Just about the time we think that we have finished all the projects that require working in this oppressive heat we find something else that needs to be done. Mr. Iddrisu and Nazo usually plant crops of some sort in the back fields. We like them to farm that area because it keeps the weeds at bay and it looks like the property is producing something. We pay to have the fields plowed; they plant, weed, fertilize and get whatever they grow. Poor Nazo can’t help himself; he plants corn every year and the ground is so poor that unless you apply a ton of fertilizer the corn will not produce. Every year he thinks that somehow he is going to get the money to buy the fertilizer or that the government is going to have some sort of giveaway program for farmers that includes fertilizer but it never seems to pan out for him. The ground will grow field peas, peanuts and cassava. Mr. Iddrisu and Nazo have started clearing the field of the brush that the tractor will not plow over. We expect them to tell us any day now that the field is ready for plowing. Steve does not want them to plow near the new buildings or around the mounds of sand, gravel and cement blocks so we decided to demark where the tractor could plow. Last year Nazo let the tractor driver plow up the road! We decided to drive a rebar post in the ground and rope the area off with nylon rope. We wanted to get out early and get it done before it got too hot but by the time we waited on the shop that sells the rope to open and gathered our supplies it was 10:00 and the temperature was already 100 degrees with a heat index of 115 degrees. We knew that the temperatures would continue to climb until late afternoon so we decided to go back out after 4:00pm. At 4:00 the temperature had dropped back down to 100 degrees and the sun was not so brutal. We ran out of rope, had to go back to town and finished the job just as it was getting dark. We even got the post spray painted! We are hot and tired!
Steve had to rewrite his resume to send in with the request for being placed on the Quota and he had to make several letters to send with the forms plus copies of birth certificates, wedding licenses, non-citizen cards, nursing licenses and who knows what else. They will know more about us than we know about ourselves!
Thank you for everything you do for us and for the work here in Ghana. We really appreciate your help!
In His Service,
Steve and Kandie
