My traveling companion and her husband, Tom, are great missionaries, having gone on medical missions all around the world. They have been an invaluable resource for me in terms of traveling, being a missionary, and all that is going on in your heart and mind while doing these things. I am so grateful for their help and everything they have done for me.
One of the things they have talked to me about is reentry into life after going on a mission. It is difficult, as everything about this trip has been. I know I was only in Africa for 10 days, but it literally felt like a month and a half! And just coming home from the Buffalo Airport, seeing all the buildings, the traffic, all the lights... that alone sent me into a mind-numbing state!
I spent most of the day I got home at my parents house, sort of afraid to go home alone, to be alone with my thoughts of the trip I had taken. To have all that I experienced flow over, around and into me with no one to distract me, to begin to come to grips with the fact that I have been changed... by children, by sisters who find joy amid devastation, by a country so lost and behind it's amazing they are even surviving.
I started to get really upset and hyperventilate, and then I took out my camera and mentally went back to Ghana, back to the Sang Village, back to the children whose smiles and outstretched arms welcomed me right back.
This is Ajah, also called Caesar. He was always attached to my legs. He just wanted to be held and hugged. He doesn't talk, but understands everything you say. I had an opportunity to sit and read a book to just him once, and he showed such interest in it, pointing to pictures and trying to say the words. He was crying so hard when we left. I even found myself picking buggars out of his nose one day! Now, that's love!!
This is Agatha. She cannot communicate at all. She was one of the children who constantly hit me because she didn't know how else to get my attention. And she tried to use signs to tell us what she wanted or what was bothering her, but no one there knows what the signs mean. Despite the fact that she cannot communicate, she is a happy girl who peacefully listens to the prayers we said, except when Felicia was around... her frienemy!
Thomas is the youngest orphan at the home. He crawls around everywhere and wants to be a part of everything. He has a problem with his teeth, and they sometimes give him so much pain he just lies on a mat all day. But when he's feeling good, he's all smiles and movement. The babies have no set nap/bed time. When they are tired, they put their heads down wherever they happen to be and sleep... and sometimes are left right where they are!
Isn't Elizabeth beautiful? She is around 10 years old. She is very helpful with the little children... when she isn't threatening to beat them (a common empty threat...I hope!). Elizabeth has bone structural problems in her feet and skeletal issues that make her walk hunched over all the time. Despite her physical tribulations, Elizabeth is a kind hearted, joyful girl who delights in leading decades of the rosary and the Divine Mercy chaplet. She is able to see beyond her own problems and help with bathing the kids, passing out food and washing clothes.
This is Bishop, also called Casmir. He causes as much trouble as it looks like he does!! Always with that smile on his face. He does not talk much, but understands everything. The last day we were there, Bishop was holding a picture book like a church songbook and singing "Holy, holy, holy.". It was the first time I heard a real word from him, and the first time I saw him do anything close to angelic!!!!
Joshua is about 4 years old. He has epilepsy When we first got there it sounded like Joshua had crickets in his mouth all the time. He was grinding his teeth and moaning constantly. The only time he didn't do that was when we held him. The doctor changed Joshua's medicine while we were there and he started having non-stop seizures. He stopped eating and drinking, in fact on the way to the hospital the second time to have him rechecked, I had to feed Joshua tiny bits of mashed up banana in the car. We were a mess... but at least he was eating a little. The doctor said it would take a few days for the medicine to kick in... and eventually it did, but it was a horrible few days.
******************************************************************************
Well, these are some of the children in Ghana, at the Nazareth Home for God's Children. Someone told me that the pictures are deceiving, that everything looks fine and everyone is happy there. So, I thought I would give you a little insiders look into life there. The sisters work very hard to give these children a happy life, and probably one that is better than some of the tribes there. But make no mistake, you cannot even imagine the kind of low, filthy, unbearably hard life they have. God bless those sisters for all the work they do... If you would like to make a donation, visit
http://www.sisterstanschildren.org
Thank you and God bless you!!
More to come...
