Things I haven't seen since being at The Nazareth Home for God's Children:
1) A news report... quite seriously, I haven't seen a news report since November 10, 2014! And since
I had cable the last few months before coming here, I was kind of a news station junkie... well, I'm
sure you can understand that with the Ebola crisis. Everyday I watched to see if it had gotten into
Ghana, if possibly my trip would have to be delayed or canceled. But since coming here, I haven't
even had the time to think about what is going on in the world, there is too much to worry about
here. Every so often at mass, Sister will pray for soldiers who have been killed, or Father prayed
for the two New York policemen who were killed, but aside from the prayers offered at mass,
it is like Ghana is it's own planet to me.
2) An airplane... tells you how many people want to come to Northern Ghana, that no airplanes fly
over head here!! Where I used to live, airplanes flew by every few minutes, but here the blue sky
and sunshine are interrupted by nothing... except the biggest flying bugs I have ever seen... more
on that later.
3) Pizza, lasagna, asparagus, potato chips, salad, cheese... all my favorite foods and more. The
African diet is really full of rice, pasta, spices, yams (not like our yams in the US, more like
extra-starchy potatoes) and beans. On special occasions we have chicken or guinnea
fowl, and we sometimes have eggs, but no milk or butter or bacon or chocolate bars...
4) Weight gain... Can you believe without pizza, lasagna, potato chips, butter, bacon, chocolate
bars and cheese I haven't gained any weight?? In fact, I've lost quite a few pounds, and hope
to lose a few more!! They should have a Biggest Loser: African Mission Edition!! The
contestants must work at a foreign mission and eat only the native foods there... I'm sure they
would find that everyone wins, not just the person who loses the most weight. Because I
might have moments where I am really missing these fattening foods, but working with the
children really opens my eyes to the overabundance of blessings in my life, and who can
complain when faced with that?
5) A garbage truck... totally and completely serious. There are no garbage pick ups here. Just a big
hole in the ground where all of the garbage is dumped and then burned. Since the wind has
picked up quite considerably, there are days garbage just flies into our courtyard, or ashes just
float down from the sky. I have seen many fires, though, and the scariest ones come right up
to our wall. The first day I saw one, I ran to Sister Stan and told her there was a fire outside the
wall and it was very close to us, what should we do? She just laughed at me... Nothing, she says,
the wall will stop it... ??? Is it made of kryptonite? Has it been enchanted with magical forces
that repel fire? Because last time I checked, fire burns through concrete... The most amazing
sight is when people burn many fires around us at dusk, and it looks like we are under attack from
invaders. What can I say? I also haven't watched any television since being here and my
imagination sometimes goes haywire!!!
contestants must work at a foreign mission and eat only the native foods there... I'm sure they
would find that everyone wins, not just the person who loses the most weight. Because I
might have moments where I am really missing these fattening foods, but working with the
children really opens my eyes to the overabundance of blessings in my life, and who can
complain when faced with that?
5) A garbage truck... totally and completely serious. There are no garbage pick ups here. Just a big
hole in the ground where all of the garbage is dumped and then burned. Since the wind has
picked up quite considerably, there are days garbage just flies into our courtyard, or ashes just
float down from the sky. I have seen many fires, though, and the scariest ones come right up
to our wall. The first day I saw one, I ran to Sister Stan and told her there was a fire outside the
wall and it was very close to us, what should we do? She just laughed at me... Nothing, she says,
the wall will stop it... ??? Is it made of kryptonite? Has it been enchanted with magical forces
that repel fire? Because last time I checked, fire burns through concrete... The most amazing
sight is when people burn many fires around us at dusk, and it looks like we are under attack from
invaders. What can I say? I also haven't watched any television since being here and my
imagination sometimes goes haywire!!!
Things I Have Seen since being at The Nazareth Home for God's Children
1) Goats and chickens and cows, oh my... Usually people's first words out of their mouths after
hearing I'm going to Africa are "Will you see lions and elephants and giraffes?" Uh, no, but
one day there was a cow eating a sunflower right outside my bedroom window!! The funniest
thing about the goats is that they are actually trained somehow to obey traffic laws!! If they are
in the street when you are driving by, which happens a lot, just honk the horn and they
courteously move out of the way!! No kidding!! I do hope to see some more traditional African
animals while I am here... from a safe distance.... separated by a fence!!
2) Ok, so you know that there is no running water here, so the kids go to the bathroom outside. Well
many times the first thing I see in the morning when I leave my bedroom is the toddlers squatting
down in front of the bush going to the bathroom. I got the cutest picture one day... I mean,
seriously deranged, I know, but jeez... they are so cute!!! The most precious little bottoms of
chubby toddlers all lined up and learning how to be potty trained African style... super adorable!!
3) Lots of praying and singing, praising God and Jesus, and relying on Him 100%... The children
are surrounded by a cozy layer of prayer and praise, of gratitude and confidence in His mercy and
aid, of love and togetherness. It is beautiful to see a room full of small children silently present
during adoration, or to see little ones trying to learn the rosary as we say it each day, or the joyous
singing they ring out at mass with clapping and dance. With all the hardships, frustrations and
trials here, there is an even greater amount of worship, praise and thanksgiving counterbalancing
them. So beautiful!!
4) Red dust... totally everywhere!! The clay of the road dries in the dry season, then the winds come
and blow it all around. It has gotten into my lungs and I am battling a bad cough now, as many
of the kids are. I can dust my room one day, and you would never know it the very next day. The
dust just covers me from head to toe so much that I am super grateful for my bucket bath each
night!
5) Bugs... bugs... and more bugs... I think that before Steven Spielberg made some of his movies with
giant bugs in them, he visited here. There are the biggest bugs here, flying, stinging ones that have a wingspan of about 4 inches, huge spiders, centipedes, millipedes, tons of different kinds of
beetles, huge grasshoppers and crickets. My skin is crawling just writing about it! And not just
bugs but lizards, chameleons, snakes and I am told there are scorpions here too. Right now, in
the dry season, we are sort of bug free, except for the spiders and flying bugs, but all too soon,
the wet season will be upon us and we will be hit with bugs of every color, type, and size and I
mean biblical proportions... ooohhhh... I am not ready!!!!
dust just covers me from head to toe so much that I am super grateful for my bucket bath each
night!
5) Bugs... bugs... and more bugs... I think that before Steven Spielberg made some of his movies with
giant bugs in them, he visited here. There are the biggest bugs here, flying, stinging ones that have a wingspan of about 4 inches, huge spiders, centipedes, millipedes, tons of different kinds of
beetles, huge grasshoppers and crickets. My skin is crawling just writing about it! And not just
bugs but lizards, chameleons, snakes and I am told there are scorpions here too. Right now, in
the dry season, we are sort of bug free, except for the spiders and flying bugs, but all too soon,
the wet season will be upon us and we will be hit with bugs of every color, type, and size and I
mean biblical proportions... ooohhhh... I am not ready!!!!
It certainly is a whole different world here. I am sure had I read my blog before coming, I probably would have thought twice about it! Thank God the time/space continuum is working correctly, because if I had a Delorian time machine and went into the future a few years ago, I am not sure I would go back to the future when the time came... oh yeah... seriously missing tv!!!!!
