my ghana lovelights…

there is no particular order here.  all are equally notable and lovable.

• street hawkers (vendors selling everything from plantain chips and ice cold water  to toilet seats and gas caps-amazing)
• the wave of heat and humidity that greeted me in the plane doorway when we arrived in accra
• the ghanaian people – wonderfully warm and welcoming
• my new and at times uncomfortable minority status…life lessons learned 
• the vibrancy…the color of people and their clothing
• the railways (a look into the life of those living on the street-unforgettable) 
• house of refuge girls…what a privilege to be able to work with them and fall in love with them
• rafia’s willingness to trust and  her courage…I gave a piece of my heart to ghana and rafia is its keeper… 
• nii (driver and tour guide extraordinaire)
• street aid staff
• the pool at the hotel (relief from the heat and humidity)
• the trip to the dressmaker/seamstress...being measured was quite an experience…the final product a perfect fit…
• shopping and bartering at the shop in the hotel parking lot…
• “I need you to respect my no thank you,” (kathy stutzman to a pushy street vendor who refused to take no for an answer)
• the discovery of coke lite on day 4 by teammate kay…hazzzahhhs and woo hoos (gotta feed that addiction)
• my drum and drum lesson
• mango and pineapple 
• calamari with emma and john – great company too 
• ticking international travel with kas off the list J - we have been talking about it for years….would follow this one almost anywhere
• new gal pal - cathy smith 
• elmina castle 
• coconut beach resort 
• volta region-pontoon ride 
• an encounter with ghanaian military personnel and police at the president’s castle - a little scary but oh so memorable 
• the send off  from my girls…lovely J…this girl sobbed…
• the invitation to come back…a genuine hope that we would return 
• whirlwind stop in Amsterdam 

girls girls girls...

Thursday I got a chance to work with my girls again...fun fun!  Street Aid has two interns from Berkley who started last week.  They jumped in to help.  

I arrive at the refuge/shelter about 8:30 each day.  Often I hang out and sneak a few pics while the girls complete chores, eat, and get ready for the day.  In this pick Rafia and Mama Davi (Dah VEE) are cleaning water bags gathered from the street.  They are re-purposed and used to make items for sale.

 Aggie is working on a table runner.

 I caught Mabel finishing up her breakfast.  Mabel is the youngest of the girls (15).

 This is Rafia. I have to say that this young woman has captured a piece of my heart.  I will write more about Rafia in my next blog.  I will share that the time spent with Rafia has been some of the most rewarding and impacting time over the past 2 weeks.  

 Time to play.  All of the games are tied to life lessons and are purposeful as well as fun.  This is the human knot.  The girls loved it!

 This is an exercise that I learned in my Covenant Players days.  Blind tag is a fantastic way to talk about the influences in our lives.  When do we listen to our own voice, when do we listen to the voice (advice) of others and most importantly how do we keep out the voices that do not have our best interests at heart.

 We revisit a relay from last week....foot foot!

 a hoot!

 This is beautiful Georgina.

I am drawing on trainings/activities from many areas of my life.  This is a Link Crew activity (64 Squares).

 The end of each of our workshops ends with group pictures.  Today we gifted the girls with water bottles.  A huge hit.   So very practical!

back to the railway...

On Tuesday we went back to the railway to visit with girls living in the street, clients of Street Aid, to conduct interviews.  The depth of this organization continues to amaze me. Field workers counseling and supporting street children, a shelter for pregnant teens and 4 child care centers for kiddos of single moms who work.

Tuesday morning the skies opened up and the rain fell.  Returning to the railway after a rain made for a new experience...mud mud mud.

The team led us into the "housing area" of the railway area.  A group of girls were waiting for us at the movie theater, a shack with benches and a TV.  We visited with 18 girls, completing 18 surveys.  A great experience.  

Issah and Rose are Street Aid Field Workers.

 Finding a place to sleep can be a challenge.  Most girls will make 5-6 cedis in a day.  They will pay 1 cedi for child care, they will need to eat AND they will need to pay 1-2 cedis to sleep safely at night.  This does not include transportation or other daily needs.

 The conditions in the railway area are difficult to see.  I found myself over stimulated and desperately trying to keep up with everything I was seeing, hearing, feeling and smelling. Here are some of the faces of the railway.

love happy love happy love....

our getaway-a touristy couple of days...

The Coconut Beach Resort is quite a departure from the rest of life in Ghana. Our beautiful air conditioned room was 50 steps from the beach.

 We greeted Saturday night with a dip in the pool and "cheers" from our large deck with that amazing oceanside view.

 The ocean called early Sunday morning.  I was up and out at 7:30.  The fishermen were already at work. 

 The sand is full of shells and sea glass.  The gains of sand very coarse.

 The shore is very rocky and this stretch of beach un-safe for swimming.

 This is Ras Tony...Ras (Mr.) because of the dreads under his cap.  We visited quite a while.  Hope to return to the resort next weekend for a drumming lesson from Ras Tony.

 My feet have been in hiding this trip.  for those of you who are new to my travel blog, I often include pictures of my feet, marking my spot in the world. So here they are.  

 Way down the beach, the fishermen are hard at work pulling in their nets.

 We have seen many "lizards" this week. They have been hard to photograph as they are fast.  

 On Sunday morning we left the resort and began our journey back into the city.  One last look at the fishing village.

 We took the long way home with a stop in the Kakum National Rain Forest.  We made a quick stop at an crocodile farm.

 This is the sign that we passed as we entered the croc area.

 The plan was to lure them up onto the shore (WITH US). At one point Kathy announced that she did not think that our insurance policy would cover croc bites.  Unfortunately or fortunately , the conditions were not right and we were not able to get up close.

 There were many many birds in the refuge.  These nests were fascinating!

 We returned to the car and kept on going.  Our next destination the canopy walk in the rain forest.  Along the way we encountered several villages with many buildings painted red.  I made a comment that red paint must have been on sale.  Our driver Nii filled us in.  Vodophone (cell phone provider) offers to paint homes and businesses for free.  The catch is that the house is painted in Vodophone red and the logo predominately painted on the buildings.

 We arrived in this village as church was letting out.

 Attendees bring their own chairs.

 We finally arrived at the Kakum Canopy Walk.

 This was a heart stopper for us.  Adrenaline combined with incredible beauty made for an amazing experience.

 Nii came along.  He led the way and enjoyed our anxiety I think.

 Kathy

The pics just don't do this justice.

 Nii leads and Cathy follows...

Yep I am really glad that we did this.  A little fear makes for a feeling of great accomplishment.

Back to the city we go.