on our way to the school





and back home again - going down was more treacherous than going up!  (for me anyway!)






almost to the school -this was quite a hike for me! especially after a rainfall!





Raegan in the clinic where she volunteers in the afternoon







leavingGreat Falls



arriving in Germany for a 3 hour layover



trying to take in all the sights - first morningin Ghana

a warm greeting from children at a school near Accra

we gave this sweet little barefoot girl a pair of sandals - she loved them and stomped around in the dirt trying them out!



our first meal - beans, boiled plantain and yam



Slow and Steady on Day 3

Here we are on day 3 and still feeling the shock of such a changed lifestyle.  We teach at a school every morning and the children, of course are irresistable.  There are 20 children between 3 and 6 with one teacher in a small room with a dirt floor. The teacher has taught here for 15 years and built the little building herself so it is run privately.  The children are eager to learn and love whatever we bring to teach with.  Ben has spent a lot of time with little ones lined up to ride on his shoulders and Michaelas arms are always full.


We are staying with a very nice family who have 21 yr old twin boys and a 10 year old daughter.  They have electricity but no running water.  The cold bucket showers each day have actually been quite refreshing and i am especially grateful for the strong arms that carry all those many buckets of water each day for the 6 of us to use plus their own family!  One five gallon bucket provides a lovely shower including a hair wash!

Will try to post some photos soon .  We are at an internet cafe that is very slow and each photo can take several minutes.



We are off to visit Raegan's favorite orphanage this afternoon and are excited to take some surprises from the massive amounts of wonderful donations we were able to bring with us!

On Our Way!

Had a fun Parade Day and Family BBQ in Barnwell and left for Great Falls about 9 p.m.  Our border guy was awesome - was more interested in what we were going to do in Ghana than whether or not any of those 16 pieces of luggage contained anything illegal!   Drove through some wild lightening storms and settled in for a good nights sleep here at the Holiday Inn.  All having our last hot shower for a month and then off to the airport!

Remind me not to book a hotel with stay123.com - our printed off reservation with confirmation # was bogus!  Glad Great Falls had some other options for us! 

Posting again by Request....

http://youtu.be/3pDg4zLsCQ8

Veggie Peeler and Mascara!

From Riley this morning as we finish the last of our packing...we are so excited to show up with all our soccer balls!  

Some other good ideas to bring are:

Any drink mixes that you add to water. 

And those spongy, softer soccer balls that are a lot smaller are good.

The kids play soccer with balls of saran wrap in the

villages sometimes, or a tennis ball.

If you happen to remember some sort of vegetable peeler would be nice

for Alfred. His 13 year old son peels all the potatoes, yams, carrots,

and dices them all with a knife that is nothing like a peeler! lol

Other than that I wouldn’t be too concerned about bringing the right

things, people will love anything you bring really.

And Raegan says to bring mascara for the nurses at  the clinic who really like whatever Raegan is using on her eyelashes!

Yes bring sandals for sure. I have 2 pairs that broke but I got them

fixed for 50 cents! So they last a while. One pair of shoes is a good

idea for playing football with and any hiking or if you want to go

for a run...

Phone Lost and Found - Three Cheers!

The lost cell phone was returned...yay!  Raegan seems to be feeling better...yay!  EIGHT sleeps till we are on our way...yay!

peek-a-boo!