The price of everything in Ghana is skyrocketing! I think that this is a problem all over the world, not just here in Ghana. We have 2 big projects coming up; we are going to add another building to the back of the mission property and we are planning on holding the seminar again this year. The cost of cement jumped 10 Cedis this week and it is predicted to keep going up so Steve decided that we needed to pack down the cement that we will need for the building project and that we needed to buy as many of the supplies that we need for the seminar that are not perishable.
This morning Mr. Iddrisu was able to kick start the motor king so he and Nazo went to town and bought the first 13 bags of cement. We estimate that we will need about 60 bags to complete it. It would be too much of a back breaking job to try to haul all that cement in one day so we are going to buy 12 or 13 bags a day until we have it all packed down. We also do not want to buy it all from the same vendor or we will have to pay withholding tax after we spend 2,000 Cedis with the same vendor. There are tons of people around Yendi that are selling cement so we will buy from different people every day; so much for “Customer Loyalty”. I am cheap, not loyal! Ha!
As soon as we closed the Child Center Amama and Zorash went to the market with us to start buying stuff. We spent a boat load of money and we will be spending more tomorrow. We got a bunch of stuff marked off of our list. While we were out and about we found “soft” white flour. I was so excited. Soft flour makes biscuits and pie crust light and fluffy. Up until now the only flour we could get was the hard wheat bread flour that the bakers use to make bread. I made a batch of biscuits for supper; they look good. If they taste as good as they look they will be a success.
Meri had her baby and it was a little boy. She had it on Friday; both the baby and Meri are doing well. They will have the naming ceremony for the baby this Friday. It is also the day they will circumcise him and cut his hair. She will be off work for the next 3 months with pay and then she will bring him to work with her until he is weaned between 2 ½ – 3 years. It makes me tired just writing about it!
This afternoon Nazo brought his son Zimblim to the mission house for Steve to look at his leg. He had an infected nail wound on his knee and 2 other serious wounds from a bicycle accident. He had hidden the wounds from Nazo and now they are infected and look awful! Steve sent him to see the doctor because he felt sure that he would need antibiotics and possibly a Tetanus shot. The doctor dressed the wounds and gave him antibiotics but I think his Tetanus shot was up to date. This place is nasty and wounds become serious in a hurry!
Thank you for the love, prayers and support!
In His Service,
Steve and Kandie
