Today was overwhelming in SO many ways. I was finally no longer sick from the night before with the worst stomach pains I have EVER experienced! WIN. In addition to this, the group was also able to wake up later and eat a delicious breakfast made by Adeline! We had spent the day before preparing for a day filled with visits to schools in Anyaa and Madina and a final service at the Lutheran Seminary of Ghana.
We made the trip to Anyaa and were not quite prepared for what we experienced. Driving up the school, we took roads that had such large divots that the wheels of the van were submerged under water (sewer water) and the houses were not as developed as the places in Accra. We drove in during snack time and there were 3 or so vendors set up with snacks and drinks for sale for the children. The school was a long row of classrooms with a tin roof. We realized then that even the schools in Trinity and St. Paul's that seemed unequipped compared to schools in the US were much more fortunate than those here in Accra. The playground area was a dirt area with a pile of large rocks. In addition to that, the church was used as the Nursery and Kindergarten classes. The moment we arrived, they set out chairs for our group and invited the pastor to sit with us. He was an extremely passionate and motivating man who continually blessed and thanked us for the work we were doing. I literally could have sat there listening to him speak all day long. He was blind, but was lacking nothing. He was truly emanating love, passion, care and wisdom to our group. It was a blessing to be around him. We had some time to spend with the children as our leaders set up the sound system. They were SO excited to be around us and to be hugged and played with by our group. Our chapel services went very well with many of the teachers dancing and singing along with the children. This was the school that Coral, Rachel and Lois were doing mission work, so we had time to spend with them. Coral spent the rest of the day with our group. We took a break to get lunch at Chicken Inn when it started DOWNPOURING. African rain is absolutely insane and it was stressful for the group to try to get through the traffic both in the car and in the mall. In addition to that, we had a lot of movement and motion in the car, which led to myself getting motion sick. That was fun.
On our trip to Madina, we quickly ate and prepared for our next excursion. Madina was very welcoming and excited for our arrival. They were practicing their dances for their graduation recital. The dances were extremely traditional and were amazing to watch how well they were executed! We followed their practice with our chapel program and they LOVED JOY (as every student seems to! :)) and were very focused during the skits. Many of our team members really connected with these students and struggled to leave. We wanted to stay so badly, but were unable. Next year, we hope to be able to spend more time at both Anyaa and Madina (if another group is able to attend).
The final trip was to the Seminary. It took us a bit longer at Madina, so we just spend some time looking over the Seminary and the local area. There are currently 7 seminarians, although many of them had returned home for break. Most of them came from up North (which could be a huge span of different areas) and were currently there. We surveyed the building and did our devotion as they prepared the sound system. Our group was a bit concerned as to why it was so important that we have the speakers working.... We soon found out. The service started with 4 boys in attendance and 2 Dutch missionary women. By the time we were done, the children from the village had heard the music and program and the group had grown to 90! It was amazing to see the benefit of the sound. Towards the end of the service, the bugs unloaded! When I mean bugs, I mean FLYING TERMITES. I didn't even know that these existed and then, there they were- huge and flying up skirts, into our hair and landing on my shoes. I screamed and screamed and screamed. The locals laughed and laughed and laughed at us. I realized that they were attracted to the light and finally had found darkness when the children decided to shine their flashlights on me. That was unpleasant, to say the least! I had nightmares about those and probably will for awhile! We packed up and headed home to rest and prepare for our next and final full day of chapel services and classes. I wasn't feeling well, so I skipped pizza and just went to bed. I thought I was going to be fine, until the chills set in. I was freezing... IN GHANA. I took a steaming hot shower and still was shivering.... IN GHANA. It was not a good situation and I knew it. I took some Tylenol PM to aid with sleeping and the fever. I finally fell asleep and prayed for recovery because I was scared of what this might mean with all the bacteria and viruses I had come into contact with over the last few weeks! I just pray for NO MALARIA or nothing too serious. We have had quite a bit of sickness in our group and I don't want to add to it!
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