We spent a good deal of the afternoon on the phone (on hold) waiting to talk to a real person. It is time for me to sign up for Medicare and pick an alternative insurance plan. I have repeatedly tried to call Blue Cross but every time it went to voicemail. Well, I would leave a very nice message explaining that I was in West Africa and that I doubted they would be able to make an international call to answer my questions. Finally today I decided that if I was going to talk to a real person I would just have to sit on hold and hope the phone connection held long enough for someone to pick up. Our patience paid off. A real live person talked to us! And a very nice person! She was very helpful but could not sign me up with a plan because I have not yet received my Medicare card. The next call was to Medicare; they were not as nice as the Blue Cross lady and they told me I had to either go online and sign up or make an appointment with a representative to call me back. When they found out it was an international call it was a no go on the call back. We were fortunate that we were able to get a decent internet connection; the connection was slow but at least it held long enough for us to get all the information they needed typed in and submitted.
Steve spent the morning fighting with the turn signal on the green truck. Gomda got him another turn signal but it was too big. Finally he decided to take the truck to Gomda so the electrician could fix it for us. I imagine that they used the oversized fixture and it is attached with super glue, JB Weld and binding wire! Ha! They are masters with making do with what they have.
This morning Zorash and Meri helped us divide the dates into individual packets so it would be easier for the Ya Na to distribute them to his guests. We worked on them for 2 hours and still did not get them all packaged. The ladies said the dates will make a “fine” gift.
Divine stopped by for a visit this afternoon so we could make copies of his Ghana ID Card. Yesterday Steve got an email for the Ghana government stating a new policy that has been put in place to try to stop money laundering. Every business including NGO’s and non-profit organizations like the Child Center have to appoint a “Money laundering compliance officer”. Can you imagine? Please and who is going to train this officer? Steve had to have a phone meeting with the other board members to see if they approved of appointing him as the compliance officer. He is the only one that knows what is going on with the money that comes in from the states. Of course the audit proves where the money is being spent. Ghana is on the top of the list of countries where money is laundered. But it is not done through little non-profit companies like the Child Center.
Thank you for keeping us and the work in your prayers.
In His service,
Steve and Kandie
