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!