Brotherly Love (Ghana)

Sufi and Kofi playing one afternoon, after school at the orphanage. Usually Kofi played or worked with the other boys after school, and the girls took Sufi. But there were those rare moments where the two brothers played together. It warms a mamma's heart!

Here is the fun in action.

("And then there he is" refers to a cute little boy who vied for my attention anytime Samuel was out of my arms.)

Although, the brothers did not spend most of the day together, they did at night (at least for a couple of weeks). This is the bed the three of us would share on those hot hot nights. Let's just say Mamma got little sleep between the added heat and kicking by both boys.

But again, there were those moments that touched Mamma's heart.
They were both sound asleep when I walked into the room and saw this.

Unsung Woman (Ghana)

During my stay at the orphanage (children's home and school), I learned to appreciate alot of things I took granted: regular running water, electricity, variety of food, comfort of soft furniture, stove, microwave, washer and dryer, dishwasher, and so much more. Things that are such a part of my life, but I hardly notice the ease it gives to my daily living.

During my two month stay there, I learned to appreciate not only the comfort I had back home, but the strength and endurance that the women in Ghana have. They would do all the chores I did back home, but they would do it without the appliances or convenience that make my life easier. On top of that, they did it for 200 children (only a portion of which are orphans, the rest are students).

One of the women, who you hardly ever hear about, was my salvation in so many ways.

Her name is Madam Salina.

(Madam pictured here with Abraham. Madame is actually holding 18mos Kobi on her back. They are preparing for day at the beach with the orphan children.)(Unfortunately, I lost alot of pictures and video due to computer and camera failure and so do not have the other photos or video of this wonderful woman!)

This is a woman who was up before I was (and I was up at the break of dawn), who went to bed after I did, and worked endlessly cleaning, cooking, and caring for the children (especially those under the age of five) as well as helped me clean and take care of Sufi and myself.

Every day she insisted on sweeping and mopping my room, even when I protested. She would take Sufi's clothing and bedding (that he had pooped all over -nightly) to wash before I could even finish feeding breakfast to Sufi and eating myself. She ensured that after my clothes had been hung to dry, that they were folded and put back in my room. She often bathed Sufi along with the other children, and when I was ill she took on caring for Sufi without hesitation.

This was all in addition to the fact that she fed the youngest five children all their meals, washed and bathed these children morning and night, changed diapers, swept and mopped the main house and the grounds around, washed clothes for most of the children (and that is ALOT of laundry on a daily basis and takes hours to do), help monitor the students, cooked meals over coals or logs, and so much more. There was hardly a moment when she sat down to relax. Yet, she was always so happy, never complained, and was always asking how else she could help me.

I never thought of myself as a lazy or slow worker. But watching Madam put me to shame. My admiration of her is so great. She does all that I do, at home, without the luxury of appliances and other conveniences that I take for granted. Not only does she do it without these things but she does it for so many more people and children than I do.

So for those, who go to the orphanage,

look for Madam Salina and know that she is

MY HERO!!!

The Woman Inside (GHANA)

Pabbi and I had planned, for a long time, to take time while in Ghana to walk the Canopy Walk located in Kakum National Park. Despite the fact that we both have a fear of heights we decided we wanted to brave the walk.

In order to make the walk one of us had to carry Sufi on our back, we both thought Pabbi the better choice. Not because he is stronger, but because he is sure footed. Raised in Iceland, one has to be sure footed as you leap around amongst the lava rocks. There were several options on how to carry him, but Pabbi thought the Ghanaian woman's style of carrying babies was BEST.

Within minutes of joining the group we heard giggles from the women who observed Pabbi carrying Sufi Ghanaian style. I think he felt a bit of pride from not shying away from this task!

So we set out to across the high Canopy walks.

There were 7 swinging bridges total: 3 short and 4 long.

It is quite a view high up above the trees.

Scary and exhilarating all at the same time!

Sufi loved the walk. In fact, he kept reaching out and and grabbing the ropes. After the walk he was exhausted (being carried around takes alot of energy you know) and quickly fell asleep.

On the way down we passed a few classes of girls who giggled non-stop or who pointed and exclaimed "Oh!" when they saw Pabbi carrying Sufi Ghanaian style. I bet they don't usually see men doing this. I had a hard time not laughing at all the surprised responses when Pabbi passed them by!
At the beginning of our excursion there was a woman who giggled at Pabbi carrying Sufi (who by the way was not liking it because he was not with Mamma), but she was helpful in calming Sufi and encouraging all the way. Her name is Peace (I just love the Ghanaian names). She was just a delight to get to know. She was there with her mother and brother braving the canopy walk. At the end she asked us to remember her, which would be no problem for us!
She is a wonderful woman!
(L-R:Mamma, Pabbi, Peace, Saviour, Peace's Mother)

Home At Last

Dear Family and Friends,

I know this has been a long time in coming...

So we would like to announce we are

Home at Last and as one Big Family!!

We have doubled in size and boy is it great!!

I have tried over the past two months to get information out to all of you and every attempt was foiled at one point or another!

But we are home and settling in.

We will catch you up on the news and fun as best as we can, just remember we now have two children to chase after and so our plentiful computer time will be more limited.

Here we are at the Ghana airport waiting to board.

Both boys were looking out the window at the planes and loving it.

Such excitement!

On the plane waiting for take off!

One of these days we will fill you in on the adventures of getting to the airport. Both boys traveled really well!! Even sweet little Sufi only had two melt downs (change is more difficult for him). We had really worried he would cry the whole time (crying is his favorite activity) but he did AWESOME. We think he loved the feel of the plane and the noise!

Home at last and sort of rested.

We are in Mamma and Pabbi's room.

We just woke up and decided for a family picture! Kofi LOVES his new room and his bed!!!

Sufi is currently sharing the bed with Mamma and Pabbi (until we get some things straightened out). Here you see him in more of his natural state!!! He is such a Mamma's boy - and has wanted to be held the whole time we have been home.
Don't worry about his face. He has a heat rash that got out of control (his scratching at it has not helped). He has an appointment with our Doctor tommorrow so we hope to see his face clear and more at ease very soon!!!

We want to thank the director, Abraham, and L.M. who helped us build our family. They have spent SO much time and energy helping us bring our boys home. We seemed to hit every roadblock possible and thensome, and due to that, they put in overtime in helping us sort through the whole thing. We are ever grateful for the patience and never-ending support and encouragement. The work is hard and they were ever willing to do it when our strength was spent! We are forever grateful to you!!

We also want to send out a Thank You to everyone who has supported us and helped us bring our boys home. We know we would not have been able to do this without your help.

We also want to thank our dear friend, Kristin who decorated our home for the boys return and made things so nice to come home to!!

We love you and Thank you all!!!

We will be seeing more of each other!

Ghana Get'Ya

Dear Family and Friends,

As you may already know, Mamma is now in Ghana.

She was supposed to keep us updated with pictures and news of all the children,

but is currently having some difficulty getting on the internet.

The difficulty consists of two main reasons;

first, electricity to power the computer

and second, internet access.

Well, what do you expect... this is Africa.

Anyway, after much pains-taking suffering,

she has been able to send some news and pictures.

They are of some of the other children there for adoption.

These are (starting from left to right)
Marion, Dorothy, Precious (smallest), Vida, and Elizabeth.

These three boys are Junior (front),
Abi (back), and Enyinda (middle).

Abi and Kobe are brothers and love Mamma to bits.

Junior looks as if he has just

solemnly sworn to be up to no good (don't you think).

Chapter Thirty-One: All Is Quiet....

A friend the other day commented, "It sure has been quiet on the blogs lately."
And it has been.

There just has been no news from the eastern front and that causes the western front to wait.

With the director of the orphanage out of the country (he was asked to speak at an international conference in Kenya, regarding issues for orphans) and elections, and the holidays not much has been moving -thereby not much for anyone to blog about.

I am going to be so relieved that the Ghanaian elections are over (they are happening today) because I think it has really affected the timeline of the process. And this year has been overlypacked with politics (this included our elections here in the states).

I also think I will be relieved when the holidays are over (no I am NOT a Grinch; holidays just cause delays - and I feel like our delays have been long enough.

In addition, I am also relieved to know the director is back at the orphanage (one week later than originally planned). Knowing he is there gives me a sense of peace.At this point there will be hardly any news until we hear of our court date!
We are praying that it will be soon!

Chapter Twenty-Four: African Children's Choir

A few weeks I came across a post on a blog that I have been stalking of a family who had recently adopted three beautiful Ghanaian children. I have been following their story for the past several months. The mom had posted a video of the African Children's Choir and then commented how she hoped to be able to take her children to a performance in her area.



I watched the video and was quite moved. But the link she had to the choir wasn't working and I didn't have time to track it down and I did not give much more thought to it. A few days later, she posted about the family's experience going to the performance. I think what struck me most was that after the performance, her daughters showed her the moves and steps they did know. This told me that some of the dances performed came from Ghana, which excited me.

I then became determined to know more. She posted the link for the Choir again, which I followed. I also checked out Youtube for more videos. The more I saw, the more I longed to go. Lucky for us, there was a performance on the November 8th in Salt Lake. I was so excited that I talked to Pabbi about it. He then watched the videos and said we HAD to find a way to go.

We notified several others, who are in the Utah area and adopting from same children's home, of the performance coming up. L.M. and daughter wanted to go, and Narda and Steve also said they wanted to go. In fact, Steve and Narda were able to get us discount prices, which was great! (Thanks Narda and Steve). Then my Aunt and Uncle said they would like to go as well. So our group of eight went and we really enjoyed the performance!!!

Not only were these children so very talented...their performances really moved us. This is the 35 choir since they began touring back in 1984. Check out their website for more information on the choir, their purpose, and performance dates in your area.
Near the end of the performance, they sang Africa's anthem as all the flags of the continent were lowered. It was very moving!
We hope, that sometime in the future, we will be able to learn the dances and songs, from Ghana, that they sang, and teach them to our boys.
Very Inspiring!

Chapter Six: The Diagnosis

The diagnosis for Sufi's illness is Malaria.
We kind of expected that diagnosis, but now that we know for certainty it makes it even harder not to be with him.

I know malaria is pretty serious, but I have to admit, I did not know that much about the disease, nor what effects it has. So I did some research. I was a bit shocked to know how bad it was, and to know that there really is not an immunization for this disease. I also was shocked at how prevalent this disease is, even in our current times.
I stand educated!

Malaria

is a serious, infectious disease spread by certain mosquitoes. It is most common in tropical climates. It is characterized by recurrent symptoms of chills,fever, and an enlarged spleen. The disease can be treated with medication, but it often recurs. Malaria is endemic (occurs frequently in a particular locality) in many third world countries. Isolated, small outbreaks sometimes occur within the boundaries of the United States.

Causes

Malaria is caused by a parasite that is transmitted from one human to another by the bite of infected Anopheles mosquitoes. In humans, the parasites (called sporozoites) migrate to the liver where they mature and release another form, the merozoites. These enter the bloodstream and infect the red blood cells.after red blood cells rupture.

Malaria Life Cycle

The parasites multiply inside the red blood cells, which then rupture within 48 to 72 hours, infecting more red blood cells. The first symptoms usually occur 10 days to 4 weeks after infection, though they can appear as early as 8 days or as long as a year later. Then the symptoms occur in cycles of 48 to 72 hours.

The majority of symptoms are caused by the massive release of merozoites into the bloodstream, the anemia resulting from the destruction of the red blood cells, & the problems caused by large amounts of free hemoglobin released into the circulation

Malaria can be cured with prescription drugs.
The type of drugs and length of treatment depend on the type of malaria, where the person was infected, their age, whether they are pregnant, and how sick they are at the start of treatment.
World ViewMalaria is not a serious problem in the United States.The picture is far more bleak outside the territorial boundaries of the United States. Malaria infects between 300 and 500 million people every year in Africa, India, southeast Asia, the Middle East, Oceania, and Central and South America. About 2 million of the infected die each year. Most of the cases and almost all of the deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa. At the present time, malaria kills about twice as many people as does AIDS. As many as half a billion people worldwide are left with chronic anemia due to malaria infection. In some parts of Africa, people battle up to 40 or more separate episodes of malaria in their lifetimes. The spread of malaria is becoming even more serious as the parasites that cause malaria develop resistance to the drugs used to treat the condition.

http://www.malariahotspots.co.uk/files/images/MH_L1_facts_map.gif

According to the World Health Organization, each year nearly 500 million people become infected with malaria, and nearly three million, mostly children, die from it. Areas around the world facing the greatest risk, shown reddish brown, harbor some of the world's most impoverished people.

Sites to check out and learn more:

Malaria article -Health Line,

Healthline,

Malaria FACTS,

Frequently Asked Questions about Malaria,

Medline Plus info on Malaria,

Center for Disease Control and Prevention,

and more.

Now I know this sounds bleak, and horrible, but we are not despairing. He was given medication and is already doing so much better! Out of this we learned a little more about Sufi's personality. Apparently as sick as he was, he was quiet, amiable, did not complain at all, and not in the least bit colicky. They could hardly tell he was sick, except for the coughing and fever. The director said he is quite the hardy boy!

We are still praying for him, and hoping he will recover quickly and completely. We will continue to pray that he does not relapse, nor contract it again (anyone can get it over and over again).