At Home in Ghana

I felt it as soon as I stepped off the plane. That feeling you get when all that surrounds you is familiar and comforting. Like Mac and cheese or hot chocolate. Even before Mercia and Sophia came running to greet me with big hugs, I was at home.
The van now sports our new logo. The driver is new and definitely not a “Moses”. For those of you new to GMH, Moses is an exceptional young man who drove for us for two years. He now has a family and needed to move to another job but we continue to look for another drive with his skill and personality.
Joshua, Mercia and Victor’s son was jumping and squealing for joy as the van drove in the compound. The house is block construction with three bedrooms. There is also another small building with two bedrooms and a kitchen. I have a room in the main house with two beds and a closet filled with my Ghana clothes.
There is a new addition at the house, Comfort. Her mother recently died and she was to be sent to the Volta to work on a fishing boat. We are not sure of her age but I guess around 6. Mercia rescued her from a life of slavery and for many, death by drowning. This is the issue that Oprah addressed two years ago.
Recently, several women in the Westminster area started a new project; pillowcase dresses. They took pillowcase, some old, some new, and made them into little summer dresses. I brought 38 dresses with me. Comfort wears this old, drab, blue dress. I found a pillowcase dress that was just her size. She beamed with joy. Then she saw another, shorter dress and asked if she could have that for a top. If I could get her to try them on, she is afraid I will ask her to return them. Maybe tomorrow. Later this week we will give out the dresses in Trewbo.
After a restful night, I began the task of unpacking the three bags. I brought another computer to use her at the house. My son, Jeff, refurbished it and then we realized it was too big for my carry on bag. If we put it in my checked bag, it could be stolen, so we took it apart. I carried several of the components in my carry on and the case was place in my checked bag. It arrived safely but I needed to put it back together. Easy for a computer geek but a challenging task for a laptop girl. It should be working by Monday.

We had a great trip to the terrible market. Well, it isn’t really terrible, unless you have trouble with raw meat, fish and flies. The fruits, vegetables and people are beautiful.  We could not resist these two adorable children who were sitting by their mom while she worked. We will make many, many trips to the market before the team arrives.
Stay tuned for another “Candy Awards” as the week progresses and photos of Pillowcase dresses in action. Five teams arrive on Friday, our biggest group yet—16. THANK YOU FOR BRINGING US HERE—I CAN’T WAIT TO HEAR FROM YOU.