Medassi-Thank you

Day 2

Our morning began with a tour of Mephibosheth, where we will be staying for our first few days. The children lit up immediately and stampeded us with hugs. Mephibosheth is a boarding school for disabled children. About 40 children live on campus and attend school every morning. Andrea is a physical therapist from New Jersey. She came to Ghana on two separate occasions for about a year’s time. She met her husband, Joe, who is a native Ghanaian. Together they established the school and have given hope and shown love to the disabled children, who, in Ghana, are seen as cursed. The school has grown with the help of God in the five years it has been in operation.
About 50 percent of Mephibosheth’s children have cerebral palsy. A few are down syndrome, hemi-paresis, or paralyzed on half of their body. Some of the children remain undiagnosed. Many kids are in wheel chairs, or use walkers. They range in age from 4 to 20. Despite their conditions, the children are full of life and joy.
We spent the morning coloring with the kids and learning all their names. A lot of the kids played futbol (soccer) with Stephanie. (She got owwwneeeddd.) Mostly we just loved on the kids and they loved us back. They love hugs and pictures and SILLY BANDS. Sue had the BEST idea ever with her silly bands. The children swarm her for them. It was a relaxed atmosphere today, because it is a holiday here in Ghana. No one is really sure what holiday this is… not even the Ghanaians could explain it to us. 
A few of us took a short walk on the highway to the market. There were a few marriage proposals from the young Ghanaian men, so expect Caity’s wedding invite in the mail. The streets were packed with street-vendors selling anything you can imagine. We stopped at a fruit market and bought Ghanaian oranges and pineapples. Ghana’s fruit is much more flavorful and juicy than the fruit in America. They don’t pump their fruit with growth hormones and chemicals. I bought three pineapples for 1 cedi! BEST PURCHASE EVER. The oranges here look like giant limes.
Youth group was tonight, and it was quite the experience. We could feel the presence of God as soon as we walked into the one-room church. We began with praise and worship and then they BUSTED into song. It was loud and powerful as the kids shook their tambourines and raised their arms in the air. Stephanie was brought to the front to give a message. She would say a few lines, and pause so the worship leader could translate her words into their language, Fanti. People around the church were handed a microphone to share why they think we are alike. “We are the same, though our bodies are different colors, we have the same parts. We have a mouth, eyes and ears.”  a quote from a very observant Ghanaian. I’m having so much trouble portraying the intensity of this church-it’s hard to put into words. This paragraph has taken longer for me to write than all the others combined. Imagine the type of church you would see down south. Like a charismatic church with soul and HALLELUJAHS gallore. Then take that x’s 100.  The worship leader said it best. “It’s like a disco. People pay to boogie, but here you don’t. You dance for free and for Jesus.”
We came home and couldn’t wait to bathe. We were all dripping with sweat and exhausted from the 3 hour church service. We didn’t even care that we had to bathe out of buckets. We decided that a good way to save time, and have some fun while we’re at it, would be to bathe together. So Sue, Caity, Katie, and I pulled on our swimsuits and headed for the shower room. There’s a garbage can filled with water, and smaller buckets to bring into the shower. Then there are even smaller ones to dip into the medium sized buckets to pour over your head. This is where we had the most fun. We would lather up our hair and bodies and pour cold water over each other’s heads. It was the most fun when the person beside you wasn’t ready for it. :) Anyways, now we are all gathered in the kitchen eating yummy brownies and drinking coke from bottles and water from bags. More later!

P.S. We’re in love with the country, the people, and the culture. We miss you all and to all a good night!

P.S.S. To whom it may concern: Caity’s global phone is not working here, so chilllll mom.

Written by Jillian. With Sue backseat writing…