The neighborhood teens have figured out a way to get over the 8 foot cement wall that is lined with razor wire. They want to come into the property to get the mangoes off the trees at the back of the property. There are cement block pillars between each section of block wall to help support the wall. The cement blocks are softer than the mortar; the kids have used rocks to chisel out the block which leaves foot holds so they can use the pillars as ladders. Someone with shoes then mashes down the razor wire; he then can stand on top of the razor and the wall. He then jumps clear of the razor wire and lands on the ground 8 feet down. So very dangerous! Donkey caught one of the boys standing on the wall preparing to jump in. He went to the boy’s mother and reported him. She told Donkey that the child was not her son because her son was in the town. Donkey is her neighbor and he knows the boy very well. He also said that the whole family compound was littered with mango seeds. He said they had been having a feast for many days. This morning we braved the heat and strung another roll of razor wire on the outside of the wall to make it more difficult for them to get over. We will buy more razor wire next time we go to Tamale because it is only a matter of time before they chisel out another ladder for themselves. The amount of money we have wasted trying to keep the people off of the mission property is ridiculous. Soon the mangoes will be gone and we won’t have so many problems.
Divine came by this morning to pick up the money he will need for the church’s paper work in Tamale. He will probably spend the night in Tamale because he has 2 offices to go to and one of his appointments is this evening. He is going to stop along the way and buy a gift of yams for one of the men that is helping him.
Mr. Iddrisu and Donkey came to the mission house this morning and said that it was payday for the workers. Well, payday is usually the last working day of the month which would be Sunday for Mr. Iddrisu and tomorrow for Donkey but they thought that since they were on holiday. I think the real reason they wanted to be paid today is because today is Yendi’s big market day and they needed money to give their wives to go to the market. Fortunately we had already made up the pay packets so it was easy to pay them.
We caught a cat in the rat trap; Donkey was very excited! He is going to eat it. He said there would be smoked meat in the stew pot tonight. Not all tribes eat cats but there are some that love them so much that they raise cats in cages to eat and sell. Each to his own!
This afternoon after we gathered the mangoes we went to the market and we took a bag of mangoes to an old old man that sells stuff for Juju. In the past we have bought several things from him. His English is very good and he loves to see us coming. He is a good source of information as to what some of the Juju (witchcraft) items are used for. Today when he saw me he asked, “What are you needing today?” I told him that I did not need anything today; I had come today to make him very happy! I then dumped the mangos out on his table. He was beyond thrilled! He just kept thanking me!
Enjoy your day.
In HIS Service,
Steve and Kandie
