Sunday Feb. 5
Shadrach’s church with SOLO…and they want to me to sing again in the northern region
I DRAGGED MYSELF out of bed excited for another day at Shadrach’s fabulous church. This time Shadrach helped us catch a tro-tro to 37th and the go to the police station, where his church is SUPER close to. Then from there we walk down a dirt path to a school, which is where they hold their church services. The church service started earlier that morning, we were late by 30 minutes (Oops) and they were talking about the wedding where Mary had Jesus perform his first Miracle: water into wine. It is so fascinating to see Bible school happen with these adults during service and then AFTER the discussion the kids are brought in for a sermon, song, and dance.
(Disclaimer this is really the first time I have ever publicly discussed the Bible not in a church setting so bare with me)
We discussed if Mary was showing off or if not what the purpose was. I made my FIRST EVER comment at church in Ghana with how she wasn’t and the purpose was to show how this boy is different and his goal is to share his power with the world-every single human being. Shadrach’s mother disagreed, but for the first time discussing the Bible in MY ENTIRE LIFE, I was fascinated by her answer of in fact Mary was showing Jesus off. This is all interesting to me because I realized there is no right answer. I take the Bible as very symbolic and some people take it very literally, but that’s PERFECTLY fine because we all create an interpretation that is fascinating and VERY SIGNIFICANT TO OURSELVES.
So after we discussed for a bit more the children were brought in and we IMMEDIATELY BROKE OUT IN SONG. Ciarra, Audra, and I looked at each other, unsure what to do. I think I may ask Shadrach to teach me some Twi so I can sing with them…HOW AMAZING WOULD THAT BE? The rhythm and PASSION that each member of the church illustrated made me want to get a jar and capture it and pull it out any time I have doubts why I am here in WEST AFRICA.
These Ghanaians are beautiful. They all have traditional clothing and explode with energy praising the lord. The conviction and sincerity that they display makes me question if my faith is as pure and sincere as theirs. I guess the only way to find out is to explore my faith with people that are very convinced and see if I can hold that conviction.
Several church girls brought us bottled water…HOW CUTE, although it did make me feel slightly guilty that I could not give something back as a thank you. These girls used the tamberine and created beautiful music while we (or really the church) sang.
Then, there were several solos that performed…and YES I WAS ONE OF THEM! :D
Shadrach did a solo and he was AMAZING! He said he wasn’t a good singer…LIES…hehehee.
And then they asked me to sing…ohhh boy. What was I thinking? So I pulled out my default song: Lean on Me by Bill Withers and THEY LOVED IT! I just sang from the bottom of my heart and the drummer and the keyboard player managed to make a tune behind my voice. I FELT SO FREE AND COMPLETELY EMBRACING THIS WONDERFUL CULTURE. They gave me a STANDING ELEVATION and they actually asked me to sing in their eastern region church. YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME…I am not good singer…BUT I GUESS THEY THINK SO HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
So hey I get to go to the eastern region sometime soon and share my “voice” with them. I really do believe in what I am singing, but I never thought it was worthy of an actual performance.
We had some difficulties getting out of the church area. We took a taxi because Shadrach had a LOAD of things to bring to school. The first Taxi died on us and the second received a HUGE BUMP from a rock…LETS JUST SAY THE ROAD NEXT TO THE CHURCH WAS NOT IN GOOD CONDITION. But we made it back alive.
Making Red-Red with my roommate Anita and her friend Susie: AMAZINGNESS
Once I made it back to ISH I was greeted by my wonderful roommate to MAKE RED-RED SO SHE COULD TEACH ME THE SECRET OF THIS VERY TASTY MEAL. This meal entails fried plantains in palm oil and beans in a red sauce (and just for the one we made we had fish and vegs in them YUMMY). I don’t think I am that confident in making it yet…but hopefully soon. Emma and Katie joined me with my roommate and her best friend. The food WAS SPECTACULAR! I ate to the moon and back…literally. I had a very present food baby. Hehehehehhe. THIS MADE ME REALIZE HOW LUCKY I AM TO HAVE SUCH AN AMAZING ROOMMATE! She is LITERALLY the nicest person I have ever met.
NAP TIME
After filling my tummy, I took a LONG nap to recover me from the eventful church service and a FILLIN meal. What could be better that the feeling after a successful nap? BEING IN AFRICA! ;) DOUBLE HAPPINESS. I think this is truly where I belong.
Monday Feb. 6
“Traveling Solider” Dixie Chicks
This is a very sad, but truthful song. My first time at Mavious was very sad, but WONDERFUL.
VOLUNTEERING AT MAVIOUS OUTREACH PROGRAM: Worked with Felicia and a couple other kids in a group.
So we took a taxi to Kisseman junction and waited for Renee, then we made the 10 minute walk to the school, which is NOT A SCHOOL IN AMERICAN STANDARDS. The school had two classrooms under a canopy, one under a tree, and the fourth classroom (which should actually be two, but they don’t have the space to make a fifth class) is on the porch of the school. Their seats are made out of wood and about 4-7 kids can fit in each row (pending on the size of the child). There are three teachers and two people that run the show (one Ghanaian and one American (Renee).
The class was working on numbers and math when I got there. The oldest class was working on division. The two middle classes were working on writing the written form of the numbers and the youngest class was working on write 1-100 in order.
Renee had me take Felicia, one of the kids who is 10 years-old aside. She was struggling with understanding the difference between forty and four (fifty and five etc). I made up a song about the ones place and the tens place, WHICH SHE LOVED…It was really difficult to remind myself constantly that English is her third language and I HAD TO GO SLOW FOR HER TO UNDERSTAND ME. I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up and she said the next Ghanaian President (but later she said a teacher, which makes sense for a 10 year old). Her smile was sincere and I immediately loved her, almost as immediate as she loved me. SHE SAT right next to me holding my hands while I taught her the song. I was amazed how easily she opened up and how I became her hero. I want to steal her. HONESTLY. She wants to learn, but is struggling and you know what…I DON’T THINK I COULD MAKE IT AS FAR AS SHE DID IF I HAD A LANGUAGE BARRIER.
After we worked on that for a while, I then worked with her on pronouns vs. nouns and why we use pronouns in English. IT WAS PROBABLY THE LEAST SUCCESSFUL LESSON I EVER TAUGHT. The language barrier with grammar makes their understanding VERY SLIM. None-the-less, she was convinced to show me that she learned what I taught her. I think this motivation actually helped her learn some of it.
Then we were called for lunch. Their lunch today was rice and a sauce with fish in it. FOR SOME THIS WILL BE THERE ONLY, I REPEAT ONLY MEAL FOR THE DAY! How can we Americans be overweight and these children trying so hard to learn only get one meal a day.
HOW SPOILED I TRULY AM THAT I CAN EAT 3 MEALS A DAY! It was a brutal slap in the face, but I tried to keep my head up for the rest of the day because right now its NOT ABOUT ME, BUT RATHER THESE STUDENTS.
Renee gave us some rice and sauce. I felt guilty eating it, but she said they were leftovers any ways.
Sadly I had to bolt after lunch in order to TRULY FINISH THIS STUPID THING CALLED REGISTERATION, which I successfully did HORRAY DONE WITH REGISTERING FOR EACH DEPARTMENT!!!!!!
Then, at 5:30 I had a class.
And first Ghanaian HISTORY class
Which was a NO SHOW, which I managed to make two Ghanaian friends while waiting and discovered that Ciarra is in my class HORRAY! :)
MANGO FOR DINNER and a sub dinner with my roommate of leftover red-red. YUMMY! I am convinced this roommate is A KEEPER! ;)
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