Day Six

Today was hot, first instance of going outside the sun and the humidity just struck us heavily. We headed to work in the morning. It was a hard day for us all of us were just drained. After lunch it was pouring outside so we weren’t able to tutor the children. When the rain let up we headed out to the chief’s museum in New Akrade. There wasn’t much compared to museums at home, BUT when you saw the pride in the coordinators face it was uplifting. When we got back a lady had dropped off some of her crafts which included fabrics, clothing, wallets, and other goods. I was preparing for bed when a question struck me…”How do you feel connected with the team?” I think it’s like an energy that draws us to this one instance. We’re all here with many goals and purposes BUT were here as people, humans. We’ve done so much in so little time. I honestly want to say….I don’t want to lose contact with these amazing people. TODAY was a good day!

-Travis

Today was amazing had a good night sleep. So in the morning I was chipper and ready for the day. Worked at the construction site which was hard work a lot of lifting and carrying things like water, soil, and rocks. It was great everyone missed Carolyn (aka trouble that’s the nickname they gave her). joked and laughed a lot today. After work went to the arts and crafts market it was great got a lot of stuff for people back at home and for myself. Had an early dinner because of our early morning to Cape Coast 5:00 am sharp. Ready for the emotional part of it to see where it all began and ended until tomorrow.

-Jasmine

Angie, Kem, Fred & I rode in the taxi to the school this morning. We arrived earlier than usual and saw all of the children, Kindergarten through Junior High, standing in lines on the field listening to the headmaster. This is their student assembly that happens every Thursday morning and it is a sea of royal blue uniforms in the middle of the brown field. Then the drumming started and one class at a time they started singing Ghana’s national anthem and marched to their classrooms. I love hearing them sing – it is a beautiful, rich sound.

The Kindergarten classroom was as chaotic as usual. With 63 children ages 4-9 in one small room, it is difficult for them to keep their hands to themselves. Angie & I refereed as best we could. We had brought Kem’s ipod and player for the children to hear the “Apples & Bananas” song they learned yesterday. The children love that song! We also taught them “This Little Light of Mine” and “BINGO” (which the kids also loved). Their bright smiles are priceless.

It was very hot and humid today so the whole team seemed to be dragging a bit as we walked back for lunch. The tutoring was cancelled for the afternoon because of a thunder storm (the tutoring is outside under a tree) so we had some time to rest in the afternoon.

At 4:00 we walked to the Chief’s History Museum at the Palace. We unintentionally gathered children as we walked along and as we waited at the Palace for the Mayor to show us around the museum, we heard the children singing the Apples & Bananas song! Angie, Jasmine & I were so surprised to hear them singing our song. We had actually taught them something!!

The museum was small but interesting. The highlights were: two big buckets that the ancestors used to descend from heaven, the chief’s warrior coat with little mirrors all over it so he can see his enemies from all angles and a contraption that looked like a large baby cradle that the Chief sits in to ride to the annual festival. Four men carry him; two on each side.
After another nice dinner, some team members played “name that tune” with the songs on Travis’s phone. Listening to their laughter, I feel very grateful for the wonderful people on this team.

- Colleen