Africa day 8 - a moment that topped them all

We talked to a family today and it completely broke my heart.

We walked up to the house (if you call it that) and there were kids everywhere!  Here's the place:

10 total and 1 more on the way, all living in a place smaller than my hotel room.  Their were 9 children, a single mom, and an elderly grandmother.

We asked the mother why the kids weren't in school, her reply - she couldn't come up with the $1.50 registration fee.

I've got to do this quick so I'm going bullet style:
- a year ago their father died
- 6 months ago the mother was raped and she is now pregnant again (with child 10)
- they had a small bowl of yuka for the entire family to eat

Here's a picture I took of the mother, grandmother, and a few of the kids:

But I've seen all that before.

Then we saw the sick kid.  A 6 year old boy, who looked horrible.  He had cloudy, yellow eyes and was the only kid in the entire group that I never saw smile.  This kid will be dead or blind if he doesn't get some help.

Immediately we told her that he needed to see a doctor - but she didn't have any money.  How many times has my life, or my kids lives been saved simply because we had the right medical care.  Kids are dying of a fever - kids are dying of diarrhea, kids are having convulsions because they can't get the simple medicine they need to survive.  I've heard this all before - but today I saw it.

We gave them $20 to get some help but Kwame thought they would probably buy food.

I took his picture

Africa day 8 - Fishing village/child trafficking

Well I have a lot to say tonight - but not a lot of time and the internet is not cooperating.

We drove west from Accra along the coast to a small fishing village.  These people literally fish for a living by using nets thrown from these motor-less boats:

It was interesting to walk around the village - literally $50 homes built on million dollar, ocean front property:

But the reason I was brought here was not to see the ocean or even these people, but to learn firsthand about child slavery and trafficking.  You see it is villages like this one that trafficking often occurs in this part of the world - so we came here to walk around, but also to be taught the truth about what is going on.

Poverty has an effect on every area of their lives - and I've found that parents here are quick to attempt to give their children a better life.  Parents take out loans and find ways to pay for private, boarding schools they can't afford - and many of the teenage girls that I talked with, in the city of Accra, were sent to the city for "a better life".

This is how the story begins.  Good intentioned parents in their poverty, desperation, and ignorance sending their children into slavery without even knowing it.

"Recruiters" show up in these small, rural villages (like I visited in the North) and offer a better life for the children.  They even offer to give some money (I was told maybe $100).  The kids are then brought to the city where they are sold.  Most of the time, the parents have absolutely no idea what is happening with their kids.

Many girls are sold into prostitution - young girls, sometimes less than 10 years old, raped by predators so someone can make a buck.

Others end up in factories, or fields, working all day in the sun or along the shores of fishing villages forced to do hard, disgusting work that these men don't want to do.

I was told about the story of a 12 year old girl named Abigale:

Abigale was from a small village in Northern Ghana.  Her aunt came back to the village, told Abigale's mother that she will take her to the city, where she can get a better education and have a chance to live a better life.  This sounded like a good idea to the family - so Abigale headed to the city with her aunt.

Shortly after, 12 year old Abigale was forced into prostitution.  No education, no better life - just raped by men 3 or 4 times her age.

A short story, a horrifying story - but a story that is happening here in Ghana, and in many places all over our world.

Poverty is the root of the problem.  It starts with desperation and ignorance.  And it ends with many children in slavery.

Africa day 7 - Church in Accra!

This morning I had the chance to speak at "Liberty Centre A/G" in Accra - and when I say "this morning" I really mean it!

The service started at 7am but they told me to come at 7:30 (quite weird).  When I showed up the music was rocking!  LOUD worship and the people were dancing all over the place.  Everybody in the church knew I was there, not just because I was the only white person in the building, but because I was also the only one standing still - I thought about getting my groove on, but I don't think they would have wanted to see me dance.

This was definitely a wealthier side of Ghana than I have seen. The people were all very nicely dressed and the building was nice.  The church had about 700 people (most of which showed up an hour or so late).

Service started at 7am - I got the microphone at about 8:30, spoke for 30 minutes, and the service finally wrapped up at 10.  Then they go to Sunday School!

My message went well, but the African people don't understand my humor - which led to a few awkward moments.  The overall response was great and the people were very welcoming and excited to have me there.

Here's a couple pictures from my junky, little camera:

The church sign as we drove up:

The building:

The worship team (the woman in the white was a dancer):

Preaching with my interpreter - it's very difficult to get in the "flow" of speaking, constantly having to pause after every sentence.  But overall I thought it went great:

This afternoon I had the chance to "Skype" with my church back home.  It was so good to hear some of their voices and get the chance to share for a few minutes.  I'm having a life changing time here in Ghana, but I definitely miss my family, my church, and home in general.

Tomorrow we are heading west to visit a small fishing village and a few other places.  I can't believe I've already been here a week!

Thanks for your prayers - I feel much better today!

Africa day 6 - back to Accra to rest

This morning we got on a plane and flew back to Accra.  I ended up eating some food that I shouldn't have - and was up all night vomiting, etc.  I'm still struggling to get healthy - so today has become a rest day.

Tomorrow morning I'm speaking in the local church - which starts at 7am!  I think our attendance would go down to about 8 if we started our service that early!  I'm hoping to be healthy by then.

That's about it for today - but here's something else from yesterday:

While we were driving through the rural villages we found a few men actually building one of those "huts".  It was fascinating to see the process so I took some pictures.

This is where they get the "mud" used to build their homes - In the picture is my guide Kwame, he's been absolutely amazing:

They mix it with water and it becomes almost a cement mixture:

This particular job is almost completed - they just form the mud and let it dry:

It was quite impressive - they were really well built.  I was told that it takes about 2 days to complete a normal sized "hut" - but a hard rain storm can bring one down pretty quick.


Please pray for my health - and also for the service tomorrow morning

Africa day 5 - Heading north!

This morning we headed even farther north - almost to the border.  I was told that only 2-3 cars a week travel on the road we were on.

As we were driving through one of the small villages, we saw a woman drawing water from a well.  She was using a long rope with a rubber bucket on the end - and filling up her container (which she carries on her head).  I had her pose for me:

We then went and visited an elementary school - the kids are so much fun!  I was quite the distraction from their class and I'm not so sure the teachers were as happy that I was there.

The school had 3 classrooms - each with over 50 kids, 1 teacher, and not many places to sit.  Most of the kids were sitting or even laying on the floor with their paper and pencil.  Just about all of them were barefoot.  Of course I took some pictures:

The school:

One of the classes:

Trying to learn:

Very distracted by the white man:

Education plays such a huge part in the future success of these kids.  Many children do not have the opportunity to go to school - and this just feeds the cycle of poverty.  But even in those who do go, it is very difficult to actually learn.  Huge class sizes, only a few teachers, and no class supplies (not even desks!).  I loved the kids but this was hard for me to see.


The main purpose of our trip today was to find a couple of the girls who had graduated from "Lifeline" (if you don't know what that is check out the previous blogs from this trip).

We wanted to see how they were doing and attempt to judge the success of the program over a length of time.  We found 2 of the girls and spent some time speaking with them. I'll share with you one of their stories:

This is Grace - she is from a rural village in Northern Ghana.  When she was 15 years old her parents sent her to the city of Accra to buy some textbooks and earn a little money working.  She found herself 15 years old, homeless, and alone living in the parking lot at Tema Station (see previous blog).  She was cleaning dishes at a restaurant for $1 a day.

She ended up in the Lifeline program where she learned how to sew.  She is now 19 and living in her village - in the process of setting up her new dress making business.

It was incredible sitting with her and hearing her story.  I can't imagine being in her shoes and hopefully she is a success story.


Finally late afternoon we went to a small pond where there are crocodiles!  The animals were wild but you pay to go - and they lure the crocs onto dry land.  These things freak me out!

I still have both arms and both legs:

Tomorrow morning we fly back to Accra - I'm speaking in a church on Sunday, which I'm told has about 500 people who attend their Sunday morning service.  I will be speaking through an interpreter, which is always an interesting experience.

Then Sunday afternoon I will be Skyping during the Sunday morning service at RLC (my church in Sauk Centre)!  I'm excited to see how this works!

Thanks for your prayers!

Africa day 4 - Yendi, Gbungbaliga, and Saboba

Interesting day!  We traveled from the town of Tamale (pronounced "Tom ali") straight east for about 100 miles.  Horrible, bumpy, dirt roads and we drove insanely fast!  I didn't know whether to urinate all over myself in fear or vomit because of the bumps.  Luckily I did neither.

We ended up visiting 3 villages:  Yendi, Gbungbaliga, and Saboba.

My guide Kwame grew up in the village of Gbungbaliga, so he took me there, where we were able to visit some of his family.  They showed me their homes and we spent some time talking.

The people in these villages live with their extended families in a circle of these "huts". The sides are made of mud (rock hard to the touch) and the tops are made of thatch (looked like pencil sized sticks).  They use this on the top to keep them cool - and it worked!  I walked in and it was much cooler than outside.

This particular extended family had 4 huts and another one for their animals.  Here's the view from one side:

Inside the hut was a hard mud floor along with everything they own.  They didn't have much at all - a few cooking utensils and some clothes.

These huts had electrical power (for a light), in fact you can see the power line going in through the side:  Some of the villages we saw today are still without electricity.

In between the huts is the family kitchen where everything is made over a fire (they burn those pieces of wood).  Also notice the yellow water jugs in the background and a goat peaking his head around the corner:

The next picture is Kwame's sister in law "Pagkpema" who was at the huts when we arrived.  I was asking her some questions and the topic of water came up.  You need to catch this:  She travels 3 times in the morning and 3 times in the evening to get water!  The nearest well is about 3 miles away and she gets about 5 gallons of water each time.

But the crazy part is - she carries it on her head!  She carries 5 gallons of water for 3 miles, 6 time a day - and she has to weigh about 100 lbs!  I had to take a picture because I wouldn't believe myself when I got home:

Water is so essential to life and we don't even think about it!

Between collecting firewood, walking to get water, and taking care of the children -a woman's day is completely full.  By the way - they need water, firewood, and the kids need to be taken care of 7 days a week.

The men were in the fields for the entire day.  Many of them using a short hoe to remove the weeds from their fields.

It was incredible to see the way they live.  Complete poverty, lack of clean water, no possessions, and no hope of it changing.

Kwame was telling me about growing up here.  5 of his 10 brothers and sisters died in childhood and he was the only child in his family who was able to go to school.

Tomorrow I will be heading north a few hours to visit a few other villages.  Keep praying for us!

Africa day 3 - Traveling to Tamale

Got up this morning at 3:45am to catch a flight to the northern region of Ghana.  This part of the trip is for me to experience the rural poverty in this part of Africa.  It was a small plane (room for about 40 passengers) and it took about an hour.  The airport in Tamale is about the same size as our church building.

We spent the morning driving around the city of Tamale and I just asked a whole lot of questions.  I could immediately see the difference as we passed the homes (or should I say huts) that people lived in.

All these pictures were taken from the truck so they're not the best:

A group of "houses" - there are clusters of these all over.  The roof is thatch and the walls are mud

Women walking on the street - I have know idea how they do this:

This is an ant hill - approximately 10 feet high.  I don't want to meet those ants!

With a long day yesterday and the early morning traveling we are taking the day to rest.  The next 2 days we are driving out of Tamale to visit a few villages in the area - I'm hoping we can actually visit a few of these homes and talk to some of people