Hello! YES WE ARE ALIVE.
So sorry for the recent lapse in blog entries. Our internet
hasn’t been doing so well the past few days, and we have been very, very busy.
But we are back in business J
Ok, so.... I guess I left on on Saturday.
Saturday was 9th grade graduation. As you’ve read
in my other posts, graduating here is a big big deal. They had thousands of
people come and sit under tents outside. The students presented on a little
stage various things that the school is doing. There was a red cross skit
showing what you should do in case of an emergency put on by the red cross
club. There were French poets, and Fante (the local dialect) poets. The
kindergarten also graduated and 8 of them stood at the front and said their
name, a few things about themselves, and their favorite bible verse. I was just
thinking that in America you could never get a kindergarten student to do this!
Or at least not all 8, one of them would get shy in front of thousands of
people. It was really neat. Dustin and I stood on the second floor of the
school building so we could see.
After graduation we decided to walk to Fetteh (about 15
minutes down the road) and see if we could enjoy the beach a little bit. Fetteh
is our local village where we can go and buy basic needs, or just socialize
with locals. Some of them are employed by the Village of Hope and so their
children attend school at Hope Christian Academy. Others, work in the market
and try to sell what they can. It’s a great place to go and evangelize or pray
for people because they are not as accustomed to white people (obrunis) coming
into the town.
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| Dustin buying some pineapples at a shop in Fetteh |
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| Our walk to Fetteh |
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| We can see the beach!
The graduation had 24 listings in the program, and the lasted around 4 hours. I have to
admit I left early – but Dustin stayed the majority of the time because he knew
several of the students performing.
After graduation we decided to walk to Fetteh (about 15
minutes down the road) and see if we could enjoy the beach a little bit. Fetteh
is our local village where we can go and buy basic needs, or just socialize
with locals. Some of them are employed by the Village of Hope and so their
children attend school at Hope Christian Academy. Others, work in the market
and try to sell what they can. It’s a great place to go and evangelize or pray
for people because they are not as accustomed to white people (obrunis) coming
into the town.
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We continued our walk to a resort in town. The resort has
rights to the beach where it is, so, unfortunately this is one of the only ways
to be on a beach even though our town is built on the beach. They would not let
us in so we didn’t get to go. However, this is a picture of me and the rest of
John’s clan.
On the way home we passed a cemetery. In Fetteh, most people
are very poor. Even if they are employed
by a resort or the VOH, their income is scarce. This made for an interesting
take on the death of a loved one. Here, they bury their dead in cement tombs,
which cost a lot of money, to honor the preservation of their bodies. In
America when I see tombs such as this I think they came from a wealthy family
who spent a lot of money burying a dead
body that’s not even the person they loved. (But this is coming from someone
who would be cremated and sprinkled somewhere nice if it were up to me).
Sunday was rather quiet after the hoopla from graduation. We
went to church in the morning, spent most of the afternoon doing laundry, and
then had a singing on Sunday night. That’s when I met Victoria and Vanessa. Two
junior high girls who sat next to me.
They are boarders here, meaning they pay money to come and stay for
school but are not orphans living with a house family in the Village. They stay
in a building named Koomson Building. Many of you have asked about Oprah’s trip
to the VOH (which I admit, I still don’t know much about). But, I was told that
this house was related to her visit here. And that girls rescued out of slavery
or prostitution at young ages are able to come and board there for school. I
will try and get a photo with Victoria soon so you all can see her. Needless to
say, these girls in the Koomson building are
of varying ages and some of them are new to the VOH in the last 6
months. Of the children here, these are the ones who are not used to white
people, and are very inquisitive. They want to play with my hair, touching it,
and pointing to my glasses. They are special girls and I know the Lord has
brought many of them here to take refuge and rest from the uproar of their
lives.
Victoria wrote me a note during church and handed it to me.
This is what it said:
“Dear
Tessah, I am very happy to write you this letter I am glad to be your friend
and to be sweet. Your husband Densin looks so handsome too and looks like Jesus
and He is also prayerful. May the Lord be with both of you and Get Married and
Live long life on earth if you give birth I will be happy if you named both of
them Victoria and Vanessa and if it is a boy name He Jesus Densin please. Can
you write it to me back Victoria and Vanessa. Do you have a pet. “
On Monday, it was a national holiday here in Ghana. So, many
churches from all over the country came to the VOH for celebration. It was
packed! There was dancing and singing, food, fellowship, and fun. We really
enjoyed this Ghanaian celebration. Wet
met 4 white people from Abilene, TX. They were here doing evangelism and
medical missions. They are from the Southern Hills church and have been here
many times. In fact, one of them taught my cousin in the first grade! How
incredible is that?? Dustin got to meet up with several people he knew that
have moved away since his last visit here in 2005. One of them was named Daliel
(pronounced Duh-leel). He and Dustin planted a coconut tree the last time
Dustin was here.
Dustin told me about the tree before we came. However there
were a few in one area and we couldn’t figure out which one was the one he had
planted. He told me that every time he thought about the tree or Daliel he
prayed it was bearing a lot of fruit and bringing food to the people here.
Welp... guess what guys??
Monday was also bittersweet because we had to leave the
White Station group at the airport. We rode the bus into Accra with them and
went to a craft market. I bought two traditional dresses (pics to come, don’t
worry) and 2 pieces of fabric to wrap up
my hair. Then we went to dinner and had a meal together in a restaurant. We
drove the group to the airport. They will be greatly missed by all. This was
witnessed Sunday night as they were sung to and hugged by the students to tell
them goodbye. Many tears were shed. However, the beautiful part of Christianity
is that God will one day put us all back together. I think of it as a puzzle,
and we aren’t complete with out each piece, no matter how small the piece is or
how insignificant.
Tuesday Savannah and I headed up the clinic around 8 am. A
woman had come to the clinic with complaints of no fetal movement for several
days. We did an ultrasound and discovered that the baby at died. She miscarried
at 6 months in a previous pregnancy. She had no other successful pregnancies.
No other children. She is seeing an herbalist due to her inability to get
pregnant and a spiritualist to help her sex life with her husband.
THIS IS A HUGE PROBLEM.
I have seen so many patients (including foot man and 14 year
old boy from my recent posts) that go to an herbalist first and continue to
deteriorate. When they can no longer treat the patient, the herbalist sends
them to the hospital. But the majority of the time it is too late. The
herbalist will tell them to take certain herbs or concoctions – and that by
doing so they will be healed. In this woman’s case, she had a miscarriage twice
while seeing an herbalist. This time, she was around 6 months pregnant, so we
had to induce labor. When the baby came it was malformed and had a large
meningocele with severe implications of spina bifida. Spina bifida is caused by
a deficiency in folic acid during pregnancy. We give all pregnant moms folic
acid here, in our prenatal clinic because they do not get a good supply from
their diet. She had not come because she was seeing a herbalist. Many herbs can
interfere with vitamin absorption also be tertaogenic (cause harm to the fetus,
even death) and would never be allowed to be taken by pregnant women back home
for these reasons.
I find this a huge point of contention. I do believe in
natural remedies, and trying to do everything you can before you have to go on
hardcore medication. I think what’s damaging these people is their faith. They
are putting their belief and hope in an herbalist instead of in Christ. They
know God. This is a very church-friendly nation as a whole. However, they do
not actively live their faith. They cannot leave the traditions of their
ancestors, and wrecklessly abandon what they know for what they believe.
Please pray for me as I continue to combat this belief in
herbs and spiritual healing. It’s use can be good, but here it has become
cult-like and I have heard of patients even making sacrifices to Gods for
healing to come.
After the woman passed her fetus and we cleaned everything
up she looked at me. I was the only one standing there she could ask and she
said “the doctor said my baby was deformed, what is the cause of this?” I knew
this was a divine appointment because for a good hour the doctor and our team
had been at her side and she could’ve asked at any moment. But for some reason
she waited and wanted to ask me. I looked at her with great compassion and told
her she’d been putting her faith in an herbalist. In something that was not
true. That the herbs caused great damage to her baby and that they were bad.
She had been told this many times before by the doctor. But by the end of our
conversation I felt she truly knew what she needed to do.
She is supposed to come back next week for an appointment with
her husband.
Pray for her please, that she comes back and that we as a
Christian hospital are able to minister to her heart and that God would win her
over with his great love.
Hanging with the Denzins.
Much love,
T and D
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