Wow! Today has been a whirlwind of activity. Steve had a meeting with the employees so that he could introduce Kwabena, the guy that is trying out to be our new watchman. He is here on a trial basis to make sure he is a good fit for us and that we are a good fit for him. He is a very sweet guy. We had the employees exchange phone numbers with him so that they could alert him in case they noticed any problems. We gave the employees a loaf of bread, a coke, chips and cookies for attending the meeting today. Most of them ate their snack while the meeting was going on. Somehow we got side tracked about why different areas of the world have different times. We brought out the globe and Steve shined a flashlight on it like it was the sun; they were amazed that God was so wonderful and that we share the sun with other people in the world.
After the meeting was done Steve had a Continuing Education class for the Child Center workers. Today’s class was on “iron”, why it is important, what are the problems when the body does not have enough iron and what foods are rich in iron.
This afternoon we had Mr. Iddrisu make a bank run for us; we needed to finish making payroll for the time we will not be in Ghana and all we had were large Cedi notes; no one wants to get a pay packet full of 100 Cedi notes because they are too hard to cash.
When Tichak, the night watchman came to the meeting this morning he said that he was going to go to the hospital to have his blood checked because he was not feeling very well. Come to find out he has hepatitis! Tichak is illiterate and has very little medical knowledge so he does not know which type of hepatitis he has. His English is not perfect either; he said that the doctor said that he does not have the highest type of hepatitis. By that we presume that Hepatitis C is out. He also does not know the alphabet so when Steve asked if it was A, B, or C he had no idea what he was talking about. He is supposed to take an antiretroviral drug for the next 6 months. Steve gave him the money for the medicine and very clear instructions to stop eating out of the same bowl with other people, even his family; and to have his own drinking cup and not use the communal cup.
A few days ago when I peeled a pineapple Amama told me that she wanted the scraps; some people plant the top to grow another pineapple. I thought maybe that was why she wanted the scraps but she wanted them to eat; as she was putting the pineapple peel in a plastic bag she started eating the skin. Today I peeled another one and this time I left the scraps on the cutting board. As soon as she saw them she got a plastic bag and gathered up the scraps. Zorash said that she likes to take the skins and boil them to make tea. I also cut up a large hybrid mango today; I threw the seed in the garbage bucket and Amama pulled the seed out of the garbage bucket, washed it off and ate what was left on the seed. I will know next time not to throw the seed in the garbage bucket either.
Thank you for all you do for us and the people in Ghana.
In HIS Service,
Steve and Kandie
