We spent hours and hours today counting money. We were working on payroll. We had already figured the employees taxes and Social Security so today it was a matter of counting the money to physically fill the pay packets. No one gets paid by check; everyone receives cash and no one likes the large 100 and 200 Cedi notes because they are very hard to cash in the market when you are just buying everyday things like soap and spices for soup. The teller at the bank can always tell when it is getting close to payday because we ask for 1, 5 and 10 Cedi notes. Fortunately the employees only get paid once a month.
Dawda, the mason was able to add 2 ½ courses of blocks to the center lintels of the building today. We had to hire 2 sets of taller scaffolding so the masons could reach their work. I know the guys that were heaving cement blocks over their heads were tired today. Dawda asked us to give them a little extra money for their hard work. Of course we gave them the extra money but all the time I was thinking, “if you had made the pillars the height we told you to in the first place the guys would not have had to work so hard!”
The roofers were here for a little while this morning; they put on the facial boards; the roof is looking better and better. They cannot come to work tomorrow because it will take a little while for the cement blocks that were set today to dry. They plan on coming on Saturday to start putting on the aluminum sheeting. Many of the masons and carpenters will either work half a day on Friday or not at all if they are Muslims because Friday is their high holy day and everyone is expected to go to the mosque and listen to the Imams preach.
Amama did not come to work this morning because her daughter is sick; she is a teenager. Amama took her to the hospital; we did not hear if she was admitted or just treated and sent home. People here do not have regular doctors; everyone goes to either the hospital or a clinic when they are sick.
We had a lot of lumber left over from roofing the building. We had Mr. Iddrisu pack it in one of the storage rooms. We will use it when we make the toilets and bath houses. The room he put the lumber in did not have a padlock so we went to town this afternoon and bought one for each of the storage rooms.
Donkey did not come to work today; he called and said that he was going to help the Ya-Na (the king of Dagbon) harvest his corn. The Ya-Na planted around 300 acres of corn. The Ya-Na does not pay the laborers, rather he gives them bags of corn according to the amount of help they gave. If they helped plant and weed and harvest they will receive more corn than if they just helped harvest. Donkey helped every time the Ya-Na called him so he should get a significant amount of corn. The corn is dried field corn; it is the staple of the people’s diet.
Keep us and the work in your prayers. Please continue to pray for our friend Floyd; his surgery was postponed; waiting is so hard! Our daughter-in-law’s grandmother fell and broke her hip in 3 or 4 places, she has had surgery and also needs prayers.
In HIS Service,
Steve and Kandie
