The electricity has been on and off today; we have been using the generator. We are still proud every time we switch the generator on and have power when the rest of Yendi is in the dark. I was in the middle of washing clothes when the washing machine started making a strange humming noise. This was immediately after the electricity went off. We turned the machine off; we hope that the power did not surge and burn something out. We will have to wait till the electricity comes back on to see if the problem persists. We have never seen a full sized washing machine in Ghana. They have a few apartment sized models that have 2 tubs; one for washing and one for spinning, they are tiny machines. They probably could wash 1 bed sheet. My parents brought this machine from the states, compliments of Mary Stroud’s father. It is a commercial washing machine. Her father ran a laundromat and he ordered a new one for my parents to put in a shipping container and send over here. We have been using it for years.
Dawda and the metal bender came to the mission house this morning to see where we were going to put the new gate. We plan to open the back wall of the property to make it easier to build the next building. The metal bender makes the rebar forms that are put inside the pillar boxes before the cement pillars are made. We bought the material and he made them this afternoon. I told him that he over charged me and that I was going to make the next forms myself! Ha!
Nazo and Mr. Iddrisu went to the back of the property with their machetes and cut down the tall grass around the portion of the wall that the mason will be working on. Dawda is coming back on Saturday to open the wall. We are a little anxious about opening the wall because as soon as it is open the goats and people will come in. The people will come in to poop and the goats will come in to eat Nazo and Mr. Iddrisu’s corn and peanuts. Dawda said that it will not be open but a couple of days. We will have to prop the gates up against the wall to help keep the animals at bay.
My iron died so this afternoon Steve and I went to town and bought another one. This is either the 5th or 6th iron I have had. The electricity is terrible on electrical stuff. We took 4 irons that were not working to town with us and gifted them to Mr. Adams, the fix-it man. A couple were working but one had a hole and the water would not stay in it; another one works like a pressure cooker and it had blown the gasket; the other 2 would not come on. If nothing else he can cut the cords off and use them to wire another appliance.
Everything was peaceful during the “Fire Festival ”; it started raining heavily about the time it got dark so there were not as many people roaming the streets as normal. The town is a mess; it looks like bales of straw exploded. No one bothered to pick up the thatch and sticks left from their torches.
Thank you for all you do and thank you for the prayer.
In His Service,
Steve and Kandie
