We began our long awaited Safari in Kenya's Samburu Game Reserve. Samburu was action packed; one National Geographic moment after the other.
Right out of the shoot we came upon a pride of 8 lions with a giraffe kill. It is not that common for lions to take down a giraffe so we are left to wonder if this giraffe was old or injured. In this particular pride, the alpha male ate first. When he was willing, the alpha female got to eat. This male lion lay next to the kill and only allowed one lion to eat at a time. If anyone stepped out of line, there was a loud roar which quickly restored order. He was a little more tolerant of the younger ones jumping in than I expected. Up in the top of the trees we saw a dozen very hopeful vultures and on the ground several optomistic jackals sit patiently awaiting their chance. Don't hold your breath guys; that might not happen for days!
Our next amazing experience was an elephant encounter. Parked on the opposite bank, we watched this group of 25 elephants come to the river to drink. Is there anything cuter than a baby elephant?
Here is a lioness and her 3 cubs on their way to the river to drink. The animals have become accustomed to the tour vehicles. Five lions and these 3 cubs walked right next to our van. The adult lions crossed the road first. For a moment, the cubs lost sight of their mother and began to whimper, appearing to be afraid. She came back to rescue them as they crossed the road.
Three things that we saw ONLY in Samburu are worth a mention. One is the Grevy Zebra, which has very narrow stripes. Very fancy duds!
The other is the Gerenuk, an antelope that feeds standing on its back two legs. We are pretty sure the leaves up a little higher must taste better.
The last is the reticulated giraffe. Notice the big brown tiles with wide white caulking. I thought all giraffes looked just like this. Stay tuned to find out what I learned. This guy stays tick-free with a little help from his friends (the birds).
Operation Smile came to Ghana and I got to be a nurse for a week! Their focus is patients in need of surgical repair of cleft lip and cleft palate. This is done at no cost to the patient. Housing and food are also provided to the patient and a family member.
I worked in the pre-op/post-op "tent" at Ridge Hospital in Accra, Ghana. This was a first for me. I did screening interviews. People came from all over Ghana hoping to have surgery. We had local and foreign pediatricians with us in the tent who helped determine if someone was a candidate for surgery or not. Some of the adults had high blood pressure. One child had malaria. Sorry, no surgery this year. We had two "scabies babies." Fortunately, after 3 baths with the anti-scabies cream, they could have surgery.
To assure that the patients had nothing to eat or drink after dinner, they spent the night in the tent and slept on foam mats on the floor the night before surgery. Ghanaians are very patient and tolerate inconveniences well. Before surgery, the babies cry because they are thirsty. After surgery, the babies cry because they are thirsty. I felt like I was feeding baby birds as I gave them apple juice with a syringe. That is easier for them to swallow than liquid from a cup. Often, the cleft palates had to continue with nothing to eat or drink for a day after surgery. Explain that to a 6 month old, I dare you! The best you can do is distract them with a toy or bubbles (which they've never seen before) and keep their IV intact so they are hydrated. Watching a young woman look at her new face in the mirror after surgery was wonderful.
It was amazing to be part of this "Mission." We had nurses and doctors from around the world. We had plenty of volunteers from the Peace Corps, the Lions Club and yes, the LDS Church. Our Area Welfare Humanitarian Services partnered with Operation Smile as a sponsor. At the conclusion of the 10 days, 321 individuals had received comprehensive physical exams and 111 surgeries had been performed. Our youngest surgery was 4 months and our oldest was 74 years old. Lives were changed. It was a miracle.
We're back in Ghana and couldn't wait to go visit the young Elders and Sisters at the Ghana MTC in Tema (20 miles west of Accra). It always gives us a great lift, especially at their fast and testimony meeting.
Most of the missionaries are from Africa; today we met missionaries from Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Kenya, and Cape Verde. There were about 8 Obroni (white folks) Elders, mostly from the United States with one from South Africa. This MTC group is about 54 in number; the next group will be 92 (and that's an all time record).
Among their numbers, we met young Elder Ballard. Since his grandfather was Gregg's mission president in Toronto, Canada, we promised to look in on Truman. He looked well and happy. He has been in Africa about 2 weeks and is adjusting well. It was fun to learn that he has been to Ghana before, and even did his Eagle Project here. He'll have a great mission in Ghana.
Great things are happening at our little Ayi Mensah School. This week 7 Obroni (white) women arrived with tape, brushes, rollers, and paint; and we painted the inside of the 4 completed classrooms. Wearing the red shirt is Sally Murray who started the "Ayi Mensah project." She returned to Ghana with some friends to help paint.
The room preparation was more than we expected. While moving everything away from the walls, we came upon a cluster of baby mice. We also had to sweep down spider webs from the walls. Little did I realize that we would be using a machete (here they call it a cutlass) to knock random hunks of cement off the walls. And then we swept the edges of the room. There hasn't been much sweeping done here for a while...
We taped around the blackboard and were ready to prime the plaster (these walls have never been painted before). The village chief noticed our presence and came over to thank us for all we have done for his village. He is old, wise, and has a great smile (on the right).
Ayi Mensah began without a building and was only a teacher and her students under a big tree. On day #2 of our painting the children had to leave the school and returned to their beginning. They all carried a chair upside down on their heads out to study under the tree while we worked. Three of the teachers came ready to help us paint. They all seemed surprised that white ladies could actually work! I'm glad we got that clarified. We had a chance to explain to them that all of our grandparents were farmers and ranchers, and our parents grew up working on farms. They were not expecting that. This day all the students received a school bag c/o Dani Taylor in Utah. Thanks Dani.
Day #3 brought a big rainstorm midday. The children came running with upside down chairs on their heads to the classroom we finished painting earlier. Again 3 teachers help us paint. We learned later that this was a considered a recreation day for them (they would not be paid). But, they wanted to be part of this good thing that was happening at their school. And believe me, it looks much better!
This school exists today because of generous donations of others. We have 4 complete, but basic classrooms. Classroom #5 has a foundation and walls; we hope to get the roof on soon. If you would like to contribute to help us complete Ayi Mensah (we need 3 more classrooms) please send your check to: (Forever Young is an NGO-your donation is tax deductible and we have NO overhead costs)
Forever Young
c/o Sally Murray
8695 South 4770 West
West Jordan, UT 84088
Guess what happened in our neighborhood on June 2nd? An Allied Air cargo plane attempting to land in bad weather apparently overshot the landing, skidded through a fence, and across a road. This was about 1 kilometer from our house.
Gregg quickly when into his "Church Security Director mode," and got people calling and checking to make sure all the missionaries, members, employees and expatriates were safe. They were. However, our home became a "call center" for a few hours. One Church employee thought we should all evacuate, but we were fine.
Fortunately the 4 crew members were all OK. The bad news is that the plane clipped a van (called a tro-tro here) killing all 10 people in that vehicle. Our hearts go out to their families.
A Ghanaian funeral is quite the send off. It is in many ways a celebration of that person's life. Everyone from the community or village comes, usually dressed in black or black and red. There is music and food and it lasts most of the day.
If you prefer a traditional casket, those are available right at the side of the road. And they look very nice.
If you want to acknowledge something special about this person, there are customized caskets unlike anything we have ever seen before. Nice tennis shoe.
If you are a Ghanaian fisherman, this could be the perfect casket for you.
I love the red chile pepper. Remember that Gregg, just in case. These are a work of art, and very imaginative.
As a nurse, I was very interested in learning about healthcare in Ghana. This includes traditional medicine, herbal therapists, and faith healers. We passed this sign near Lake Volta. Kwaku Yegbe is likely a fetish priest. I can't explain well, but there are a couple of great videos on youtube. From the internet you can get this advertisement: "Nana Kwaku Bonsam is ready to help. Be it spiritual guidance, business promotion, bareness, visa problems, marriage problems, want revenge?"
Employers here will reimburse employees for health care visits to doctors, dentists, and traditional healers. For those without such coverage, a visit to a traditional herbalist costs much less than a visit to the doctor or hospital. All health care services here must be paid in full in advance: no payment - no emergency room, no payment - no x-ray, no payment - no surgery, no payment - no hospital room. And by the way, hospitals here do not provide food or medicine. These must be brought in by family or friends. The doctor writes a list of medicines that will be needed for the surgery. The family goes to a pharmacy and gets these medicines. Then, provided that the surgery has been paid for, the surgery can take place.
Gregg and I consider it a top priority to stay well and not get hurt here.
We have passed several signs that I do not claim to fully understand. But in a country where not everyone can read, pictures communicate very well. This one is a specialist in all body ailments.
