6 June 2015 And we're back!!

Good day!

It has been an exciting few weeks. But first I need to apologize for the space between posts. I honestly have been trying to get it done, but our internet connection has been extra bad the past few weeks. Even the mission home has been falling behind on official business because of it.

Sister Barney and I headed North again in anticipation of teaching in the Bongo community, but at the last minute it was canceled. We did get some things accomplished in Techiman and Tamale. I was able to have 4 new Melchizedek Priesthood brethren sustained,  and two 2nd councilors in two of the branches in Techiman. It is a marvelous thing watching the Gospel of Jesus Christ work in people's lives when they accept and live it.

We also made a quick trip to Accra with two missionaries in-tow so that one of them could receive testing for his eyes. One of our Nigerian Elders has been losing his vision and it's been a scramble to figure out what the problem is. It turned out to be some sort of trauma to the optic nerve. Only time will tell what the outcome will be.

Here are some pics:

 This is a cocoa pod cut open to reveal the beans inside.

 Our first sighting of a fuel tanker. We started noticing that most have the typical warning

stenciled on them, then we noticed they were getting creative. some would say

HIGHLY INFLAMMABLE

 And it has gone down hill from there.

 What more could you ask for to get you back on your feet

and pointed in the right direction.

 Sister Barney is into fonts, and this one is a major grate

on here nerves. "Crystal Rose" made out of rustic wood Bark? Really?

 Dried Plantain that is sold by street vendors everywhere.

It also comes in chips. Plantain looks like large bananas.

 Wow, I'm at a loss for words.

 We ordered a pizza at this outdoor shop and Sister Barney is keeping an eye on the chef.

We ended up having a great time with the entire staff, laughing and teasing.

One lady ended up on the ground she was laughing so hard.

 the pizza turned out great

 In the oven

 they build the fire on the side

 This is Comfort, our landlady, cooking in her half of our duplex. Indoor charcoal stove. That would explain the wood ashes that float in thru our ceiling when the wind blows.

 The stew she is making. It smells wonderful.

 We see this lady around the neighborhood, usually being

pushed by one of the children.

 This little girl is always at the little corner shop sweeping

and taking care of the dirty work.

 This little guy is carrying hot coals to his mothers chop bar

so she can get the food cooking. They share coals around the neighborhood.

 This is one of the largest open-air markets in Africa, and it right

here in Kumasi. It's called Adum.

 We are standing on the edge of a footbridge that spans the old railroad station

that has been taken over by the vendors.

 You can buy anything imaginable down there. 

We had to walk down for a closer look, but they don't like their 

picture taken. Too Bad.

 We are into the rainy season and things are really greening up.

The elephant grass gets to be 10 feet tall

 Who is that handsome dude??

 Lots of termite mounds around. They are as hard as cement.

Some are extremely tall.

 One time downtown, we hear sirens coming, and 5 or 6 vehicles pull up with one being a Rolls Royce. Military types push back the people and several people jump out and escort the Ashanti Chief into one of the shops.

 Techiman primary girl. She is sooo little and her mother got her to say, "Sister Barney" just as plain as can be. My heart melted. Sure miss my little ones at moments like this. SB

 And her big sister

 Making...guess what...in primary.

 This is a new member. He was baptized about a month ago.

We gave him a new member pack which has a Bible, Triple, and several 

other lesson books and pamphlets in it.

He said it is the nicest thing anybody has ever done for him.

He has been reading and asking question ever since.

 And just when you were starting to feel sorry for us over here

without any of the "Modern Conveniences"

 A little cloud burst and things can get a little wild.

 This is a school that the Humanitarian department has provided a well

and storage tanks for. It was started by a little old lady and has grown to 840 students.

They were continually running out of water from their hand dug well,

 This is the cafateria

 This is the outdoor kitchen

 There were some funds left over from the well, so they were provided with

a library. The Devers had some shelves made, purchased some books, tables, chairs,

paint and so forth. The kids were so excited.

 This is one of the class rooms.

 The Devers (tall ones) and the school staff.

The lady that started it is in the center. She is 80+

1-May-2015 Action Packed Few Weeks

We are back in Kumasi and in a new apartment. I thought only young missionaries got transferred around. Our new apartment is pretty darn nice, as far as mission apartments fare, and is really close to the Mission Home. Elder and Sister Preator were released and went home to Wyoming, so the apartment that they were in was just built, so we have a couple of years left on the lease. Our apartment is being cut loose, or turned back to the landlord in July, so we were asked by President Holmes to move here.
We have been high on the adventure scale the past few weeks. We moved back from Techiman, we helped do medical screening at a witch camp in Gambaga, and a small village called Kolinvai in the East Mamprusi District in the Northern Region of Ghana. You can Google Earth Gambaga but Kolinvai will not be shown. You can Google the "Gambaga Witch Camp" also and do some interesting reading.
The witch camp excursion was on the 21st of April. We drove to Tamale on the 20th and stayed with Elder and Sister Brink, the Tamale Senior Couple, then on to Gambaga early on the 21st with the medical team from the Tamale Teaching Hospital. After the fanfare, the team examined close to 300 witches and local residence. We stayed in Gambaga at Chesterfield Lodge B&B the night of the 21st.
The next day, the 22nd, we traveled for an hour or so to the Kolinvai community. The team examined another 300+ residence from the area. We traveled back to the Chesterfield Lodge for the night.
The 23rd the Tamale Hospital team headed back to Tamale. Sister Barney and myself, along with two of the organizers of the screening, headed to the College of Nurses and Midwifery to do some Helping Babies Breathe (HBB) teaching. When we arrived the College Administrator thanked us for coming to teach "Nutrition"?????WHAT????? Miscommunication big time. We explained that we were there to teach HBB to the instructors. No problem..... just go into the next room and teach the class that is waiting for you. WHAT....there sat 240 students waiting to be taught by the "all knowing" obruni's. After I caught Sister Barney by the apron strings as she was exiting, we put our heads together and decided to teach them how to teach people in the communities "Hand Washing" I'm just glad that Sister Barney has some experience in that area. It worked out very well.
Then we moved to another classroom to start the HBB and low and behold there sat another 120 students waiting to fire up their "Gray Matter". Well on to hand-washing a second time. Once again it turned out great.
Now, what were we here for....oh yes....HBB. We finally got 3 instructors and 6 top students cornered in an office so Sister Barney could do her intended instruction.
So altogether she taught 260 nurse/midwifes hand-washing, and 9 people HBB.

Enjoy the pics, and I'll try to be better about posting.

 Enter the "Witch Camp" living area. Gambaga.

 The party started and Sister Brink and Sister Barney were

invited (dragged) to the dance floor.

 Branch President from Tamale, on the left, who is involved in the project.

The Dr. from the Hospital in the middle, and Jonas that did the organizing.

 One of three vans from the hospital.

 A nice shady spot to do screening. Kolinvai.

 Two "Peace Corps" workers. The guy on the left is headed home after two years

and the girl on the right has just arrived...she is still shell-shocked. Kolinvai.

 This looks like we could have Primary....

 And of course the media has to get their two cents in.

"I am not good at interviews"

Kolinvai.

 This was the first surprise at the college.

"Now rub your hands together like this"

Gambaga

 Finally teaching some one HBB

 B4 we left, the Big King wanted to thank us. He is the one in the 

middle that sits the highest. He is over the Northern areas and has several

vassal kings under him.

Gambaga

 The king gave us 3 guinea fowl as a gift. We gave him 

de-worming meds for all 43 of his grand children.

From 6 wives I might add.

 A set of twins that were a little early...

Sister Barney just happened to have here HBB stuff on hand

and was able to resuscitate the one on the right. 

This delivery was at the Opoku Agyeman Hospital in Techiman.

 The farther we go north in Ghana, the more of these carts we see.

This was in Gambaga

We see lots of this sort of damage. 

Way too much weight on the trucks, and "snap".

Now they have two short-beds.

Apartment Tour

 Our "Smartly Decorated" book shelf.

 Master Bedroom

 Office...in master bedroom.

 Living Room

 Different angle of Living Room

 Kitchen and Chef....

Holding a Mango of course.

 Pantry area

 Spare bedroom for visiting royalty.

 Gymnasium

 Bathroom

 Dining area

 Storage room

 Entrance

 Limo parking

 Our utility area.... generator, water pump, and the cherished poly tank.

 Front courtyard

 Vehicle man-gate combo 

 Street view

 From the gate view...

The purple building, in the back, is the Landlords brothers house.

Front view. Our half is on the right, the landlord and his wife

live in the left half.

The living room and master bedroom are the only air-conditioned rooms so that's where we spent the lions share of our time when we are at home. The rest of the apartment hovers around 90 degrees most of the time. It has been cooling off a bit in the night, so we have been opening all the windows and enjoying a nice cool 75 degree breeze...