Debbie - NO

Day 5

Today was an early day with Megan taking student pictures and a group picture at 7:30 a.m. The kids all loved having their pictures taken. Big smiles all around. We were all surprised at how smoothly the event went. Then each student was given a MAD Designs shirt, made by Breanne Skalicky (MAD stands for Make a Difference). They loved them!
After the students went back to school we packed and ate lunch. After lunch we had coconuts that were given to us by the mother of a girl that Collette gave a Bible to yesterday at church. Payne, a worker at the boarding school, cut open the coconuts with a machete. It was awesome! He had quite the audience.
We took some pictures and then sadly said our goodbyes to Andrea, Joe and Joshua and all the wonderful kids. We boarded the bus for the two-hour ride to Dorothy's village. She is a 10-year-old girl who Samuel and Kenneth had met before and she was in need of some fore arm crutches. We met her and her family and Barb, Deb and Katie Schindler worked with Dorothy to stretch her legs and demonstrated the exercises to Dorothy's mother so she can help her continue to grow strong enough to walk. Several of our team members needed to use the 'washroom,' a small 3-wall room, with a tile floor sloping toward a corner. No paper, no water, no nothing! It really got ugly when actually attempting to relieve ourselves. Pee hit the tile and flew everywhere, including the legs.
Back on the bus, we headed to Sam's parents' home where we dined on fried chicken in the back yard in the middle of a herd of goats, a flock of chickens, a gackle of cats and an audience of little Ghanaian children with their noses pressed to the wire fence. We heard a noise above us and looked up to see a chicken in the tree. Haha! Sam's parents were thrilled to see Barb and the team.
Back on the bus, we finished the drive to Accra where we settled into our very nice hotel with running water and flush toilets, which we haven't had since we arrived in Ghana. We were almost too pooped to poop, but since we had flush toilets we did it anyway.

Day 6

After very few hours of sleep (because Jillian kept Sue awake until the wee hours of the night), we met for breakfast and devotions in the lobby at 7:30 (it was supposed to start at 7). A few of the team members were on time. But, we won't mention who they are so their heads don't get too big. Today was Compassion Day. We were picked up by Albert from Compassion and took their bus to the Compassion offices. We were each given a sash with "Akwaaba" written on it (Do you readers remember what that means?) and a bracelet. We sat in the office and were told the history of Compassion in Accra and about Abigail, Barb and Dave Nash's Compassion child. Then the fun began! We took the bus to Abigail's school where we got to go into her classroom. Bennett, the Compassion coordinator, asked Barb to pick out Abigail. Barb's anxiety meter peaked! But, she walked slowly down one aisle and when she neared the end, Abigail stood up. All the students sang a song to us and the Ghana National Anthem. Then her teacher told the class to stay in their seats and wait for him. He got on our bus and rode to Abigail's house to meet her mother. Gifts were exchanged and then Abigail's teacher went back to school and we took Abigail and headed to the beach.
At the beach, we were talked into eating at tables on the sand right near the ocean. It was beautiful! After we ordered our food the vendors started swarming us, trying to sell their wares. Paulette was quite the bargainer. She "stuck to her guns" and never paid full price, but boy did she buy a lot. The vendors always start at a high price knowing that we will offer a lower price - it is the Ghanaian way to shop. Jillian spent a wad on a horse ride along the beach. She teased the man for ripping her off the rest of the afternoon every time he walked by with a new victim.
Abigail wanted to go into the ocean. She was hesitant at first, but soon she had Barb and Stephanie chest deep in the water, all laughing hysterically. They did this over and over for about an hour only coming out of the water when our food was ready. Barb and Abigail went for a horse back ride along the beach and bought matching necklaces and bracelets.
On the way back to Abigail's house, we stopped so Barb could buy Abigail's family some groceries. Then the time came to take Abigail back home. We all said our goodbyes and Barb even left her shoes for Abigail to keep.
Caity, Jillian, Sue and Sherif stayed behind and Caity and Jillian got their hair braided by three Ghanaian women near Abigail's house. When all was said and done and the 10 cedis were paid, Caity looked like a soccer ball and Jillian looked like Schmeigel from Lord of the Rings. If they didn't stand out already just being an abruni, they sure do now!
It was another great day.
P.S. Stephanie misses her hubby, Pete! ;)