Today was a sad day for me! Steve took me shopping and when we got to the Cultural Center / carving village that we have been shopping at for the past 20 years we found out that the village had been bulldozed down and the vendors had been dispersed. A couple of the vendors had set up shop across the road but they did not know where the bulk of the vendors and carvers had gone. This is the place that we take all the visitors that come to Ghana to help us with the work. We took Marcus and Taylor to the shops 2 months ago before we went home for our leave.
We took a taxi and went to the cultural center that is down by the ocean only to find out that they are also being displaced. About ½ of these carvers have already left because someone is going to build a hotel with ocean frontage. The problem is that the carvers do not actually own the land. They just put up simple structures and have squatted on the land for years. The carvers at the cultural center near the ocean are making an appeal to the Ghana government but there is little the government can do since the land actually belongs to someone else. The carvers have been given a couple months to move.
Needless to say, my shopping did not go very well today.
We went to the interior ministries office this afternoon to pick up the forms that we will need to fill out to renew the quota for our resident visas. It is not due for a few months but picking it up today saves us another trip down here.
While we were out we bought 800 disposable face masks to take to Yendi with us. They are much cheaper here in Accra than they are in Yendi. We paid 5 cents apiece for the masks here in Accra but we have to pay 15 cents apiece for them in Yendi. That is a substantial savings when you buy 800 masks at one time. I hope to buy some more tomorrow.
Thank you for all you do for us and for the work. Please continue to pray for us.
In His Service,
Steve and Kandie
