed into a rusty, rickety van called a tro-tro that nearly broke down twice on the way and sounded like it was likely to fall apart at any given moment. For a split second I was questioning why the air conditioner wasn’t on as all of us were pouring sweat. Then reality dawned on me: you came to Africa. Luxuries are a thing of the past. It was 11 pm Ghana time – we ate rice and hard boiled egg for dinner and drank my first water sachet (drinking water that has supposedly been filtered comes in plastic bags that hold 500 mL – you bite the corner off and suck the water out). I slept for 2 hours, was awakened by a vile rooster that felt the need to get started at 3 a.m., and before I knew it, orientation was about to begin. After another tiresome day spent in a tro-tro with multiple volunteers and luggage, I finally was dropped at my specific orphanage placement with 2 other girls. As soon as we exited the tro tro, the kids trampled us. I learned that I can carry 3 on my back, two in my arms, and 1 on each leg before I topple over. They sang us a beautiful welcome song. It was literally the sweetest thing I’ve ever witnessed and made me cry.
The orphanage home is separate from where the volunteers stay – no more than a 10 second walk away. So far I have 3 wonderful ladies for room-mates – 2 from the US, 1 from Canada, and 1 from Scotland. Sunday we played games at the beach with the kids. It’s a 10 minute walk from the orphanage. It was divine to breathe in the salty ocean air again. It poured later on in the afternoon. Once the rain subsided we presented the donations we’d brought for the kids and the orphanage home. I donated a plethora of books, toothbrushes and toothpaste, medical supplies, crayons, paint, playdoh, pencils/paper, balloons, bubbles, and jump ropes. Seth and Vivian, the owners of the orphanage, are trying to put the down payment on a new plot of land to build a new orphanage as they are at maximum capacity right now but want to be able to house more (33 kids sharing a small floor-space) – between us 4 volunteers we have roughly 4,500 dollars in monetary donations – 500 more and we’ll have the down payment. When I return home I’m going to do fundraising to buy beds and mosquito nets for the kids. They often get sick with malaria and they sleep on rugs on a concrete floor. For breakfast they eat awful tasting porridge, sometimes with a slice of bread. Lunch is rice with egg sauce, and dinner is porridge or rice. They drink rain and well water.
As for the volunteers, our breakfast the past 3 mornings has been bread and butter sandwiches with peanut butter and egg + hot chocolate/tea. Lunch is generally noodles with vegetables mixed in, and dinner is rice joloft or yams. Although today for lunch we had potatoes and sausage which was wonderfully filling. Meals are generally repeated according to a weekly schedule which doesn’t allow for much variety. I’m surprisingly pleased with it as I already feel awful about the fact that we eat so much better than the kids. Monday-Friday we wake up at 5:30 a.m. to bathe and dress the kids, we eat breakfast while they eat, the older kids go to school and the younger ones attend daycare in the same building as the volunteer room. I’ve been spending my hours in the daycare and absolutely love it, despite some of the devilish acts many of the kids try to get away with.
Quasi, age 2, was brought here after his grandmother dropped him in a boiling pot of porridge. He has huge burn scars covering his entire body. Isaac, age 12, showed up after being a victim of fishing trafficking. Here in Senya, ‘renting’ children out to work on the fishing boats on the ocean isn’t uncommon. China is the one I intend to pack in my suitcase to bring home. I don’t know her story yet, but she is ridiculously adorable and I’ve completely fallen in love with her. The last image in my mind’s eye at night before I fall asleep is her face and I look forward to getting up at 5:30 in the morning because I know I’ll be seeing her.
There are so many children and so many names, the majority of which I can’t pronounce, let alone retain – but they all have at least this in common – they yearn for affection, to be held, to be LOVED. They don’t care what your past entails, what your skin color is, or who you are, as long as you’re willing to give them the attention they’re starving for.
The orphanage home is separate from where the volunteers stay – no more than a 10 second walk away. So far I have 3 wonderful ladies for room-mates – 2 from the US, 1 from Canada, and 1 from Scotland. Sunday we played games at the beach with the kids. It’s a 10 minute walk from the orphanage. It was divine to breathe in the salty ocean air again. It poured later on in the afternoon. Once the rain subsided we presented the donations we’d brought for the kids and the orphanage home. I donated a plethora of books, toothbrushes and toothpaste, medical supplies, crayons, paint, playdoh, pencils/paper, balloons, bubbles, and jump ropes. Seth and Vivian, the owners of the orphanage, are trying to put the down payment on a new plot of land to build a new orphanage as they are at maximum capacity right now but want to be able to house more (33 kids sharing a small floor-space) – between us 4 volunteers we have roughly 4,500 dollars in monetary donations – 500 more and we’ll have the down payment. When I return home I’m going to do fundraising to buy beds and mosquito nets for the kids. They often get sick with malaria and they sleep on rugs on a concrete floor. For breakfast they eat awful tasting porridge, sometimes with a slice of bread. Lunch is rice with egg sauce, and dinner is porridge or rice. They drink rain and well water.
As for the volunteers, our breakfast the past 3 mornings has been bread and butter sandwiches with peanut butter and egg + hot chocolate/tea. Lunch is generally noodles with vegetables mixed in, and dinner is rice joloft or yams. Although today for lunch we had potatoes and sausage which was wonderfully filling. Meals are generally repeated according to a weekly schedule which doesn’t allow for much variety. I’m surprisingly pleased with it as I already feel awful about the fact that we eat so much better than the kids. Monday-Friday we wake up at 5:30 a.m. to bathe and dress the kids, we eat breakfast while they eat, the older kids go to school and the younger ones attend daycare in the same building as the volunteer room. I’ve been spending my hours in the daycare and absolutely love it, despite some of the devilish acts many of the kids try to get away with.
Quasi, age 2, was brought here after his grandmother dropped him in a boiling pot of porridge. He has huge burn scars covering his entire body. Isaac, age 12, showed up after being a victim of fishing trafficking. Here in Senya, ‘renting’ children out to work on the fishing boats on the ocean isn’t uncommon. China is the one I intend to pack in my suitcase to bring home. I don’t know her story yet, but she is ridiculously adorable and I’ve completely fallen in love with her. The last image in my mind’s eye at night before I fall asleep is her face and I look forward to getting up at 5:30 in the morning because I know I’ll be seeing her.
There are so many children and so many names, the majority of which I can’t pronounce, let alone retain – but they all have at least this in common – they yearn for affection, to be held, to be LOVED. They don’t care what your past entails, what your skin color is, or who you are, as long as you’re willing to give them the attention they’re starving for.
White girl rocks!
Thanks John Jones! 😀 Back atcha!