A Day with Compassion

So I'm getting some disgruntled emails from my "avid readers" on my lack of blogging.  (Sorry Mom!) This week has been a very very full week with our team here.  This is my first attempt at trying to capture part of the last 10 days.  A week ago Friday, we met our 3 precious little Compassion girls.  It's hard to believe these pictures were only taken a little over a week ago.  It was an incredibly special day.

We started the day bright and early.  We hired our favorite tro tro driver, Father Abraham (a friend of Ernestina's), who took the day off from driving his normal routes to drive our crew plus Ernestina around.  We headed west about 45 minutes to Haatso to tour the Compassion International Ghana headquarters.  I was very impressed with the level of organization in their office and it was fun for us to see how all the letters are processed and delivered as well as how they track each of the children's progress and updates.  After our tour, we loaded up in the tro tro again joined by Daniel, one of the Compassion Ghana staff.

From Haatso, we drove to Kasoa where all 3 of the girls lived.  Before heading to their schools, we had the opportunity to visit the church that is connected to the girls' project.  The Compassion project's office was located in the back of the church where we met the project staff who are dedicated to loving on each of the 200+ children of the Galilea Godswill Child Development Center.  They showed us the girls' files, their recent pictures, and some of their school work.  It was clear that they really love the children.  The children go to school during the week and then they come to the project for the day on Saturday where the staff interacts, teaches, and loves on the children.  

After meeting the staff, we came out to join the church service in progress.  The church was very welcoming to us.  In true Ghanaian fashion, we were honored with a presentation of gifts.  They presented us with 2 pictures of Ghana with the words "Akwaaba" written on them which means "Welcome."  We were also presented with a framed certificate honoring us for being the first sponsors that the project had at its beginning 4 years ago.  Don did a great job greeting the congregation and thanking them for the opportunity to partner with them in caring for the children of the project.

After the church service, we headed to the children's schools.  Our first stop was Dorothy's school.  We walked into a courtyard full of a sea of yellow and green uniforms.  The classrooms that you see all around the courtyard (all those rooms in the background behind the pillars are the classrooms) had emptied in anticipation of our arrival.

I immediately spotted her...a tiny little girl, head full of braids and beads and pink fluffy bows.  Her eyes sparkled with the same spunk I saw in her the first time I saw her picture four years ago.  Our eyes met...I smiled and waved...and she took off in a sprint across the courtyard.  I'm not sure how many children she leveled in her pursuit to reach us.  I remembered thinking, "Ok, brace yourself for impact so you don't both go flying."  She threw herself in my arms in a way that completely melted my heart.  Her tiny arms around my neck seemed like they never wanted to let go.  Don whispered in my ear, "Bet you've never had a greeting quite like that..."  {be still my heart...}

Meet little Miss Dorothy.  She's beautiful, tenacious, and spunky...she's a fighter.  And does this girl have some SASS!  I can easily imagine her in some red sparkly high heels.  She has been Ally's special friend which is perfect since Ally has spent her fair share of time in sparkly red shoes!  :)

I love the look on her face in this picture.  She was looking at the sea of children so proud to be showing us off.  Daniel had told us how important it was for us to visit them at school...how loved they feel to be able to show their friends that they have sponsors.

We stopped in Dorothy's classroom to meet her teacher and see where she sat.  The children were sitting 3 to a small desk.  The classrooms had very little as far as supplies...no colorfully decorated walls...no bulletin boards...no shelves of books or bins of manipulatives.  Honestly, I didn't even see any paper or pencils.  But these children have the privilege to be in school and that is more than many other children in the country.

At some point while we were standing in Dorothy's classroom, another little girl joined us.  I remembered glancing at her and it crossed my mind that she looked like Emmanuella.  (we were supposed to meet Emmanuella at her school next)  After some conversations around us, we found out that Emmanuella and her twin brother had just been transferred into this school and were actually in the same class as Dorothy.  At first, I was sad that we hadn't had the opportunity to greet her properly in front of her friends, but after a few minutes with her, I realized she wouldn't have wanted that.

Meet sweet little Emmanuella.  She was incredibly shy but just as sweet as can be.  She reminded me of a little flower waiting to bloom.  We interacted with her differently then the others.  She quietly held our hands and responded to our questions.  She is Libby's special friend and Lib did a great job interacting with her and initiating conversation with her.  It was so fun to see her blossom through the day and enjoy lots of splashing and smiling at the beach.  Her twin brother, Emmanuel, also joined us for the day.  They were both very polite and precious kids.  All the children actually spoke English pretty well so we didn't have problems communicating, especially with Ernestina there to interpret a couple times.

Our crew at the gate to the school pictured with the girls' teacher.  The kids are Dorothy, Emmanuel, and Emmanuella from Left to Right

*a note on pictures-people in African countries have amazing smiles.  However, in most countries, it is not customary to show those beautiful smiles for the camera.  I worked hard this day to capture some candid shots of those amazing smiles but most of our posed pictures will not show the children smiling.  

Our next stop was Mary's school.  They put us on the spot here and asked us to pick her out of the class full of little brown faces.  (they did this to Don a few years ago too when he visited)  Thankfully, I had spotted her waving her little hand right when we walked in the door so I could quickly point her out.

She could hardly contain her excitement.  She bolted out of her seat and immediately ran around and picked up Toby.  He wasn't quite sure what to make of it but handled it fine.   :)

Meet vivacious little Mary.  She's outgoing and full of life and energy.  Her love for young children was very evident as she tried to tend and care for Tobin and Chloe.  Mary has been Kady's special friend.  Anyone who knows Kady has probably heard about Mary, her best friend in Africa.  It has been a life long dream of hers to finally meet Mary.  She even went through an 18 month phase where she was saving every cent to purchase an airplane to fly to meet Mary someday.  This was the first moment of meeting...the fulfillment of a dream.  Love it!

  

Outside Mary's classroom, we got to meet a few other children who have sponsors through the Compassion International program.  Its neat to see Compassion and their sponsors having an impact on these children's lives.

After visiting the schools, we went the short distances to visit each of the children's homes and meet their families.

This was one of my fav pics.  I love how they are all holding hands or have their arms around each other.  Here we are heading to Dorothy's home.  (That's Father Abraham in the tro tro in the background.  He was a champ driving around on these back roads.  We had no idea before hand to warn him and he did great maneuvering the tro tro through areas that I can only presume weren't used to seeing vehicles of any kind.)

At Dorothy's home, we were invited inside and her father presented us with a beautifully carved wooden bowl.  We recognized the sacrifice this must have been for their family and the honor it was to be given such a gift.

Next we went to Emmanuella and Emmanuel's house. Their mother is a single mom who works as a hawker (This is what the Ghanaians call the people who sell things from their heads.  They can often be found weaving in and out of traffic selling through car windows.)  Like her children, she seemed very sweet.  She gave us a gift of some clothing - a shirt for both Don and I and a shirt for Libby.  This young mom has to work very hard to provide for her 3 children.  As I looked into her eyes, they reflected back the hard life she has lived.  I was thankful for the chance to hug her, tell her how much we love her children and tell her she was doing a good job.

In the background is the freezer we were able to help her buy this year.  She is now also working at selling ice blocks to local fishermen.

At Mary's house, we met her father.  He was very friendly and full of smiles.  He seemed to love that Mary was getting the opportunity to spend the day with us.

After our school and house visits, we loaded up the tro tro with our crew, our 4 new little friends, Ernestina, Father Abraham, and 2 staff from Compassion.  Then we headed the tro tro to Bojo Beach, a resort type area in Kasoa.  It turned out to be really nice.  We ordered lunch at the restaurant while the kids played outside.

I introduced our new little friends to "underdoggies."  They were a little nervous and made their bodies poker straight to make sure their feet were as close to the ground as possible.  But each time, they would cry out "Another Mommy, Another!"

After we ordered our lunch (which was later delivered by canoe to where we were), we all hopped into a canoe and were rowed across an inlet to the other side where the "real ocean" was.

We seriously think they look alike in this picture -- matching cheekbones!

The sand was dotted with little "cabana" tables and a thatched restaurant.  We settled ourselves at a table with our plates of jollof rice and chicken.

The best time was playing at the ocean.  Even though these kids have lived minutes from the coast their entire lives, this was there first time to the ocean.  They clung to Don and I tentatively as we splashed in the waves and they were all laughs and giggles.  It was so fun to see them come alive and get braver and braver as the water hit them.

Building sand castles

Showing us a game with rocks and "rhythm"

Don's handiwork in the sand

We ended our day sharing some "minerals" together before we parted ways to head home.  It was a sweet time for all of us -- the perfect first meeting.  I was so thankful for the time and thankful that at the end of the day, I could tell those sad little faces that we would see them again soon.

Emmanuella and Libby

Kady and Mary

Emmanuella and Emmanuel

Ally and Dorothy

We had a LONG tro tro ride home after a fun full day.  So thankful...