We are spending the night in Tamale. We had to come to the bank and get the payroll and operating expenses for the next couple months. Last time we were in Tamale I left my cell phone at the Vodafone office. They have been holding it for me for 3 weeks. We have to go to the office because that pre-paid phone is still not working. Please! We will also see about getting the insurance on the motorcycle that Steve is giving Timothy changed over to his name. We are not sure how all that will work but we are going to try.
We had tons of mothers come to the Child Center this morning. By the end of the morning we had seen 56 babies and several of their siblings. We gave flip flops to the brothers and sisters but we did not add them to our total.
Sayibu, the electrician was at the compound a 7:00 this morning. He finished wiring the garage around noon. We are happy to have that job done.
Red came this morning too. He brought the metal staircase. It looks good. It took them until early afternoon to get the legs welded on and get it planted in the ground. At one point I had to go to the house for something and I noticed that the front support leg was terribly out of line. Red had gone to his shop to pick up something. Dawda the mason was there to dig the holes and cement the thing in the ground. I told the welder to stop welding; he would not listen to me. I was not sure that he understood English because I had never seen him before. I told Dawda to tell him to stop welding because the thing was not straight. Dawda argued with me and said it looked good to him and that when they put it in the cement it would straighten up. What? How in the world is that even possible? I finally shouted loud enough that the welder listened to me. I told him to stop and to come down. Both of the men tried to tell me the legs were straight. I first used a measure tape and showed them that the top was 8 ½ inches away from the wall and the bottom was only 6 ½ inches. They said it was straight. I then asked for the level. I told them I could prove it was not straight with a level. They acted like they could not understand what I wanted. I repeated myself until they produced the level. I showed Dawda and the welder that it was not straight. Dawda said it was because I had the level upside down! Really? Steve tried to tell them it was not level but he felt like we were fighting a losing battle. I was so relieved when I heard Red at the gate! I rushed to let him in and the welder was hot on my heels. I told Red I had stopped the welder because the leg was not straight. Red asked why Dawda the mason had not stopped him. I told him that Dawda could not see straight! As soon as Red looked at it he knew that it was not straight. He made the welder cut the welds and re-do it and make it straight. I was a little disappointed when I climbed the stairs and looked at the back of the property. I could not see as far as I wanted to see. When I complained Dawda said I could not see because I was not tall! I told him that when he came to dress the opening in front of the stairs I was going to have him make me a cement set of stairs on the flat roof so I could be taller.
We had a lovely meal tonight at the hotel. We love their Indian food.
Have a great day!
In His Service,
Steve and Kandie
