I Loved Ghana: Month 5 Recap [photos]

This month we had a debrief at the beginning of the month and a mini debrief at the end of the month. These are sweet times where the whole squad comes together and we process all the things we have seen and done over the past month. Since our visa only allowed us to be in Ghana for so many days and we spent several of these days at debrief, we actually spent a pretty short amount of time with our ministry hosts this month. The “month” was actually about 2.5 weeks in this case – which is kind of amazing considering all we accomplished and all the relationships we made this month.

Housing:

• We had two different houses this month
• First, we stayed in our host family’s home. We stayed in kind of an apartment of the first story of their home. They live on the second story. The first floor has several different rooms where people can stay.
• The second house we lived in was a beach house. About halfway through our time there, our squad leaders came to stay with us so we needed a bit more space and we moved into a cute beach house. There were 4 bedrooms and a kitchen and the best ocean breeze.
• Both houses had running water and there is no need for hot water when it is always hot outside.
• We had the best people caring for us and cooking our meals.

Places visited:

• Accra, Ghana. We had our squad debriefs near Accra. At the beginning of the month, we were more in the city
• Keta, Ghana. It was the coolest place. A tiny peninsula between a lagoon and the ocean. It was beautiful and tiny. There weren’t really any stores but there was sand for miles everywhere you walked.
• Some even smaller villages outside of Keta

Travel:

• We had a 4-hour crazy bus ride through Ghana from Accra to Keta at the beginning of the month and then back to Accra at the end of the month.
• In Keta, we really walked everywhere
• Occasionally we piled in a van to visit a school in a small neighboring village.

What we did:

• Built a school. On our first day there we leveled the sand to lay the foundation and by the end of our time there, we were painting the finished walls.

• We preached in Sunday morning, or in my case, Tuesday evening church services.
• We taught Bible lessons in the Keta International School, the school we were building the new building for.
• The kids at Keta International School were the kids we saw every day either at school or at the afterschool program. I got to know them very early on and came to know them all really well. I even met several of their families and visited their homes.

• Traveled to other schools to teach at assemblies.
• Basketball ministry.

• Built relationships with the people serving the ministry. Whether it was the guys cooking, the teachers, the guys hired for construction, or the guys that just work alongside Pastor Doe serving in whatever capacity they can. We love them all a whole lot.

New Experiences:

• Ewe was still spoken and I learned many new words!
• Fine plastered a wall
• Went on an African canoe/gondola
• Carried buckets full of cement on my head
• Worshipped (and danced, because Africa) in the dark in a field of sand when the power went out during our outdoor night service.

What I enjoyed most:

• The kids from Keta International School, particularly the Class 2 and Class 3 classroom.
• Swimming with the kids in the ocean.
• Construction. I love construction.
• Komebe. The sweetest boy. He likely has cerebral palsy an is nothing but pure joy. There was nothing better than hearing him squeal my name from wherever he was.

• Kofi. The sweetest boy with a semi-permanent smirk on his face and sad eyes. He’s going far in life, I’m telling you now. 

• Spending time with our amazing host family.

Basically, this whole month was amazing. 

This month was our first month as a new team, AKA Kingdom Advancers. It was a great month together. We laughed a ton and I am excited to continue to grow closer to each other as we step into month 6. We also officially said goodbye to our alumni squad leaders, Alex and Landry. It is sad to see them go, but now our squad steps completely into self-governance and I am excited to see what that looks like.

We are now in MONTH 6. We are about a week away from being half-way. Crazy.

Thanks for following along,

Kayla