Steve is outside putting new seat covers on the green truck. The truck is over 20 years old and this is its second set of seat covers. Of course we have to bring the seat covers from the states. There are places here that will recover the seats but it takes them a long time to get the job done and we don’t feel that we can be without the utility vehicle that long.
Mr. Iddrisu and Nazo took the 100 pound bag of dates to the palace this afternoon and presented them to the YaNa (King of Dagbon). We did not want to go with the gift because it always cost us so much money to make the visit. This time we decided to send the gift without going. The dates could not go without a monetary gift for the YaNa’s elders and a little bit of money in an envelope to put with the bag of dates. Mr. Iddrisu and Nazo said that the YaNa was very pleased with the gift. They said that he found the gift humorous and laughed! He in return gave them Kola nuts to chew on and sent a small monetary gift back to us which we in turn divided with Nazo and Mr. Iddrisu. It was a good day for everyone concerned.
The first visitors this morning were a couple of church members from Salankuka, the village that we visited last Sunday. They are the people that built a mud ball building that was too wide to support a roof. We asked them to come and talk about the building before we put any money into the roof. We told them they needed to shift one of the walls and make the building smaller. We agreed to pay for the mason to remake the wall. We then had them call the carpenter and find out why he needed 5 packets of roofing sheets instead of the normal 3 packets. He said that he was planning on making a very tall roof with squared ends instead of the traditional “A” framed roof. This would take lots more lumber, roofing sheets, nails and labor. We could not waste the Lord’s money like that. When they realized that we were not paying for all the extras the cost came down considerably. We gave them the money they needed and added a little for their transportation. They were pleased when they left.
Zorash and I went to the grinding mill and made the “PPP” (peanut protein paste). We paid Zorash’s mother to roast the peanuts for us. We then added sugar, salt and powder milk to make a protein, calcium rich supplement for the malnourished children. A couple spoonfuls of PPP will give the added protein the children need. It tastes like peanut butter and smells so good! The caregivers add it to the child’s porridge.
We also bottled up vegetable oil to give the malnourished children. A tablespoon of oil will go a long way in helping a child gain weight.
We washed clothes today; we waited as long as we could because we keep hoping for rain but we hardly had anything left to wear so I broke down and started the washer today. Of course we saved all the water in garbage cans to use to flush the toilets so the water does double duty.
Take care and have a great day!
In His service,
Steve and Kandie
