More photos

October 31

I can totally deal with the infinite amount of mosquito bites, the giant insects, and maybe the big hairy spiders. But I can't deal with the poisonous scorpion that was walking towards me, just outside my room!

I absolutely adore and love the children. And Leo has been great to me, and so has one of the Madams (teachers), Augustina, who lives here, and one of the older housemothers, Auntie Betty. But just about everyone else has not been too friendly. Don't get me wrong, they seem like very nice people, but I will never know because they rarely speak English, yet I know they can all speak English.

I have also picked up some of their language (Ahanta and Fanti), and I know what the word for white person is: Braufalay and Brawny, respectively. So I know when they are talking about me. I find it very rude that they do this. Even when they are asking me a question, they will usually ask it in their language to Leo first, then he'll translate it to me. Wouldn't it just be easier if they spoke directly to me in English? I think so. Maybe this is just how people act in a rural village. I suppose it's similar to gossiping, except they are doing it right in front of my face.

Unfortunately the children's schedule only leaves me with a couple hours a day to spend with them on Monday-Thursdays.

5:30am: they wake up, do chores and get ready for school

6:45am: devotionals

7:00am: eat breakfast, then off to school

2-4pm: come home from school, but have siesta/quiet time in their dormitories

4-5pm: the teachers living here tutor them

5-6pm: play

6pm: eat dinner

6:30pm-7:30pm: recite the rosary

7:30-9pm: younger ones bathe and go to bed; older ones finish their homework/study, then bed.

I get up to serve breakfast, and then I go to the school to help out in the Primary 3 class. I don’t think the education system is very effective. In the class that I help out in, there are about 45 students and one teacher. Honestly, the only way Madam Felicia can keep control is by caning them when they misbehave. They have small notebooks of paper, but not all of them can afford the books, so some children just sit there when there is work assigned. I think the normal age for Primary 3 is about 8 years old; however I asked some of them their ages today and some are 11 or 12. I tried to teach the English lesson a few times, but I supposedly talk too fast and I have an accent they can't understand. Really though, the children just don't seem to learn. Most of them can barely read. The Madam asked a boy what is 1 plus 1 and the boy said 3. By the age of 12, I was reading chapter books and starting algebra. Some children here can't even write their names correctly.

I could go on and on about the education system, but I will just be thankful I had a good education. Now, I want to move on to the kids.

I have learned the stories of a few of the children. I don't like to ask them, I’d rather wait until they come and tell me.

Tonight, Comfort, about 11 years old and in Primary 5, told me her and her brother Jones' story. They come from Ivory Coast, which is a country with a lot of fighting going on now. They came to live in Egyam, but shortly thereafter, their mother died. Their father left to find money in Ivory Coast, but Comfort thinks he is probably dead by now. They lived with their grandparents for a while in a nearby village, but they had no money to take care of them, so they were sent to the orphanage. The land the orphanage was built on was actually sold to them by Comfort's grandfather.

Comfort also told me she had an issue with Raheal today and that Madam Cynthia, one of the house mothers, was insulting her. Comfort was very hurt; she is a sensitive girl and very smart. Jones, her older brother, is also a very sensitive boy. They are both very touchy-feely and love to grab onto people; I love it when Jones takes the small ones gently in his hands and cleans their faces. Comfort was also worried because when Madam Thea was here, she told the children that if they misbehave they will be sent back to their villages. Comfort was worried because her grandparents have no money, so she would not be able to go to school. I told her she does not need to worry because she is a good kid and even if she were sent back, my NGO would make sure she had the money to go to school. She says she wants to be a nurse, so she can take care of her grandmother.

(Note to self: Rita, tall and skinny, comes from Togo)

(Millicent, Isaac 2 /Musafah and Anthony/Pawppy are siblings)

　

Hannah from Nigeria

Hannah is a girl in Egyam who moved here not too long ago from Nigeria. Then her mother died. About a month ago there was a funeral and a memorial at the church on Sunday. I didn't know it then, but the funeral was for Hannah's father. She now lives with a grandmother, but they haven't got any money. So, we bought her a school uniform. Hannah is very quiet, and even when I speak to her, I don’t get a reply. I had never seen her smile until the other day, when I went to her class and took a picture of her in her school uniform.

Photos

                                                Liky






    Spider in my room--as large as my palm!

The children

Thea, (the Dutch founder of the orphanage), told me that 11 children came from another orphanage that was shut down. The children that came had lice and big bellies because they were not being fed. They were afraid of adults because they were beaten at the other orphanage, and this also made them very aggressive. Thea said Victoria would shudder and pull away if anyone tried to touch her. One night 7-year-old and 9-year-old boys were found having sex in the bathroom, and apparently this was a normal thing to go on at the other orphanage; and this was often happening between children and the workers/volunteers at the orphanage. Luckily, these children ended up at Egyam, where you would never be able to tell how bad their past was because they are so happy and well taken care of now.

However, I don't think time heals the scars of a horrible past. Sylvia, an 8 year-old was drawing with chalk today. She drew a boy and girl, then drew a line between the two and told me the boy is raping the girl. I said no, and erased the picture. She drew it again, this time she said it's Madam Jen (that's what they call me) raping John (the 6 year-old boy that was drawing on the other end of the chalkboard). I said “No, we don't talk like that” and I erased the picture, but she drew it a couple more times and I kept erasing it. Finally another boy came up and she said it to him, and he smacked her and told her not to say it anymore and that seemed to stop her.

3 Boys: Liky, Denis and Ezekial

I met Liky and Denis the first day I was at the orphanage. They are 2 of the original dozen that did not have families to go visit for the first 2 weeks I was here. Liky speaks very good English, and Denis does well, too. But Denis does not do well in school. He's in Primary 2, and is 8 years-old, but he can't even write the alphabet. He doesn't do his homework, and even though I have tried to help him, he doesn't copy the questions down correctly or legibly.

Liky is literally attached to me 90% of the time. I have even been helping in his Primary 3 class, and he constantly looks over and smiles at me, or gives me a thumbs-up. Liky is the perfect name for him because he is always sticking his tongue out! He can sometimes be too attached and Leo has warned me that if another child tries to sit on my lap or hold my hand, Liky will push them away so he can hold my hand or sit on my lap. I always tell him it's ok if another child wants to hold my hand, and he sulks away. I watched Liky and Denis today, and they both are striving for attention because when I was busy, they grabbed on to 2 of the Holland people just like they do me, and the founder, Thea, hugs and kisses and picks the children up and they love it. And it's fair enough, I don't think I have ever seen any of the people that work here give a single child a hug or really just spend time with the children. Even at night I’m usually the last adult up and make sure the kids finish their homework and go to bed.

Now I come to Ezekial. Ezekial and his twin brother Thomas were two of the last children to come back to the orphanage from vacations. He is in primary 4, so he's about 11 years-old. This kid never told me his name or even said a word to me, and the first night he came back,  we were all watching a movie. He pulled his chair right up against mine, sat down, put his head in my lap and pulled my arm around him like I was hugging him. He sits the same way next to me every night since, and still barely says a word. He is similar to Liky though, because if another child tries to sit on my lap he'll push them off.

Meeting with Henriette & women's group

School, the beach & a spider

I started helping in the school, Primary 3/3rd grade. I pretty much just graded papers today; it's difficult for the kids to understand my English, and there are no text books, the teacher has a couple small books but I feel like hardly anything can be accomplished because she walked around to show every child a picture of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (it's a Catholic school), then she just had them draw the picture, and that was one lesson that took a half hour. Three children from the orphanage are in the class, one of which is Liky, one of my best little buddies who gives me a thumbs-up sign every time I look at him! Another boy from the orphanage, Peter, was bad in class and he got caned (they use a stick to hit the children when they misbehave).  The teacher caned a girl too, and the girl cried for a good 5 minutes.

Henriette (from Holland, who helped build the orphanage) took the kids to the beach and I went too. It was great fun, but the waves were big and the current strong. The smaller children could barely go in, and I always had at least 3 children clinging to me so they wouldn't get swept away. The kids were so excited but it wore them out, because that night after we all ate ice cream, we were watching Charlotte's Web and Liky fell asleep in my lap, so I sent him to bed. Then Florence came and fell asleep in my lap, and by 9pm I was fast asleep.

 

However, the next night I didn't sleep too well due to the enormous spider that was on my ceiling. I can deal with mosquitos. I can't deal with a spider the size of my palm. I could see it's hairy eyes staring at me when it was all the way up on the ceiling. I couldn't kill it either because it was so fast. After I knocked it from the ceiling it almost fell into my suitcase, then it ran up the leg of my bed before I smashed it with my shoe.

I had nightmares about this spider that night. I sprayed my bed and myself with bug spray, tucked my mosquito net under my mattress and prayed there were no more in my room. I’m pretty sure I have already been bitten by a spider that size because the size of the welt on my leg is bigger than a quarter and it left a decent size scab!

Visit to Ayuwaho

The village chief