I finally have internet! Thank you all for your patience, I should be
able to update my blog more frequently now.
So much has happened in my time in Ghana already. I have been at the City of Refuge site for
several weeks now. I am still waiting
for a dull moment here, but something tells me I shouldn’t hold my breath. Let me begin with telling you about the
wonderful organization that I am working with.
City of Refuge is a center for
children rescued from human trafficking.
In Ghana, there is a large river, the Volta River, which runs north to
south through the country. Poverty in
northern regions drive parents to look for better solutions for their
children. They are promised a better
life for their child if they send them to work along the river. Parents are promised a life for their
child. They are told they will be taken
care of, fed, and given an education.
Unfortunately, this is rarely the case.
Children are forced to give up their childhood, and work on
the boats. The days are long and
grueling, not to mention dangerous.
Children are expected to dive down into the lake and untangle the nets
that are caught on the tree roots far below the surface. They are forced into child labor and deprived
of an education. In addition to the
hardships of the lake, they frequently become victims of physical and sexual
abuse. Their childhood is stripped away
from they and most of them will never get it back.
Here, at City of Refuge, children have the right to a
childhood. They finally have a place to
call home. They are given more food than
they can eat, given an education, and are loved immensely. Most children don’t know when their birthday
is or how old they are when they arrive.
Upon their arrival, their birthday becomes the day that they were
rescued by City of Refuge. Their new
birthday respresents the day they were given a second chance at life. Johnbull and Stacy, the directors of the
organization, have taken all the children in as their own. It’s common to see a house full of children
sprawled across the floor of their living room while watching soccer in the
evenings. They are one big happy
family.
There is also a school on the CORM (City of Refuge Mission) site
called Faith Roots International. This
school has 240 students, including the children that have been rescued. I have been working at this school for the
last couple weeks. I tutor English and
reading to struggling students. Even
though all of the children speak English, there are plenty that are unable to
read. I also teach a science and health
class to students. I haven’t really
taught before, so this is definitely stretching me outside of my comfort zone. I like it.
My biggest role is the school and CORM nurse. This, in itself, is a full time job. It doesn’t end at 5 o’clock, or take Sundays
off to rest. It’s constant. It has been amazing and exhausting, all at the
same time. I have also been able to make
home visits for sick students, go with them to the clinic or hospital, and be
their advocate for better care. I went
back to school for nursing after my last trip to Africa in hopes that I would
be able to use my degree to make more of a difference upon my return. I am finally doing it. I worked hard for four years to get back to
Africa, and finally, I am here. It’s
scary and definitely has its challenges.
It’s forcing me to think outside the box, look beyond my own
perspective, into medical care for another culture. It’s unfamiliar, and constantly surprises me,
but I love it.
It feels like a huge responsibility to me. I prayed for so long for God to use me, to send
me. Here I am, in Africa. I am so lucky to be here and have this opportunity
to help. Not many other people are this
lucky. I feel like I need to work that
much harder because I have been blessed enough to come back to Africa yet
again. So, here I am. I am trying to live in each moment, enjoy
each African sunrise, and give more hugs than I thought humanly possible. It’s a little slice of paradise here with so
many intelligent, unique children. It’s
a constant reminder of how beautiful life is, and how blessed I am to
experience it. As another day comes to a
close, and the knocks of tiny hands on my door start to dwindle, I drift off to
sleep to wake up early and enjoy another African sunrise.
