Lasts

 

Do you remember this song from Sesame Street? It's a silly little song that gets stuck in my head whenever I see an Obruni walking down the street. It's really an odd little sight; but then I see a picture like this and it reminds me how we stand out here in Africa.

 

OK, so are you ready to play? Here we go...

 

One of these things is not like the others,

One of these things just doesn't belong,

Can you tell which thing is not like the others

By the time I finish my song?

 

 (I will give you a hint: its not Sister Fife)

This is Sister Fife's Relief Society class that she has taught on Sundays in Jamestown.

 

 

Did you guess which one was not like the others?

Did you guess which one just doesn't belong?

If you guessed this one...

 

  

Then you're absolutely...right!

This is Mavis and she is not like the others today because she does not have on a traditional African dress. This is what the sisters in Sister Fife's Relief Society wear on a typical Sunday. Most have head wraps, but today hardly any.

After you have been here so long, you just stop thinking of yourself as different, you just don't see your obruni self. I had someone come looking for me at the office yesterday and was surprised to see that I was a white man, "you sound so Ghanaian on the phone".

 

We have certainly picked up a lot of habits here in Africa; some good, some not so good and others just a little quirky. Michelle is quite nervous about turning me loose on my own to drive the streets in the States for fear I will cause so much trouble--a very aggressive driving habit is one of the bad ones I've picked up. I drive with one hand on the horn, the other out the window doing all sorts of funky signals, one foot on the gas and the other on the floorboard bracing for impact.

 

We have spent the week saying good-bye and checking off a lot of lasts--last day at church, last session with the missionaries giving shots, last time grocery shopping, last, last, last.

 

Sister Fife and Sister Mingo

 

Today we gave away all of our clothes and I am down to my last white shirt, my last tie, and my last pair of slacks. (I will not miss any of them). Tonight we will say good bye to our good friends Elders and Sisters Zoll, Thayne and Asay for the last time. Finally, what you are reading now, is the LAST blog...

 

We have a lot of blessings to be thankful for as we look back over the last year and a half, but are very excited about coming home, seeing the kids and family, and trying to find some kind of normal life.

 

Sister Fife and Sister Quarty

 

Brother 'Josesph' (brother Sowah), and Elder Fife

 

Elder Sitati, Elder and Sister Fife, Elder Curtis, and Elder Dickson

 

Here we are with the area presidency at our last family home evening after receiving the traditional missionary kente Africa West Area sash.

 

We are ready.
 

...see you in a few days.

Elder and Sister Fife

Wrapping It Up

A little field medicine

Last month we had the opportunity to head down to the Cape Coast Mission again for training. We stopped in Swedru on the way home to take care of a little foot problem. This is Elder Kitchen and an big ol abscess on his foot.

 

We taught the missionaries--here we are with two of the Cape Coast Zones

One of our biggest problems is getting the missionaries to stay hydrated!

Lancing the boil



...survived

Believe it or not, we've been fairly busy this month. We have begun finishing up our little projects. We have several little projects that we have our hot little fingers in. Still missionaries getting sick, or hurt, or something or other.

...from the mission field

Elder and Sister Fife

...Our Problem Free Philosophy

There are two questions that will no longer remain a mystery. Is there really a Santa Claus? and are there really wild animals in Ghana. I quote Jimmy Stewart to answer the first,  "yes Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus". For the second question, I'll quote him again, "yes, Virginia, there really are animals in Ghana". Finally, I have the proof to back him up--at least as far as the animals are concerned.

 

Ghana can be really cool! You know you are in Africa when you spend the morning sitting across the watering hole from these beautiful creatures. It was so awesome...just us, the elephants, and oh yeah, our guide Christopher standing next to us with his elephant gun. I am fairly certain the gun was designed more to keep us in line than the elephants, but we felt a little more secure just knowing it was there.

Here is the crew sitting in the blind watching the animals--what a pleasant way to spend the evening

We have been told that there are parts of Ghana where you can find animals that haven't been eaten or hunted down for their ivory tusks. We found them this last week way up north. It was quite a long drive to get there, but well worth it.



Here is Michelle and our guide.

We stayed a couple of nights at the Mole Park Hotel where just off the back patio you can look out across the savanna and onto the best watering hole in Ghana. The first morning, we set out on a foot safari across the savanna in search of the animals. We were lucky enough to see elephants up close and personal, kob, bush buck, water buck, water buffalo, wart hogs (my favorites), baboons, green monkeys, brown monkeys, and lots and lots of funny colored birds.
 

On foot safari with the Zolls and the Thaynes (from the new Ghana Kumasi Mission).

 We even went on a canoe safari down the Mole River. They told us we were going to see the African bears. You may think that Africa doesn't have bears...aah but you would be so wrong. Once you understand that the accent makes birds sound like bears then it all makes a little more sense. Anyway, we didn't see to many African bears, and for that matter the African birds were a little skittish that day as well. We had good company anyway and another pleasant morning.

 

For a couple of days, we forgot that we were actually missionaries. I got to pretend I was a photographer sent to Africa to document the native animals and people. Anyway, here are a few of my favorites. I think I have like a quarter million of these and we could fill a library full of photo albums from Ghana. It was fun just to adopt Pumbaa's problem free philosophy for a couple of days.

 

We will start with the little game and work up

Millions of these double-winged dragon flies

Even the grasshoppers are colorful





"When I was a Young Wart Hog..."
or
"Timon's Better Half"

 Stop it! you are just like Sister Fife. Quit singing 'Hakuna Matata' and keep going, there's lots more photos to see...



For those OCD readers...
I know wart hogs are bigger than these monkeys--so just deal with it

Monkey hide and seek

Something ain't right if you go the the Mole Reserve and don't even see a Kob buck--they even pose for you!

The Water Buck family; ma, pa and little one

Observing beauty in her natural habitat.
I know, but its my blog...

We stayed for an hour watching the elephants at this watering hole...a great day!

Finally, we visited a couple of villages. Here are some shots from Larabanga and Mognori. The people are beautiful. It is really the first time in Ghana I felt like I could actually take pictures of people without being too self conscious. I love these photos...

My favorite picture from the whole trip



I fell in love with her smile
...reminds me of my daughters--so photogenic



Grandpa



grandma



Another favorite--same wall and everything



Only one way to cross the Mole--and it ain't on a bike



Couldn't resist the shot

Waiting on the canoes

I am building a ladder like this for the grandkid's treehouse--how cool

On the roof at Larabanga

The oldest mosque in West Africa--built in 1462

Have you had enough? I can go on and on. As you can see we had a wonderful trip.
 

Anyway, this was probably our last big adventure. Now back to Accra...time to go back and put our shoulder to the wheel so to speak as we finish up several little projects over the next few weeks (8 to be exact, but who's counting).

 

...from the savanna in Northern Ghana

Elder and Sister Fife

Chocolate Chaos

What does it look like when 230 African kids come together and try to learn country western line dancing? Well, we found out this last weekend. We were invited up to Abomosu to teach 'slappin leather' (one of the easier line dances) during the first annual Abomosu District Youth Conference. The first of its kind for these kids.

 

Oh, you want the answer... OK, well watching  230 African kids trying to 'slap some leather' is like watching someone stir a large bowl of cocoa puffs--chocolaty chaos! I think it truly had more to do with the instructors though, than with their dancing abilities.

So to report, there are 230 kids in Africa who are a little more healthy, and 230 kids in Africa who still can't line dance. Oh well, they had fun shouting Yee Haw!

We taught the same lesson eight times over a two-hour session

We tried to teach them a few new things, but some just went right over their heads. Like trying to get them to act goofy for a group picture. The younger kids can do it well, the older ones seem already to be steeped in a stoic picture taking attitude.

Free time after lunch

Heading to the soccer Field

Lunch is served--T-bread and bananas

Bringing in the water sachets

Aside from the poorly taught line dancing, the kids did pretty much the same thing our kids do back home. They had a dance, they had classes, they had scripture chases, they had mini classes on 'For the Strength of Youth', they had a testimony meeting, and most of all they just plain had fun. There are somethings however, that could only happen here in Africa. We just chuckle sometimes and say, "only in Africa..."

 

I will give you one example but it may take some explaining. Since the district is so big and traveling every night to the chapel is not very practical, the girls stayed in the Asin Afo chapel where we had the conference, and the boys stayed 15 minutes away in the Abomosu chapel.  This is all well and good until the girls decide to head out for showers midway through the dance. We have been a chaperon at many a church dance, but we have never had to close a dance early because the girls were bathing on the lawn next to the dance floor. Yeah, I kid you not. One minute you look out on the dance floor (ie, the parking lot) and everyone is dancing, and the next minute you look over and see the girls stripping down on the lawn and dumping buckets of water over their heads! For the Obruni chaperons, nothing could be worse. For the kids and the local leaders, it didn't really seem to be much of a problem. The boys thought it was plain nuts to make them get on the bus before the music was finished. Oh well...only in Africa.

Even the boys put everything on their head

Re-enacting the scriptures

Hammin' it up at the dance

Over all, I would say that the youth conference was a big hit--thanks to the planning and dedication of Elder and Sister Dalton who are assigned to this district. We feel blessed to be here at this time and in this place...only in Africa.

...two marshmallows in a bowel of cocoa puffs

Elder and Sister Fife

Busy People Are Happy People



 

Busy people are happy people. People who are busy serving, tend to even be happier. We caught this vision, in some small part, as we participated this last month in the All African Service Day. This is a time set aside where all wards, branches and groups in all the different countries of Africa will do service on the same day. We belong to the Jamestown Branch here in Accra and our branch spent the day cleaning a children's hospital in Jamestown. We had a great turn out and even managed to get some cleaning done. 

 

Some worked on the outside cleaning the walls and grounds, while others came inside and cleaned an entire wing. Besides us, we have one young white missionary in the branch.

 

This hospital was really dirty, but this wing is now cleaner than it has ever been.

Funny...Michelle and I brought masks for the day. Those working inside didn't want them, but those working outside wouldn't work without one. This is one of my favorite members--he goes by the name of brother Joseph. He is a convert of just over a year now. He has been trying to teach me to speak Twi, but it is not going too well.

We brought three brooms, a mop, two buckets, rags, Pinesol and a camera. We left with only our camera and a broom. Everything else managed to get 'spoiled'. When something is spoiled here in Africa, it means that it is broken. The missionaries will call and say "my bicycle is spoiled", or "my water bottle is spoiled". This means it is no longer usable and another is needed.

Michelle went out to help sweep the parking lot, but the relief society president (sister Quartey) would not let her sweep until she too had donned her  mask as well.

...happily serving in Ghana

Elder and Sister Fife