Aveyime

Greetings from Ghana! I have been so busy here, time is really flying by! Last week, I was able to catch a tro tro into Accra to use the internet and the power turned off! Every day is an interesting one here in Africa. A couple things have happened since my last blog. Three of the boys that were rescued from the Volta River ran away. It breaks my heart that they are no longer here for CORM to help. An investigation is being done to see where they went. Hopefully they will be found safely. It’s terrifying to think about such young children being out there on their own. Please keep them in your prayers.

We found the culprit of my hives! What happened was, I actually moved in to a room with bed bugs. I can’t say it’s been the funnest experience, but people go through far worse around here. I am blessed that it was a simple solution. It has been quite the process to try to get back to bug free. I have been sleeping in another location while they fumigate the place. I placed all of my stuff in bags to kill the bugs living in them. I’m hoping they won’t find a way back in!

This week, I was able to go north to complete a medical screening in a village near Aveyime. Dr. Troy and I went along with a team in Ghana volunteering from Las Vegas and Idaho. Some of the team put on a vacation bible school for the children in the community. A few of the volunteers joined the team that put on a medical screening. We drove to this village right along the Volta River. We thought that we would be having the screening in a school, but this community doesn’t have one, so we had the screening under a tree. It was a lot of improvising, but we made it work. The village is composed of mud huts, dirt roads, and the most amazing people. It was such a joy to be able to spend time with them.

The village does not have any running water. They get their water from the river, which has parasites in it, and is not safe to drink. They also bathe in the river, and go to the bathroom in the river. It really makes me think about how blessed I am to be able to turn on a faucet at home and have clean drinking water any time I want. I am constantly reminded of the things I take for granted back home. We have so much in the US, so many material possessions, but it’s not often I see joy like I see here. I think a lot of times, the more we have the more we are consumed by it. I am as guilty as the next person of this, but it has been such a good reminder that my happiness should never lie in what I have but who’s I am.

We set up chairs in the dirt for the screening. We worked with local nurses to see patients and be able to communicate with them in their local language, mostly Ewe. We sat a scale in the dirt to weigh patients, set up a tape measure along a wood pole to measure height. We had a station to check blood pressure, and three of us to see patients. We performed a medical screening for the community, which means we did an evaluation to see what the community’s biggest needs were. From that information, follow up would be provided by a few of our team that live in the community. They would be able to return and provide education through the CHE(Community Health Evangelism) program. CHE is a program that provides health education to communities, spreads the gospel, and  empowers members of the community to instill change.

As we did the medical screening and collected this information, many of these people were suffering from various diagnoses. So in addition to the medical screen, the team worked together to provide medical advice to the members of the community. We also did vision screens, provided deworming medication, and provided glasses. It was an amazing couple of days in the town of Aveyime, and I hope to do more work there before I return home.

The volunteer team we joined was able to visit a village while we were up north. I thought I would share with you what they told me because I found it very interesting. In this village, they worship the god of the river. According to this village, their god manifests itself in a clay pot. They have this pot on a pedestal and they worship it. About 40% of the men in the village worship this pot, but the percentage is lower for the women. They make animal sacrifices to the pot. They bring conflicts to the pot for it to figure out. It’s not uncommon for people to worship various idols in the more rural villages.

As much as I enjoyed the village, it felt good to come home to CORM! I missed seeing the smiling faces of the children. They always provide a warm welcome home with lots of hugs. Next week will be a busy one! Troy and Jamie will be away, leaving me to man the clinic. By clinic, I mean a room that they have opened up in their house for treatment until an actual clinic can be built.
Thank you all for your continued support! I am so blessed by your words of encouragement. I will continue to pour your love onto these children. Love you all!