Donkey did not come to work today because he had a funeral to attend but he did come long enough this morning to feed the monkey which we really appreciate because I told him that I was afraid when we were gone and Mr. Iddrisu was off work and he had to attend to some of his duties at the palace the monkey would be hungry! He assured me that would not be the case and he would take very good care of his “Friend”. Donkey never calls him Skeeter; he calls him friend. Which is very sweet but Skeeter will not come to him when he calls him!
Today was the day for finishing up the business end of things. Steve went to the tax office twice to pay the taxes on the hotel/apartment that we will be staying in next week. The first time he went the network was down so the office was not able to process any of the returns. Mr. Iddrisu and I counted money; it takes him forever to count money. Then we have to fill out the deposit slip. We can’t just put down the amount of cash we are depositing, we have to list each bill separately and the number of pieces we are depositing. 100 Cedi notes —- 42 pieces —- total 4200 Cedis. After each denomination has been listed we have to write the amount in numbers and then we have to write the amount in words. After which a telephone number is added and the deposit slip is signed. If you make the least little mistake, misspell something or cross something out the deposit slip is no good and the bank will make Mr. Iddrisu come back to the mission house and get a fresh receipt! Really!
This afternoon Mr. Iddrisu and I tried to figure out what was going on with the storeroom figures. When we buy something we have a book that we use to check the items in and then when he pulls something from the storeroom he subtracts what he takes and dates it. Now we know Mr. Iddrisu has been struggling to see but everything was messed up; the dates were wrong, the numbers of cases removed were wrong, the addition and subtraction was off. When he signs something out he gives it to Zorash and she has a book that she uses to sign it into the Child Center and then she checks it off when she gives it out. Her books looked good but they in no way tallied with Mr. Iddrisu. After a couple hours we decided that we would just start fresh. Steve is in the process of making a spreadsheet which should make it easier.
When we were in Tamale yesterday Steve bought our neighbor Mr. Oldman a straw hat. A few weeks ago he told Steve he wanted one but he had not seen the old guy who sells them in Yendi in a long time. Steve found one at the cultural center and he took it to Mr. Oldman’s house and delivered it. Mr. Oldman was very happy to get the hat so he followed Steve home so he could thank me for the hat too. He stayed a while and visited.
Please keep us in your prayers.
In HIS Service,
Steve and Kandie
The Monkey Shines
I almost died today! I was really scared and so were my parents. Dad sat me on a fence post that had a long wooden extension wired to it; the post was near the cement wall. I got the bright idea that I could jump from the post to the top of the cement wall. I did not realize that the top of the wall was dangerous because of the razor wire. I took one mighty leap and landed on the wall in the middle of a section of razor wire. I did not know that old people could move so fast. The collar that I wear around my waist got caught on the razor wire. I could tell that I was in trouble; that razor wire was poking me and I froze. Dad reached up and carefully got me out of the wire. I was afraid that I was going to be a bloody mess but Mom could not find a cut on me. I was one lucky little guy today. I could have ended up at the vet’s office and that is not a place I would recommend to my worst enemy!
I was hungry this morning when I got up. I still had a few pieces of fruit and some of the treats but I wanted my bottle! Donkey came to my rescue. I drank ½ of my bottle before I came up for air. It hit the spot after sleeping hungry last night!
When I am outside and I get scared I run over to Mom and hang on the hem of her dress. I have a pretty good grip; if she is going somewhere I just hang on until she stops and then I hop off! I do the same thing with Dad’s pant legs. Dad’s pants are a much smoother ride than Mom’s dress because that dress throws me around every which way!
I have exciting news! I learned to climb trees today! I have been in trees before because the parents put me in the trees but today I learned that I can get a running start and jump on the tree and pull myself up in the tree. I love climbing trees! Today I climbed out to the end of some of the branches. I prefer the mango trees because their bark is rough and that gives me something to grab hold of!
God takes care of little monkeys that can’t take care of themselves! That was me today!
Love Skeeter
