We were back in the yard again today cutting branches and hauling brush! I thought this might be our last day but we did not finish! We just ran out of steam! Our fire burned a bit better today because Nazo was here raking leaves on other parts of the property and we had him add the dry leaves to our burn pile. Nazo does not use a regular metal rake; he prefers to use a Ghanaian rake made from palm fronds. These rakes work more like a broom than a rake and he sweeps up lots of gravel. When he picks up his pile he picks up the dirt and gravel too. He tries to burn the leaves but there is so much dirt and gravel that it kills the fire. There is a burn pile behind the Child Center; it looks like a small mountain because he has moved the yard to the burn pile. He just does not get that he is moving dirt as well as leaves. Periodically we make him dig out the burn pile and redistribute it to areas that are eroded. The first wheel barrel of leaves he brought he tried to dump the whole thing on my fire! I told him I only wanted the leaves; then he proceeded to argue with me and he told me that the neighborhood children throw stones in the yard trying to knock down the cashew fruit. I don’t care how the stones got in the yard, I only want leaves in the burn pile! He finally understood and made two trips, one with leaves and one with gravel and stones. When someone is a little “slow” the Ghanaians say, “The pot arrived without the lid”!
Zorash came again this morning to make a little extra money. When she got here we headed to the market. We bought dried field corn and soybeans for the weaning mix. We also bought dried field peas for the malnourished children; they are a rich source of protein. When we got back to the mission house Zorash washed the grain.
Timothy Niligrini, the evangelist, finally found a carpenter to replace the roof on one of the classroom / sleeping quarters at Kulkpeni that was blown off during a wind storm a few weeks ago. We took the load of material to Kulkpeni at 6:30 this morning. Around noon they called and said they needed 2 more metal roofing sheets to complete the job. When we hire someone to do a job like fixing a roof or mason work the price agreed upon does not include their chop (food) money. We have to either cook for them, hire someone to cook or give them extra money for the food they will consume while doing the job.
The family of the man that is a friend of Zorash that needs back surgery so he can walk again called Zorash and said that the total cost of the surgery was 10,000 Cedis and that they had been able to raise 7,550 Cedis. Thanks to your generous gifts we were able to send them the rest of the money they need for surgery. The surgeon said that as soon as he receives the money he will schedule him for surgery.
Thank you for everything you do for us and for the work.
In His service,
Steve and Kandie
