We did not get to eat our supper tonight until 8pmbecause we had to go and visit Adamu’s grandmother. This is the sister of the aunt that is sitting at the hospital with Adamu. She told Zorash that she was worried that the lady at the hospital caring for Adamu was going to be arrested. She thought that somehow we were involved. We alerted Social Welfare about Adamu’s case and the hospital has also contacted Social Welfare. If anyone is to be arrested it would be the father and mother for abandoning the child, not the aunt. The grandmother said that the nurses at the hospital said something about arresting someone; I am sure that they were trying to frighten the aunt into giving them the phone number of the mother so they could contact her. Zorash went with us to talk to the grandmother because she cannot speak English. Steve also warned the grandmother about calling the baby a witch and told her that last year Ghana passed a law making it a criminal offense to call someone a witch or procure the help of the Juju (witchdoctor) to identify a witch. Zorash told us that the last time we were at the hospital together the aunt told her not to play with Adamu because she was really a snake but she was not a strong enough snake to kill anyone; she said that she was not human! Zorash said this is not the first time she has heard the family members call her a snake. Zorash told the grandmother that she should talk very plain with her son and make him bring the child’s mother back so Social Welfare does not remove the child from the home and put her in an orphans’ home. The grandmother seemed to understand the gravity of the situation. Zorash said that the reason the mother wants her husband to pay for her transport to Yendi is because that will prove to everyone that she is back with the man and he is going to support her and the baby. Zorash said that the mother would probably not take our money for transport because it has to come from the father. Please! This one gets “The Mother of the Year Award!
Donkey sprayed around the buildings on the back part of the property for weeds this morning. That is a big job so when he finished we gave him the rest of the day off. He was happy to have the time off. He has been trying to hire a tractor and driver to plow the portion of the mission property that he and Mr. Iddrisu farm but he has not had any luck yet. Since we got the last rain all the farmers are trying to get their fields plowed.
Steve got the monkey’s cage painted white today. He also changed the oil in the generator. Steve had to go to town several times today to buy supplies for the projects he was working on. We have had to use the generator almost every day for the past couple of weeks. Sometimes we use it not because the electricity is off but because the voltage is too high or too low. Our electricity is so unstable!
Enjoy your weekend!
In HIS Service,
Steve and Kandie
The Monkey Shines
After I heard the story of my grandmother Lillian calling the comics in the newspaper “The Monkey Shines” I demanded a title change to my life story. I like “The Monkey Shines” much better than “Skeeter’s Monkey Business”. So now the title of my ramblings will be “The Monkey Shines”.
I was outside this morning when Dad was spraying my jail cell. Those paint fumes about overcame me; I heard that sniffing paint damages brain cells! Next time they spray paint around me I am going to ask for a face mask!
I am growing up! Tonight I skipped my suppertime bottle of milk and corn porridge and ate boiled chicken and drank a small bottle of passion fruit juice. Mom keeps going on and on about eating foods that I can get in the wild; where in the wild am I going to find boiled chicken? Speaking of food in the wild today Dad caught me a butterfly. Mom said that monkeys eat butterflies; Dad knocked one down with the flyswatter. I sure was glad to see that flyswatter used on someone besides me. Mom keeps on her sewing table and every once in a while she gets me with it! I digress; back to the butterfly. Dad caught it but he did not kill it. He tried to give it to me but I was not sure what he wanted me to do with it; I started to take it from him when he let it go and it flew right past me. It made me jump and scared me. Mom said next time they would mostly kill it before they gave it to me. If there is no next time that will be OK with me!
The Monkey Shines signs off!
Love Skeeter
