Obruni here!

Hello from the trusty internet cafe in Bawjiase! Totally kidding about the trusty part by the way. This cafe has not worked in a long time so we shall see if I make it through a post. Again, the screen is very hard to read so sorry in advance. What a crazy few days it has been. I forgot last time to write about the beach so here it goes....we went last Saturday and took along 16 children. It was a wild and crazy fun time. The kids were great! They loved the basketball we brought along to play soccer in the sand and we also brought some blow up floaties and such for them to play with. Other than our driver and three other men almost getting in a fight, it was a pretty uneventful good day. I learned a lesson that took me too long to learn...never trust a Ghanaian who says they are not a crazy driver. Ha. I almost lost my lunch several times but made it back in one piece.

This week has been wild, the kids have a long weekend from school so they are roaming free until Monday. Disaster. So wild there right now but we have our minds a bit preoccupied with a little girl named Perpetua. On Saturday Melissa was holding her and she felt really hot but most the kids run fevers from time to time so it wasnt a big deal. Yesterday while Pepper was eating her lunch she fell from the bench and just wasnt acting right. Her health went downhill from there. They took her into the clinic in the village here (Bawjiase) but the lab was closed so they couldnt do anything. I came to talk to Mommy Nurse around dinnertime last night and she said they needed to take her to the hospital in Swedru which is a bigger village about 35-40 minutes away. She wanted an Obruni to go with her to help pay for the treatment and to pull a little weight. I gladly accepted and ran to get my stuff. Kim decided she was up for it as well so off we went. By the time we got there Pepper had her eyes rolled in the back of her head, she was convulsing uncontrolably, and she foaming at the mouth. Not good. The people at the hospital just kinda looked at her and took their sweet time doing anything. Finally after about 10 minutes she got her temp taken. 40.5 degrees celcius. I have no idea what that is in farenheight but I do know its too hot. Then we sat in a room for almost three hours while she continued to foam at the mouth and whimper in agony. Nobody seemed to care so I jumped in. There were two nurses who were sitting in the same room as us laughing and talking like they were out to lunch and texting on their phone. Feet up on the desk and not a care in the world. I gathered the only kindness in my heart I could find for them and nicely told them that she needed attention. At this point Pepper was so stiff you could not open her fingers from a tight fist, all her muscles were in what seemed to be a charlie horse and when I went to pick her up she was flat as a board. She literally could not move. The nurses just looked at me and told me to go talk to the lab so off I went. I asked them how much longer it would be and I got the door slammed in my face. Nice. So I took it upon myself to go find the doctor of the hospital. All the kindness in my heart had been long gone and I had a conversation with the doctor. Needless to say she came to the Casualty unit where we were. Terrible name for it right? Anyway she was there within 3 minutes. She finally admitted her. We then had to take her to the childrens unit and wait another hour to get an IV. The whole time she was foaming out the mouth, convulsing, her temp has raised even higher. I was certain I was holding her for the last time. She got a few injections and the IV started and it was late so they kicked us out. They told us she needed a blood transfusion but they didnt have any blood to give her so we should go find donors. Craziest thing ive ever heard. We left with heavy hearts. After a pointless nights sleep we went back this morning to find her peacefully sleeping. The doctor said she didnt think she would make it through the night. She did. She is really weak today but she was eating and drinking which is great! The doctors and nurses have no sense of urgency, i made kim and melissa promise even if my leg was cut off to never take me to a hospital here. I will fly in the cargo bin on a plane or even take a boat. Dont. Take. Me. There. Pepper will stay until Friday or Saturday and we will go every day to buy her medications and food until she comes home. It is such a culture shock for me to be there. I have never felt a culture shock here before but after experiencing the hospital, I am beside myself. Oh and more about the blood transfusion, they said she needed it badly. I know I am A+ and the German volunteer is also A+ so Melissa bravely stepped up to be tested, she didnt know what blood type she had but it turns out she was not a candidate. She is O+. Kim didnt know what she was either and she said there was no way she would give blood there, I dont blame her. But she came around and realized it was important so she got tested too, shes A+ and she was very brave about the whole thing! So in the end the doctor changed her mind and said she didnt need one anymore anyway. I cant stand doctors here. Her official diagnoses is severe malaria and anemia. Poor girl.

Its hot today. I dont know how hot but judging by the sweat dripping down my back its around 85-90 with 100% humidity. The air is so thick the breeze offers no relief. Life is still great here in Ghana. I wouldnt trade it for the world. The kids keep my heart at peace and my hands busy.

I really dont have much else to write but I will try to write again soon. It would be great if this cafe stays working! Its only about a 25 minute walk. I most the time feel as if ill die of heat stroke but its good for me! Until next time....

Week one update

Hi there. Ali here. Is anyone even reading this? It would be much easier if I didnt have to travel 30 min to get to Internet if nobody is reading this. Please let me know because it really is a lot of work to get here for no reason.

So for anyone who may be reading (Dad?, and Matt) here is whats been going on down under. Not really down under but I like to humor myself. Today all the Obrunis (white people) pronounced Oh-brew-knee came to the next big village again called Kasoa. It is hot today, im not sure how hot but hot and with enough humidity to make my hair and skin go wild. You will understand when you see pictures. I am a sight for sore eyes these days but im loving every second of it. We have been staying at the orphanage in a room there. It is the size of a dorm room with three of us sharing it. Two bunk beds and a mattress on the floor. Lucky me. It is much different than last time staying at the orphanage rather than at the compound we stayed in last time. There are about 8 people who sleep in the common room right outside our room and they are very loud when they wake up. Did I mention that they wake up at 4am every morning? It makes me cringe. Ghanaians are not known to be quiet people either. This makes for useless sleep past 4am. Oh well I guess its good to get an early start on the day.

Yesterday Melissa went into a village about 20 minuets away with two boys from the orphanage who have families that live there. She said it was the poorest place she has been but it was so good to meet the people. Morris has been Mels sidekick since the first time she visited so they have a special bond and it was time to meet his family. Kwame, Morris' best friend is also from that village and wanted to show her his family too. The funny part is on the way back when they were walking to the orphanage there were two little kids on the side of the road and one yelled, "Obruni, I love you!" which is totally normal because we are quite the spectacle being the only white people for miles. Then the other kid said, "Obruni I love your vagina!" Melissa said she about died! hahaha the boys she was with are still laughing about the situation. I just cant imagine.

So Ghana beat the US on Saturday?!?! It was so exciting to watch the kids watch the game and get so excited about it. They really love their country and they are so proud. I have great video of them while they were watching the game. It is so inspiring to see people with such genuine passion. Even if it is about soccer, its passion about something and I think thats a key element that we are missing in our culture.

What else? Remember the dorm room size room we share? Well we had six children stay the night last night. Yeah thats 9 people in a tiny room. I had planned on having a girl named Hajia who is about 2 stay with me but then somehow we ended up with Dora and Lucky too and the older boys, Akunta, Morris, and Kwame were watching a movie on the laptop and fell asleep and we didnt have the heart to wake them. The older boys were great as expected but the younger three toss and turn all night. They dont wake up and cry but constantly move around. Lucky for me my bed is on the ground so I get to deal with the babies all night. And up at 4am. I am tired today.

Yesterday we were running low on water to bathe in so we asked a few children to go fetch water with us. you have to walk about a half a mile to the stream to fetch the water. We each had one bucket and the boys filled them for us and we carried them back on our heads. Dont worry we got pictures! The kids think its so funny to see us carry babies on our backs and water on our heads but we dont mind. Its either them doing it or us and I would much rather the latter. The kids work so hard and do so much for us as it is. Its amazing to see 12 and 13 year old boys and girls doing the hard work they do. They help us so much its unbelievable.

The kids are good. Lucky is a little pill 99% of the time. Hes all boy and into everything! Hes at that age where he knows right from wrong but is always pushing the limits. He has sure tested our patience but that cute little smile melts my heart everytime. Its amazing how much the kids have grown since last time. They are becoming such little grown ups. Its so great to see them growing and changing. My heart is so full with all the love I have for them. I cant imagine going home. I am trying not to spend too much time with Dora because she cries whenever I leave her and thats just not healthy for a two year old who doesnt know im not staying forever. There is a piece of me that I have been missing for a while now and I think I finally found it again. I dont know what it was but I hope to capture it and bring it back with me. Before I left I was getting overwhelmed easily and certain things were not going my way but now I see what it is all about again. I have been so selfish and caught up in my personal life and I forgot to enjoy the ride. It feel so darn good to be me again. Thats my rant for the day.

I apologize if I have typos in here, I think someone took a baseball bat to my screen which makes it hard to see the whole thing at once. Thats Ghana for you.

Last but not least, Happy Birthday to my dearest Sean Robert! The big 24 today!! I am sorry I cant be there to celebrate but I am thinking of you today from Kasoa/Bawjiase Ghana!

Love to all. I might try to write again soon if anyone wants me to. Until next time....

Greetings!

Hello from Ghana! I have made it to Bawjiase safe and sound. I had a wonderfully uneventful flight and Melissa and Kim were waiting outside the airport to pick me up. We paid an arm and a leg for a taxi to take us to the orphanage but it was worth it because it was dark when we arrived and safety is not the greatest when traveling at night. The internet cafe in our village has been down for some time now it seems. Today We have traveled into the next villlage Kasoa to go to the market and to get internet. I am sorry to say I think blogging might be few and far between. I will do my best.

Oh how life here is different than last time. We are staying in a room at the orphanage and I think I have maybe slept 8 hours between the two nights I have been here. Our room has windows which make the 4am wake up call too early for me but impossible to sleep through. Not to mention There are two bunkbeds in the room and because I came last Mel and Kim had already taken the bottom bunk so I am up top in the heat. Ugh. The mosquito net is about 2 feet from my face and it scares me everytime I wake up! Ha! Today is the first day we have had electricity in our building. Something happened to it last week and the electrician came this morning. We were sleeping with no fan. Those who know me well know I cannot get a wink of sleep without a fan in the room but tonight should be better. I think I will move my mattress to the floor and sleep there....I guess ill just ignore the bugs.

The kids are wonderful. Dora is walking and talking which is just amazing to me. She sure is spoiled though. The youngest baby is 2 months and she is just the sweetest thing. She doesnt have a name yet, they told me to name her so I named her Ruby! I love it but we are the only ones who call her that. Oh well. It has been so great for me to slow life down a little. I forget to take a breather sometimes and that is just what I am doing here. It feels so good to be here and get back to whats important in life. These kids are my everything and keep me grounded. My heart is a peace here. I think I may stay forever!m It is only day two so I dont have too much to say but we need to hurry and get to the foriegn exchange before they close and then we have a tro tro ride to get home. Fun. We are trying to go to the beach tomorrow but between the soccer game and the rain it might not work out. I will try to update again soon.

Love to all from Ghana

Off we go!!!

We need your help!!!

We are getting so close to departure date I can hardly believe it! So much to do, so little time! As for me, I am in the craziest weeks of school with projects and final papers coming due, along with the stress of moving out of our house that we have lived in for three years and preparing for our trip, its a wonder I havn't pulled my hair out yet!

We are pretty much set for clothing donations as we are running out of space quickly but we have run into yet another expense that we did not anticipate while budgeting for the trip. The airline has now started charging for checked bags. We have all these great donations but not enough funds to get them there! I am not one to usually cry out for help, but I will do anything to help our babies at the orphanage. And this time we really need your help. Please help if you can, anything donated will go directly to getting our bags of donations over there. I have no words to say how thankful I am for all your support and help.

Until next time,
Alexandra

Unexpected twist....

We have just received an email and then followed up with a phone call to Mommy Nurse confirming that Lucky Store is no longer affiliated with the orphanage. This means that we will be living at the actual orphanage in a room probably surrounded by the children. I don't know if we will have bed, a toilet, or a shower room. We will only know more of the actual living situation when we get there. Please hope for patience and a sense of humor for us while we are there....we will need it!

Melissa and Lucky during our visit in summer 2008

Me with Eva, Kyla with Sammy, and Melissa with Perpetua...we had a sleepover with these munchkins!

Kojo Atta, this little man was one a triplet but is now a twin. He has stolen my heart forever.

Sweet Mama Akos

Captian playing in the dirt right after his bath

Part of the orphanage, this building is mainly used as sleeping quarters, where the children all sleep on the floor with no bedding and fire ants eating at them all night.

Where we sleep at the volunteer compoud called "Lucky Store"

Our toilet at Lucky Store

The front of Lucky Store

The common area of Lucky Store

Back we go!

We are going to Ghana again this summer and could'nt be more thrilled about it! We are looking for donations of any kind to fill our suitcases up and take over with us to the orphanage. If your children have outgrown their clothing please consider donating them to us instead of taking them to Goodwill and we will make certain to put them all to good use. If you have donations you would like to contribute you can contact me by email at Alexandramartin28@hotmail.com and I would be MORE than happy to come and take it off your hands. It has also been requested that we set up a Pay-Pal account, I will leave the link for that account on here until we return.

A little about our upcoming adventure:

Melissa and one of her dearest friends, Kim are leaving on June 15th for Ghana and I will leaving on June 22nd. We are staying at the same orphanage and will be with the same children we have come to know and love so very much. Melissa and Kim will travel back to the US on July 15th and I will follow on July 22nd. Yes, I am traveling alone and staying a week alone...YIKES! I plan to start this blog back up and write regularly, (or as much as African internet allows) to keep everyone updated.

Until next time,

Ali

Home again, home again

Hello all! After over 24 hours of travel we made it back home safe! Leaving was hard and I wasnt ready at all but now that im here I can see how much my outlook on life has changed and how much I have changed as a person. In a good way of course! 

Our last days were spent with the children, we went to the beach again on Sunday with 40 children and volunteers. We had a blast and rented two tro tros for the ride there. We all left with sunburns and heat rash but the kids had a ball! Its so fun to see pure joy on their faces. For these kids going to the beach means getting a day off work, which they never get. I cant imagine working as hard or as much as they do and they are all under the age of 14! Tuesday I ad a group of boys take us into the forest. It was so much fun its so jungle like and huge! It was very hot and humid but the kids wanted to climb up on top of this huge gill to show me so we did. Here i was thinking I was going to die of heat stroke and my feet hurt then I looked down and realized that half of them werent even wearing shoes! Their feet are tougher than leather I swear! I had a few huge fire ants crawl up my pants and down my socks and bit me a few times good and hard but we made it out alive. Those kids know their way around there so well it amazes me. Half the time there was no trail and we were in bushes taller than I am but the kids still knew where we were. Our last day I took my last walk into town to check on our flight and check the orphanage mail at the post office. Morris and Joseph went with me which was really nice to spend some time alone with them without the babies running around at our feet. When we got back to the orphanage we had lunch and packed up and then it was time to say our goodbyes. Thankfully Dora was tired so I rocked her to sleep for her afternoon nap and kissed her goodbye. I dont know if I could have done it if she was awake. We said goodbye to the kids and some of our closer kids walked us back and flagged down our tro tro for us. The girls danced and sang for us as we were leaving and everybody was waving at the driveway until we were no longer in sight. The drive to the airport was very quiet and long. I was thinking of any excuse I could come up with to not get on that plane. 

Im still very tired and in a different time zone but I know I will manage to get back to reality sooner than later. I miss Ghana and my kids with every bit of my being. I promised I would be back. I have to go back.

I will try and post some of my favorite pictures so you all can finally see what I have been talking about! Thats it for now....I need to catch up with my family before they leave for Hawaii tomorrow morning!!

Letter from Ghana

here I am at the internet cafe again. Slow slow slow. Im going to apologize in advance for any misspellings because I can hardly make out the words on the monitor let alone see what I am typing! I think the monitor is older than I am. Hope you get the jist of all this anyhow.

At the moment Melissa is dreadfully sick. She has had a headache for about four days and joint aches and hasnt slept well in a few nights but last night it got way worse. Today she got out of bed just long enough to see the nurse at the orphanage and went straight back to bed before their conversation could even begin. Thankfully we are living with two women who just graduated med school and have been watching her close. We dont think its malaria because she doesnt have a fever but we might go to the hospital tomorrow and do labs just in case if shes not feeling any better but I think thats the last thing any of us want to do. She is in good hands and everyone is taking very good care of her, so dad please dont worry. I have had Lucky and Dora all day today. It seems since weve been here everybody just assumes that Lucky and Dora will be taken care of all day! I wonder when im supposed to rest? That is something i will never understand about Ghanaians. Today went well but im pretty tired. They weighed all the babies today and Dora and Lucky both gained since last month!!! Dora at 5 months old is at a whopping 5.5 kilograms and Lucky at a year and a half is at 8.3 kilograms!!! I havent the slightest clue what that is in pounds. Maybe when I get home it will be figured out.

I have always sworn to everybody that Washington Mutual is the best bank in the world and I have refused to change my accounts even when I worked elsewhere. I have now found their downfall....WAMU uses Mastercard. Ghana uses Visa. See the problem? We read in a travel book that we found that Mastercard was next to useless here. Great. We found ONE mastercard ATM which happens to be the only one withing 300 miles of us and the day we traveled and hour and a half to go to it, it was out of service. Great. Thankfully we have a canadian couple who is here with us and they are lending us money or we would be broke as a joke!!! Thanks WAMU, Thanks Mastercard. I think I will write them when I have a better internet connection. Oh well.

I dont know how im going to leave. The thought makes my heart ache. I thought it would be easy to stay uninvolved in the children and not get attached but boy was I wrong. Every one of them is so different from the next. I came here expecting to teach them about the world and help them but they have taught me more than I could have ever imagined. I feel like they are all my children and most of all my friends. They all know my name and come running when they see us walking up. They go and get Dora for me and call me Doras mother before I even ask where she is. The ladies who work there and dont speak a lick of english call me Doras mother and are so happy to see us. How do you say goodbye to so many friends that you dont know when you will see again? Im worried the next volunteers wont know dora like I do and wont know when she starts clicking her tounge shes tired, or gets really bad heat rash when you dont lift up her rolls and wash under her chin. Oh im going to miss my chunky monkey so much!!! I cant wait to show her off to everybody!! I will be okay, I always am but I will be back. I have to come back.

On the plus side i excited to spend time with my Grandpa who is visiting from Hawaii when I get back! It will be soooo nice to see him!

Thats it for now!

Love,
Doras mother