Mr. Dawda, the mason, Red and a couple other men came this morning to help start the demolition on the part of the wall that has to come down. Dawda was more than a little annoyed about having to take down part of the wall. The ladies that help us in the Child Center could not believe it; they said they had never heard of anyone having to take down a wall because the drivers were not driving carefully. They only took the new section of blocks off because Red said that it would not be good for security if the whole corner was left open. Dawda got the footer dug this afternoon. Red picked up the money that he is going to need to buy the rebar to put inside the new pillars. Red also brought out the grate extensions he made to secure the areas of the wall where the water passes through. Mr. Iddrisu drove the motor king and hauled away the rubble. We were pleasantly surprised that they were able to save quite a few of the blocks.
We thought that today was Yendi’s big market day so we went to town to try and find kulikulee for the children that come to the Child Center. Kulikulee (not sure that is the correct spelling) is the byproduct, the solids that are left after the peanut oil is extracted from the peanuts. It is rolled into strips and refried; it becomes a nutritious protein rich snack for children. The adults like it too. It is traditionally eaten in the morning along with porridge.
Abdulai, the little handicapped guy that cannot bend his elbows came back to see us this morning. He is a sweetheart! He has the biggest smile! He is doing very well with his physical therapy. He has learned to drink water and porridge out of a cup! That is a huge improvement. His mother said that he is learning to eat the TZ. TZ is a very stiff cornmeal mush type starch that is eaten with soup. His mother cuts the TZ into small pieces and he is able to get most of it to his mouth. He is such a pleasant little guy. This morning he came with one of his siblings that looked to be a couple years older than him. We gave them each a couple matchbox cars. They tried to fight over them so Zorash decided to put their initials on them so they would know which vehicles belonged to them. Only problem was that both of the children were named Abdulai. In the Muslim households the parents do not name the children rather one of the Muslim leaders come to the house and names the child. They do not particularly care if another sibling has the same name. They don’t care if the child’s first and last names are the same. A child might be named Alhassan Alhassan or Fusheni Fusheni.
It was terribly hot again today and the Harmattan has come back. The sky is hazy with the dust that blows in off the Sahara Desert.
Have a great day!
In His Service,
Steve and Kandie
