Village Tour and Shea Butter

On Thursday we had the pleasure of going on a village tour. I find it so difficult to explain the villages here... words cannot describe them. Africa is something you need to see for yourself (and I highly recommend that you do).

In the villages we had the opportunity see how they make pottery and shea butter. The villagers were so welcoming and they let each of us try each process of the production. I am amazed by the woman here in Ghana. They are such strong, hard workers and they are so dedicated to their families. They do most of the work in the village and they mind the children. In fact, they are usually doing the work with at least one child tied to their backs. They are incredible!!

The children are always my favorite. They are trusting, loving, and absolutely beautiful! We played "round and round the garden" with them. That pretty much means we tickled them and they loved it! They giggled incessantly and kept holding their hands up so we could keep playing with them. We even taught them how to do it and they would do it to us and all attack us with tickles. I wanted to scoop up all of them and take them home with me!! I don't know how Erik would feel about me bringing home an entire village of children though. And they have loving families who would miss them dearly... But I do adore them.

At the end of the tour the villagers put on a dance for us. On the way to the dance I was holding this little girls hand. She was six years old and she was carrying her younger sister on her back. She had fallen in love with me (and I obviously fell in love with her). The back of her jersey said "doula" on it, which made me smile. Anyway, on the way to the dancing she dragged me into a little commune of huts and walked me right into her home.  Her mom, auntie and grandma were all in there and they welcomed me in. I was so touched that she brought me into her home. She was so proud to introduce me to her family and to show me where she slept. I was teary eyed as she gazed up at me with her big, trusting eyes. Again, I felt so privileged to be loved and welcomed so openly.

When we turned the corner after our little hut tour I saw my nursing friends sitting on benches and kids were on the other side of the circle. As we walked up, however, the kids swarmed towards the girls eager to have their attention. It is such an amazing experience to be welcomed and surrounded by an entire village. I felt so blessed to be there and so thankful for being genuinely welcomed. We were pulled into the circle part way through the dancing and we attempted to learn one of their dances. It involved a lot of shaking and twisting that none of us were very good at. The Ghanaian's were loving it though! They laughed and laughed because we have no rhythm and our bodies do not move the way theirs do. It was so much fun to be a part of the dancing though -- even if we were awful at it.

One of the old ladies asked me to take her picture. When I turned the camera around to show her she was so delighted! She laughed and laughed and raised her arms and danced around. Then she asked me to do it again... and I got the exact same response. It was so funny!

After the dancing we went to see where the villages water source. It was about a fifteen minute walk, but many of the kids joined us as we made the trek in the hot hot sun.We skipped and danced our way to the water hole. I was at the back of the pack and at one point I heard a little voice calling behind us -- a little girl was running after us as quickly as she could, but she was so dehydrated and exhausted that she could hardly walk. I went back, scooped her up and carried her the rest of the way. She just rested her head on my shoulder and enjoyed the ride.

The little kids are such troopers! Small children were carrying slightly smaller children tied to their backs. And they do this all day!! I could not imagine a three year old carrying a one year old on their back in Canada. But that is what their lives are like. It's unbelievable.

On the way back from the water I had six kids holding my hands. On each side I had one child holding my thumb, one holding my pointer and middle fingers, and one holding my ring finger and my pinky. The two holding my thumbs had to walk behind me, but they were so excited to just be with us. Our hands got so sweaty!!

It was to climb on the bus and leave all the beautiful children behind. It is hard every single time we have to do it.

That night our African brother's mother made us all Fufu and Groundnut Soup. It was delicious. And very filling. We had to eat it with our hands which ended up being a bit of a disaster, but that didn't make it any less tasty.

More coming...