West Mamprusi

This is where I am currently- an hour and a half drive away from Tamale, up dirt roads and into a small district where my objective for the next 3 days is to assess water and sanitation in the communities of Walewale and Kukoa. I have mixed feelings about this.

One, this experience is purely educational, so besides offering a short report of my findings I am not actually DOING anything to be benneficial to these communities I am interegating.

Two, I am not staying long, interviewing various NGOs, the district assembly and the community, a mixed group of individuals who have to get their water from boreholes and hand dug wells- and I am just waltzing in to talk to them about it? wierd.

But Third, it will deffinately open my eyes. Big time. And maybe equipt me to understand more and thus, do something about it in the future.

Anyways it it beautiful (although very dry and dusty up here). I hope you are all well in the encrouching winter temperatures as I enjoy brutal sunshine in the dry Savannah landscape.

xo

Sunday

I don't always know what to do with myself here. I often end up wandering and sometimes bumping into something wonderful and inspiring, sometimes not.

I like sundays because they always turn out interesting, trying to find a church.
I thought that I would find one sweet humble church in Africa to go to (mostly because I really had no idea what to expect) and join a gospel choir or something, But I have been moving around a lot so usually end up at different ones.

My first sunday here in Tamale I went with 2 of my Ghanain friends and we were picked up by a guy who worked for world vision. Now one of my friends has a job with them.

The next week a little 12 year old girl came to our door and invited us to go to church with her- I thought that this was such a beautiful thing.

This week- I didn't have a place to go so I just started walking. Its important to walk by faith sometimes, I think. So I was walking along and just said "God- I don't really know where I am going but I'd really like to go to churh today so could you pleae please lead me to a place?" The North is predominately Muslim so there arn't a lot of churches around like on every street corner in Accra.

"Despa" (good morning!) I said to a guy riding by on a bike. There was no one aruond as it was pretty early (and a sunday) and I like greating people anyways. He stopped, delighted I was speaking Dagbanli and asked me where I was going. "I don't know" I said "Im trying to find a church but I don't know where one is"

"Oh!" He said "I can show you one I think" He was a Muslim, but wanted to learn more about the bible. "I want to know it well" he said "These Christians, they say that Jesus Christ is God. I just want to know the Truth about him- I just want to know the Truth."

I thought that this was very beautiful. For two reasons. First that usually when I tell people I'm a Christian, they don't want to know "the truth about Jesus"- they tend to want to brush it off or try to prove me wrong or make a judgement and be done with it. I find poeple don't really want to "know the truth" about anything these days. "Whatever works for you" they say.

Secondly I find it curious that anyone would WANT to know the Truth about my Jesus . I mean- there are a lot of people ou there who claim a lot of things. Alot of religions, a lot of revolutionaries, a lot of great thinkers- a lot of things to believe. I find it crazy and beautiful that 2000 years later people are still curious about this Jesus- that people still gather all over the world to worship him, that hes still changing lives (hes changing mine) to this day.

One time I had this guy I barely knew call me over early in the morning because he had been up all night, on his knees, because he felt that Christ was calling him. I think it freeked him out a bit. "He just loves you" I said "thats why he wants you so badly"

After church I went to lunch and had this guy sat across from me. We got to talking- he'd ordered some drinks. He said he wanted to stop drinking. He said he was a Muslim and that Muslims shouldnt drink. I said that was probably a good thing and he should keep working toward that. He also thought that "thou shalt not drink" was one of the ten commadments in the bible. I said this wasn't true. "Jesus came to set us free" I said "not to tell us not to do things" Then he said he wanted to learn about the bible, but to this I didnt know that much to say.

You see- I have a confession. As much as I love reading the bible I don't really know how to talk about it somtimes- what to say about what the gospel is. But I think it is important, what it is about this Jesus, so I tried to write out some things about what it is that as a Chirstian, I believe:

(1) That we are all sinful, and have fallen short in some way.

(2)That Jesus came to bring us back to God- to set us free from the Law and from sin and from death. He didn't come to give us more 'dos' and 'donts' and make us feel guilty- but to really set us free and give us life into enternity that starts today.

(3) That the only way that he could save us- from our rather dreadful and somewhat dismal fate- was to come down from heaven as still fully God but also fully Man, and live a life of love. A life that was Holy, and then die as an attoning sacrifice FOR our sins.

(4) Because I think that we all know that we really arn't 'good' people. I think deep down we all know that we all sometimes have bad motives and do bad things.

(5) But the truth is, no matter how much we get right or how much we mess up- that Jesus MAKES us good, because though he died to save us he also rose again. He rose again so he could lead us, and is still, to this day, calling us back to him.

(6)And I belive that one day he will come again, to judge the living and the dead.

We Christians, we believe some other things too. Like- we believe in the Holy Spirit lives inside us, we believe that Satan is really real and really does come out to seek, kill and destroy. We believe in the Kingdom of Heaven- that we should love each other, that we should love God with all our hearts and love our neighbor as we love ourselves. That the word of God is the Truth.

But even still, being a Chiristian isn't about believing these things, as much as it is good that they are preached. Its really about responding to them. Its just to Love the One who taught us how to Love by Loving us first.

That is it.

Live with the wind in your hair.

Picture this:

The sun is hanging orange in the sky, at that perfect point of not-yet-beginning-to-set; when the day's haze begins to feel a little bit magical.

Sailing through the African planes on a road not quite going anywhere with the gas and gears at your finger tips, the wind in your hair, and passing mud houses and cattle hearding and children laughing and running after you and waving.

Picture riding as fast (or slow) as you want on the front of a friend's motercycle they just happened to decide to lend you for the afternoon so you could joy ride in the outskirts in Northern Ghana... ;)

Poems by Post-Street Children in Tamale

"Poverty"- Issah, 14 years

Poverty, Poverty, Poverty! From almost everybody I hear the word poverty! At home, at the borehole and even at school. My parents, brothers and sisters are we really poor? No we are not poor; what is it that we want to do that we cannot do. My dear parents, do not welcome poverty into your homes; For if you welcome poverty in your homes, It will surely get into your bedrooms. And you will be poor for life. So let us work hard to kick poverty out of our world. We can do this through giving education to our children.

"Reach out to the street child" - Adongo, 16 years

Reach out to the street child. Reach out to the street child. The street child was also created in God's image and likeness. The street child has a mission to accomplish on earth. The street child has a vision for a great future. But why are children on the street? They are on the street because of war. They are on the street because of lack of care and support. What our world is hungry for today is not food but love. So reach out to street children for they need your love urgently.

"Look at yourself first" - Benoni, 12 years

For all things look to yourself first you have all things and you will never thirst. Your land has many things great and good rich soil, minerals and other things, do net go to friends cap-in-hand honey and milk flow in your land don't say grass is green at their feet for grass is green at your feet, you have get all the richest gifts, others have not got half your gift so Rather, mother, brother and sister sell at that you have on my education the fowls, goats, sheep and even the cows, use all that you have on my education and I will make you great in future life is all about investment and there is no better a lay to invest than education so my dear father, mother and sister invest in my education thank you and may God bless and give you honey life to take care of my education.

Tamale

This morning I woke up to the sound of children laughing outside my window. I am living in Tamale now and attending classes again- but with a bit more freedom. It is beautiful up here. The open sky and open roads remind me of the country.

I have traveled from Accra through Kumasi to Tamale to Bolgatanga to Paga right up to crossing the boarder into Burkina Faso- and then back again to Tamale. I am living in a too-big but beautiful house with 8 other students from my program right next to an elementary school. The kids play football in the field every, single day and they are beautiful. Sometimes I go out and play with them, sometimes I play soccer coach. Some of them have shoes and good clothing, some of them don't but they love running around and just the mere act of playing filled them, and me, with so much joy. Right now both of my wonderful parents are visiting a school in Sierra Leone as well, that my Mum helped build on love and prayer. I am so proud of my family for doing this, and am reminded of them often living here.

The North is very dry and very hot. They only have one rainy season and people often drink muddy, dirty water- when it is available. In the 1980s the world declared an "international water decade"- there were supposed to be clean water to all of Africa in that Decade. A lot of money was spent. In development studies, they talk about the 1980s as "The lost decade for Africa"- nothing was accomplished, the projects lie in ruins and now we are half way through the Millenium development goals and not much has changed. But you know the beautiful thing is that hope can come like a spring flower in even the driest crack of mud- and in even the hardest human heart.

Weve visited a lot of NGOs- starting in Kumasi right up to today. Its exhasting seeing so many good groups working so hard and sometimes accomplishing so little. But its the small things that count- even in the complex web of political and economic relations that is development. One drop of love is like a bright dye that changes the colour a whole bucket of water.

In Paga we went to a Crocidile pond (hurray for program-payed tourist endevors!) where we had the giant beasts crawl right at us out of a pond with these little men telling us not to worry, and ushering us up to crouch down beside them for pictures and kiss their slimy, scaley tails. Then we watched them devour live chickens.

From there we went to a Shea butter NGO where the women worked so so hard in the hot hot sun. First they cracked the Shea nuts, one by one. Then they ground them. Then they mixed the the grounds with water and beat them fast and hard with their hands- like an electric blender- in big metal bins in a field. It would be like whipping milk with your fingers to get whipped cream. They beat the mixture for half an hour before it began to foam and made sweet smelling butter, which they scooped off the top and washed and put in jars for selling- at a small small price.

The work was unbelievably hard, but the best thing ever was watching them rest, sit down and smiling, eating kenkey and soup and relishing on a hard days labour. I found myself almost envious- this women lived hard, hard lives. There was no doubt in that, it was a difficult life for them. They were mostly maybe 40 but looked like they were 60. But the smiles that they shared and the laughter was so beautiful. I think, in life, that all we can do is take the lot that we are given- the gifts that and talents, and work hard to multiply and USE them. That is blessed, because there is nothing sweeter than the sweet rest of rewarding labour, there is much joy in this- because life is not always easy, and it is much harder for some. But I still think that we are blessed- if we work hard and we love each-other, as God loves us.

I miss you and I think about you often. Know that I am always sending my love to you- in thoughts and words and prayers :)

Travel

I am heading up North tomorrow. I may be out of touch for a while, but through everything that is happening to me and all the things I am leaning and experiencing; I just want you to know:

I love you. So, so much. You are loved and you are blessed, my dear friends.