Our "New Normal"

One of the first words of advice we received when we arrived was to take lots of pictures at the beginning, because this would become our "new normal" very quickly and we would forget to take pictures after that.  This is happening already except for one experience last Sunday when one of the "hawkers," sellers on the street stepped right up to our car window and proudly displayed a cage of fat, scampering rats, right up close to my window where I could get a good look. 

We had just spent a good part of the last 3 hours smelling burning garbage from a neighbor as it wafted through the windows at church (more about that later) and I had a headache from that already. I was too shocked to wave him away and just stared, probably with my mouth dropped as I watched them scamper around and wondered why in the world he would be selling rats, they wouldn't really eat them would they? Yes!!  I turned away, now nausea added to the headache. 

Rats will NOT be part of our "new normal!"  

So why do we do this?  Because three sweet ladies in the Literacy Class that day, whose teacher didn't show up, wanted so badly to learn to read. One was a total beginner and didn't know a single letter, the other two are in the process and were able to translate for us. They were so appreciative and we  just couldn't leave it there. They do so much better when they meet twice a week and they need more manuals anyway, so we told them we'd be back on Friday for another class. The two who could speak some English said they wished we could come every day. I about cried. We will take a different route home from there from now on though and hopefully avoid the rat seller.

When we arrived on Friday, there were twice as many students as had come on Sunday along with their teacher, yeah!! We had a delightful time together. These ladies do love to laugh. We were able to share a couple pairs of glasses that we had acquired and they were so pleased to be able to see better. THANK YOU in advance!! 

Then on Saturday we had our first opportunity to teach a group of TEACHERS from the Tesano Stake. This is where it gets exciting and you can see the potential for this multiplying. The Stake President had called and asked up to come, which is the priority they are using for spreading the Literacy Program at this point. (Love those Stake Presidents who have such vision for their members!) They have a Stake Literacy Specialist called who will work to support and train new teachers in each of the 7 Wards or congregations in the Stake after we help train the first group. Each Ward will have anywhere from about 4 to 20 students. When you consider that there are about 90 Stakes in the West Africa Area, 4 new since we arrived, the potential for Literacy classes is pretty exciting. (Three of the teachers weren't able to attend so the Stake Literacy Specialist took enough materials for them and will train those teachers.)

Half of them have already been teaching with other materials and come with great enthusiasm and love for Literacy.  We were thrilled to learn from them and share ideas. (The other couple are the Wakilds, also missionaries. He works for the legal department in the area and they have been working with Literacy on Sundays in Accra. They have been wonderful at helping us to get started.)

Then this morning we decided to visit the Ofankor Ward because we heard they have both a men's and a women's Literacy class.  After talking in Sacrament Meeting, surprise!!  Chuck and I split up and got to visit a couple of the most amazing classes ever! The ladies have a new teacher who just moved from Tema where ENA (Engage Now Africa) has been functioning and she taught there before. This was her first Sunday teaching this class but she was great. They had very little in the way of materials so we raided our stash in the trunk of the car and they didn't waste any time getting started.  First dusting off all the chairs and tables from the Harmattan dust, their windows are open after all.  It was easy to fall in love with these ladies and the whole Ward!!



We didn't take any pictures of the men's class. There were 5 students, 2 of which were investigators of the church and one awesome teacher!  They weren't as interested in the writing as the women, but really wanted to understand the meaning of the words and had some really great discussions as they "pondered" the scriptures that they read.  Chuck says it was one of the best gospel discussions he has been in. 

ABOUT THE BURNING OF GARBAGE

It has taken me a while to figure out what the deal is with all the burn piles everywhere around. Why don't they put the garbage etc. in garbage cans, seriously?  When you look closely you will notice people working to keep their homes and shop areas cleaned up, brushing up leaves and even brushing the dirt with their handmade brooms. But there is garbage everywhere in piles, a lot of plastic bags and plastic bottles and everyone has a burn pile. Then we were talking to another couple here from BYU-I Entrepreneur Center starting a new Employment Center in our same office area just down the hall. He mentioned that a young man had come in wanting to hire workers as he has started a garbage collection business. He started by getting a loan for one garbage truck not long ago and is now up to 15 trucks. Then it dawned on me that they don't have garbage service except a few places like government offices, nicer apartments and such. I'm a little slow sometimes. We just take so much for granted, so very much. But it is exciting to see what progress is being made, especially by the native people, helping themselves reach for a better future.  I just hope they are able to keep all the good in the process.
 

On a lighter note, we ate dinner with a large group of missionaries on Friday evening. This little critter ran across my arm and after I freaked out a bit, couldn't tell what it was at first, he came to rest on the table.  Gotta love Ghana!