Saturday, March 22, 2014

A little village on the Volta River

A little village on the Volta River
This last Saturday we went with about 15 other Senior couples on a day trip to the Volta River.  Saturday is one of the best traffic days, so it only took us 2 hours to get to Peace a little town on the Volta River. There we met with some river guides and they took us out in these old big canoe  boats.  They did have a putt putt engine so we did not have to row, but we did have to bail since the boat leaked a bit. 





It was a very beautiful day, we had fun people to go with and there was a breeze from the ocean so it was great!!!!  The Volta is a huge river that comes from the north all the way south to Atlantic Ocean, the area we were on was right by the ocean. We went to the mouth and  there was a big sand bar between us and the ocean.

We were on the way to a little village that is on the river .


At this village they have a playground, with a merry-go-round and seesaw swing put in by a non-profit agency that  powers electricity in the local school  and also the students lamps so they can read in the evening (it gets dark at 6:00 -6:30 all year round). These are some BYU students that started this idea and this non-profit. Our Branch President works for them and puts in the Merry-go-rounds. The company is called Empower Playgrounds. Another company was bringing solar power to the village.
                                                    This is how you get to the village

See the box on the top right side of the swing, that collects the electricity from the seesaw horse. This collects as much or more than the Merry go round , especially if you have some older ladies that are not pushing!
On the way back we saw fishing boats and villages, it was a great day.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Moving in Ghana

our old office, almost ready to go
Moving Day!!!

As you know we have been enjoying living in Alema Court with our office next door. We knew it was a temporary fix, as they were working on the Mission Home and Office in Tesano. Well they are have some troubles there, just slow going and the city is requiring the Church to put in another entrance/exit which may or may not happen on a busy street with the compound surrounded by other buildings. The builders are not going forward and the area office (who own the 2 apartments in Alema Court) are having a few more missionary couples come. So it is time for us to go! Luckily for us there is a house available 2 doors from where President Hill lives. It is a big house where the Area Presidency used to live, before they built apartments for them at the Temple Site. So we have moved to #3 Coco Palms, we have the office downstairs on the main floor and our rooms are upstairs. It was hard to move and have our office in an uproar and not be able to connect to the internet for a week. We had brand new office missionaries that could  not drive,  and one of our AP's is leaving and his head is in the clouds and he goes around singing.  Elder Wall and I packed everything, see above, and carefully labeled all of the boxes. Problem was the movers who were hired to do the actual moving did not know how to read and they were a little rough on the furniture. You know you have moved, however this was not even Ghana Good !!!!                   


This is the front door of our new office and house, it is very nice, we even have a little fenced in yard. There are about 30 houses in this compound, we do have guards to open and close the gates. They always have different guards here, whereas at the other place, we knew all 7 of the guards and gardeners.  



Below is a picture of when we were moving in. Our office area is almost twice as big. When they were wiring it for the computers and taking the wire along the ceiling, the technicians were risking their lives, as the ladder was too short for the 12 feet they had to reach and they tied it together with wire!
This is taken from the top of the stair going to our bedroom. It is all organized and the internet is working and looks very nice now. I will have to take another picture.

Yesterday we drove out to Kasoa for a district meeting, and we pass by the roadside markets all of the time. This is where most of the people buy all the necessities of life. You can see shoes belts clothes. Most of the casual clothes that the men and children wear every day t-shirts pants are bought from used clothing dealers. Most of these clothes I am sure have been donated, I have seen lots of t-shirts with city names on advertising a  the name of a 5K or another race or events from the U.S. Of course advertising with soccer clubs from US or baseball, football or food or drink. The other day someone came to our office and was wearing a polo shirt with Angie on it. It was from Logan, Utah.  I recognized how it was written, just like the restaurant there. So keep on giving to Good Will or Deseret Industries, these clothes are being put to good use.
 Ghana is moving also, this is a very big mall they are putting up on the way to Kasoa. They already have the Accra Mall, but this mall  looks like it will be 2 or 3 times as big. One of these days the umbrella stands and the metal boxes will slowly dwindle as they put up these malls.
 Since we are moving, this last week was also our Hump Day (1/2 way through our mission) Terry  and I walk 2-3 miles every morning and my shoes were worn down. I saved the 2nd pair I brought for our Hump Day, so I switched and am now wearing my new walking shoes.  Terry only brought one pair and he wishes he had brought two. We might have to have our kids send him a pair.
We love you all, thanks for keeping up with us, and thanks for your little notes and prayers, they work!