Another day of building is done. Today, they put the floors in the rooms and they put the floor on the veranda. All that is left is for them to put the apron on. The apron is an extra layer of blocks around the foundation of the building. The apron helps with the erosion when it rains and the water pours off the roof. Most of the buildings have no gutter system and it does not take long to compromise the foundation.
Zorash and I went to 2 different grinding mills this morning. One to crack the corn and one to grind the gourd seeds; when we got to the first grinding mill the electricity was off; we had to go back twice before we actually caught the electricity on. In between grinding mill visits we went to the hospital to check on Adamu. The nurse said that she is only scheduled to be weighed once a week and her last weight was 4.9 kilos. They were pleased with her 2 week weight gain. The aunt was not exactly sure why we were giving them fish powder but after Zorash and the nurse explained it to her she seemed to understand. They do not like to give young children meat because they are afraid that they will get the taste for meat and meat is hard to get and there is never enough to go around; the adult males get to eat first and they get the lion’s portion of meat if it is in the stew pot. They think that if they like meat they will insult an adult by asking for a piece. Hopefully Adamu will get the benefit of the fish powder. I asked the nurse what would happen when Adamu went home and she got into the same shape again. The nurse said that they only give the family one chance to take care of the child and then they remove the child and send them straight to Accra. In a case like this when no one wants the child anyway how would threatening to remove the child from the home be a determent?
Zorash is raising Shuhene, her nephew. Zorash and Shuhene’s father are direct brother and sister. Shuhene’s mother died during child birth and at first his mother’s sister was taking care of him and then he came to live with Zorash. They have never told Shuhene that his mother is dead; rather they tell him that his aunt is his mother. He is now 11 years old and he figured out that his father and the woman he calls his mother are actually brother and sister. A few days ago he demanded to know who his real mother was. They kept lying to him and saying his aunt was his mother. He was very upset because he is not stupid and he cried all day and said he was never going to eat again if they did not tell him who his mother was. Everyone in the house held onto the lie and somehow convinced him that his aunt was his mother. I told Zorash they should just tell him the truth. She said that she did not think that he was old enough to understand the truth and they were going to wait until he was grown to tell him the truth. Which would be worse, to find out your mother was dead or to find out that everyone you loved had been lying to you for years?
Enjoy your day!
In HIS Service,
Steve and Kandie
Skeeter’s Monkey Business
Sometimes I worry about Mom! She knows that I do not like anything but corn porridge and formula for my breakfast. This morning she saw the rolled oats and decided that she was going to somehow make porridge out of oatmeal! She knew that I would refuse it all together if it had lumps so she put it in the coffee grinder and made it into a powder. She then proceeded to cook it. All the while she was going on and on about the wonderful treat she was fixing me. I tried to like it but I could not! I licked the spoon and that was that. She tried a couple more times but in the end she had to make me the corn porridge.
Mom has been trying to find someone that I like well enough to let feed me. Most of the people around here are too scary! I told you Donkey is the one I can tolerate the best. When he sees me in the yard in the morning he will pick me a flower and talk sweetly to me and call me “Friend”. I do like the flowers, especially the red ones. They are quite tasty. This morning I was starving by the time Mom fixed the real corn porridge. She went outside with my bottle and asked Donkey to sit down on the steps with us. She then turned into a traitor! She gave my bottle to Donkey and I was forced to drink my porridge while he was holding it. I drank as fast as I could! After I had my fill I ran over and sat on Mom’s lap. A little later Donkey held his hand out to me and I put one of my hands in his; I had a death grip on Mom’s dress with the other hand! You never know how these situations will turn out!
Your “Friend”
Love Skeeter
