Pictures! and Tamale! Hot! Hot! Hot!

Here are a few highlights from the trip thus far... as I said we are moving further up north to visit a children's orphanage, help re-paint a school, visit another village, and check out some cool waterfalls! Hopefully we won't stop on the side of the raod again to check out dead beavers that people were selling (illegally) as edible meals...loving and miss you and you and you and you and you...enjoy the pics!

The gentleman above is holding what is called bushmeat...

Fast forward a day...the waterfall was awesome, but not as amazing as Israel's in the Golan Heights...but it was most refreshing.

(Enjoying fresh mangos from the tree behind me!)

We are currently in an asian-infused hotel in Tamale, a town in the northern region on Ghana. The hotel literally has Asian accents...it is so bizarre! But I suppose I have seen weirder things in this country...like goats chillin EVERYWHERE and grown men peeing EVERYWHERE!

Its been quite a few days... with only one bump: we have had to change hotels due to no a/c...it was only out in two rooms, guess who was one of them?? thats right...moi. No biggie once we had the fan in though. Never will I complain about a hot summer heat in Georgia, cuz we ain't seen nuthin'!

Today was an incredible opportunity for me to get in touch with my maternal instincts. We went to the village of Sugashe...they were amazingly welcoming with their shea butter demonstrations, their tour of the community and of course, letting some of us carry the babies on our backs! I had one little guy for almost the whole three hours, I thanked his mom with a few cedis ("dollars") and a big smile. Sugashea village, Ghana. May 2009.


So happy to have this experience...my little man was too sweet!

The women's empowerment group that we visited makes the shea butter (above) as a source of funding for their village...so fresh!

We were able to donate 100 uniforms, some money and lots of goodies to the village. It was so rewarding and I only wish we could have done more.

They look pretty happy, huh? The blue uniforms in the back are great examples of what we were able to donate to them! Kim D. also gave away her awesome blue shades :)

After enjoying my hummus and pita lunch, the social work group headed to the infant Orphanage of Anfaani (meaning Blessed) where I had the pleasure of meeting the incredibly articulate and impressive manager, Amelia Ojo. She has done powerful work along with her Aunt, the founder who passed last year, for 0-3 year olds who are motherless. There were 8 children there at the time and we were asked to take our shoes off upon entering the orphanage. After hearing the history and taking the tour we waited on one of the professors to finish a meeting with the Amelia. During that time I took advantage of the sweet little souls just waiting for time to be spent on them...I helped burp Adams and just wouldn't put him down...played with the triplets and made monkey faces with a little boy who looks like he fell on his face and busted his eyebrow :( As intense and emotional as the experience was, it comforted me to know how safe they were in that orphanage. It was perfect, but it was safer than being out in their community. One little girl's dad came to visit all the time and would do construction work for them. He was there and just seemed to be doing his absolute best, I left him some money by his hat while he left to check on his daughter because men like him deserve way more than what he was dealing with.

Tomorrow we are heading 2 hours North to an alligator farm! Woot! This is the farthest north we will go and on the way back will stop at various markets and watch some basket making demonstrations.

I can't believe it as only been one week! How crazy?? It is almost going very slowly...which is a good thing! I do miss home quite a bit, I didn't realize how much I was in contact with some of you and how much you were a part of my everyday!!

I guess I should go hit the showers, cuz I sure do stink...and just so you know I am watching My Cousin Vinny digesting some rice and dreaming of this beautiful Africa.

Big love and lots of hugs to you wonderfully special people...and shout out to Mary Catherine Register for letting me borrow her computer!!! (i wish i brought mine!)

The sunburned freckle-faced traveler.