Back from the Village

We just arrived back from Asutsuare. It is Tony's Mom's village and it is located on the edge of the Volta River. We spent two enlightening days there. We stayed with Grandma, she has the only two story house in the village and it has a roof top patio that is excellent for taking photos of the surrounding farms.

Being in the village is a nice change from Accra. It is peaceful. The house is actually outside of the main village so it is quiet, surrounded by small farms.

Grandma lives on the top floor of the house and has tenants in the lower level. There are also a row of shops in front of the house that she rents out. The house is well equipped and comfortable. Of course the power goes out regularly but that seems to be a common issue all over Ghana.

We went into the village when we arrived on Saturday and Tony's Mom was having a meeting with the village elders. The kids and I had a quick lesson in how to shake hands with VIP's and we greeted them and then toured around the family house and met loads of relatives.

I'm sure the kids were surprised by the sights, smells and sounds of the village. Even though I had been there once before I still find the first moments overwhelming.

When we first arrived some small children followed us in a little parade shouting "white person" in their language. They were cute. The novelty wore off after they saw me around a few times.

I feel like I'm intruding when I go into the village so I don't take photos there. Everything is happening out in the open, cooking, washing, bathing...etc. So I feel it would be disrespectful to snap photos.

I see the joy in the faces of the people there and I can't help but feel ashamed for all that I take for granted and not being satisfied with things in my own life. They have nothing but yet they don't complain and they don't ask for anything.

Charity visited a cousin's salon in the village to have her hair braided...after two tiny braids tears were running down her face. I guess it hurts to have your hair braided so tightly. Yvonne bought Charity some strawberry ice cream to calm her and then finished her hair in thicker looser braids. It looks cute and Charity is happy with it.

Sunday we celebrated Father's Day and Oliver's Birthday. First we went to church which started at 9:30am and ended at noon!! Not kidding!! The time went by fairly quickly though because there is lots of singing and drumming (instead of an organ)...
They have an interesting way to up the collection, they have a contest. Collection boxes are placed at front of the church, they look like large wooden flower pots. Each day of the week is announced and when they say the day you are born you walk (or dance) up the aisle and place a donation in the pot. At the end of the church service they announce which day gave the most money and it gets quite the cheers. Grandma put "big money" for Saturday because Oliver was born on Saturday, so Saturday won the contest. It's comical but resourceful...everywhere I look in Asutsuare I see resourcefulness.

Lots of folks came to the house to celebrate Oliver's birthday. 8 kids came who have just graduated from JSS (junior secondary school) so they would be about 14 or 15 years old. They got everyone singing and dancing and it was so interesting for Oliver. He had a great time. Charity met a bunch of young girls and had a blast too.

Charity is feeling much better now and is meeting lots of people everywhere we go. She loved the lizards in the village because they are HUGE.

My time is almost so no time to download photos...I'm sure I have now taken over 300 photos....there are just so many things I want to capture. Perhaps I will do some downloads tomorrow.

We have chosen a school to benefit from the money we received from GordonHead United Church in Victoria. It is a village school that has approx. 300 JSS students and 700 elementary students. Now that we are back in the capital we will gather the supplies we want to give them and then we will go back to the village next week to make the presentation. I have seen the village and the school and feel that this is the right place to try and make a difference in the lives of some very deserving children.