This morning, Emma G & Kristin went with John to Tema to pick up supplies at the hardware store, so that we can do some projects at JoshKrisDan - we're going to paint the bathrooms and bedrooms. The rest of the crew were ready to head over to JKD at 8:15...the bus came more than an hour later, which let us get all the jerseys organized. We set up a kind of "store" inside and outside at the home, so that we could fit all of the children in soccer jerseys and shorts. Inside, Joanne fit each of them with a nice hooded jacket or sweatshirt. All of the clothing was new or nearly new, and the kids looked so terrific - like a legit football team, (even though little Bernard's shorts were pulled up to his armpits). Comfort came out to get a jersey too - number 25, which she wore all morning in the kitchen.
After that, we spent quite a bit of time with individual kids - teaching guitar, photography, and friendship-bracelet-making, tickling and playing music and singing, and just hanging out. We were trying to get "Wagon Wheel" ready to perform it at a school this afternoon, and by the end, Libby and Monica were belting it out. Today there was some tension between a couple of the children, which is understandable, but very upsetting because the house is in-between regular house parents right now, and the children really need to be there for each other. We left the home around noon to grab some fruit and head to two schools in the afternoon.
The first school - Pram Pram Senior High School - was, by a pretty wide consensus, our favorite school. It was a school of about 200 kids, and they were dressed for football practice and SO PSYCHED that we were there. They sang the school anthem beautifully - it was less a religious song, and more of a school - and - Ghana pride song. We sang "Wagon Wheel" not too badly, once we got going, and people actually sang along. Then we broke out our standards: Mo mo Jesu mo and Da Na Se. The best part was that after we finished, the students of both schools interacted in a more substantial way, with them running over to us. (And one boy trying to run out of the room with Kayla). After that we visited Wisdom's school, a vocational school where sewing, fabric dying, hairdressing and cooking are taught. Wisdom is the only boy in the school right now! The students were in the middle of their practical exams, so we got to see original clothes, and a timed cooking exam. We got to taste many of the results: fish with the skin on, that Mary was brave enough to try, home-made noodles, fancy rolls, and a stew that was the spiciest dish we have yet had in Ghana. The teachers were pretty stern, but we think they passed with flying colors!
Finally, except for a few, we went back to the Home for chore time and a big game of tag. The chance to experience the rhythm of the house, including the ups and downs, the quietness and the high energy, is a gift. Tomorrow, we paint.
Favorite Memories:
1. All week, everyone in the group has been making friendship bracelets out of string we brought from home. Today Emma F. taught a boy at the home named Joseph to make a bracelet (one of the more complicated ones), expecting he would stay and try to learn for a little while, and then go do something else. He ended up staying, working on the bracelet for almost 30 minutes before we went to go play music. It was amazing to see how persistent and patient he was.
2. Mary got proposed to for the first time today by a young man named Charles, who then proceeded to propose to Emma G. Both were flattered, but decided they were too young to marry.
3. Emma G went to a hardware store in Tema and received a well-worn Manchester United necklace from a man that worked there. She tried to refuse his prized possession but he insisted and she attempted to repay him with a bracelet.
4. Monica, Libby, Mary, and Julia (with Emma F on the uke and KHavs on the guitar) sang Wagon Wheel-an American song we sang for them a few times-very loudly at the Johnkrisdan Home.
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