09.19.07
**there are some more pictures from "day two" to be posted, but the server for whatever reason won't allow me so I will have to do it later--hopefully then it will work. Hope you enjoy these! Don't forget to add your comment. We would love to hear.
(click on each picture to make them much larger)
We rise early in the morning after a good night’s rest and full bellies from Bonnie’s cooking we loaded the van and began the drive to our village. The day we had anticipated and replayed our minds start to finish and now it was time to try to see if the process worked and if so how well.
Here are just a few of the sites we saw on our way to our first tribe.
A mother bathes her little boy in front of her roadside store before a long day's work ahead of her.
And I think it's hard to be a mom, but here mom's don't only carry their children, but almost always with some heavy load of something on her head. Here a mother elegantly carries her little one on her back while balancing all that wood on her head mostly with several miles still ahead of her to go.
In a land of little, one must continually be resourceful even when it comes to building a fence.
We passed these two boys who were balancing virtually enough wood for a bonfire on the back of their bikes.
When we arrive at the villiage the children were in school, but soon they were dismissed as it isn't every day that they see vistors let alone white and from the United States. Look at the shear joy on these children faces as Zenda, my mom, simply twirls a wand making bubbles—it’s magic to these little ones.
...notice the little boy in dark orange in front as he feels his face after a bubble just landed and popped there
Below: See the little girl in front? Now notice her belly button. It is severely herniated—a sight soon to be common among the children in this village. This issue is probably something that could have been easily prevented in most cases, but without much help from outside the village, the midwives of this tribe are left to do the best they know how.
For us in America, a family portrait is something we take for granted, but in third-world societies a family portrait is a true rarity. I don’t even think that most of the people who sat down in front of my lens even realized what that big black thing on legs (my tripod) was doing anyway or at least until they received their print documenting their moment of confusion. I had not expected the stone expressions I would continually receive and that I would have to encourage, encourage and encourage some more each individual, including the children, to give me a smile when they would come to have their picture taken. Typically a smile is one thing I can help generate pretty quickly and easily, but here in Ghana a smile is something I had to work for each time I put a camera in front of my face. Fortunately, I was quickly able to find almost a flawless way to see those pearly whites. What to know my secret? Trying to speak their own language and not being able to do it very well. Love ya, lima, lima, love ya—over and over again could be heard coming from me. I heard Mary, my translator saying it fast and repetitiously after she understood what I was trying to accomplish so I followed suit even though I did not know what I was even saying! I think my attempts alone were so funny that they were gracious to me and gave me a “deep down in the soul” kind of smile. Here I was successful—even “knee slapping” successful from the Patriarch!
Same family, but here watch the woman on the back row disappear—too funny. She was blushing so hard that she went down to her knee trying to cover up her smile/laughing behind her family.
After everyone from the tribe had had their picture taken we decided to do something else that would fun. Children of all ages and languages enjoy a little Crayola. I know I do. Don't you? Anyway, it never ceases to amaze me in my travels how a little stick of colored wax can bring such timeless joy and imagination to every age let alone every culture.
This beautiful young lady bare's her tribal markings...slits cut into her cheeks when she was not even a few months old.
1000 Words of Hope is a project of Creative Differences, the non-profit we are forming. At Creative Differences we try to find creative ways to generate hope in the midst of difficult situations and we cannot do that without you! Embracing our creative differences to make a creative difference--we want to encourage everyone to look at their unique gifts and talents and find a creative way to give back in a way that is uniquely them. One of my mom's talent is a "knock 'em dead" manicure and polish (ask anyone who has recieved one from her)--I am not kidding. Here is one of the women who got to enjoy just a little part of that experience. Can red nail polish brighten someone's day? Of course it can! After all, part of a woman's nature is to feel and look beautiful--isn't it?. And if you didn't already know that just look at the expressions on the faces in this picture. Enough said.
On our way back to the compund after a long, but very successful day, we passed the Stadium for the African Cup: a $120 million dollar project. The juxtaposition of obvious poverty and money is overwhelmingly sad as Ghana tries to prepare for the upcoming African Cup in January amidst her people trying their best to make a way for their families
Back to our "base camp," Seed Ministry Compound. Today has been great. The vision for 1000 Words of Hope in our imagination had actually work in reality! And not only that, but four people came to Christ today too! The simple idea to give remote tribal people their first and only family portrait opened up yet another villiage to hear the name of Jesus!
Bob and Bonnie, the missionaries at Seed Ministry has asked if we could give each of their helpers (our translators) a family portrait too. We were so glad they asked. After dinner we started our first on-campus photoshoot. Here mom waves and makes noise trying to get the little baby Joanna’s attention. Thomas, her dad and one of our translators, holds her in his lap. Little did we know that within a few days, Joanna would become severely sick and running a frighteningly high fever and dehydrated. She most likely had contracted Malaria—a huge health crisis for the children of Africa. However, through much prayer the doctors were able to find the right medicines to treat her condition and her condition has continues to improve. Please keep Joanna and her family in your prayers.
I was asked to share about 1000 Words of Hope at Christian Academy's 4th and 5th grade chapel. My daughter Zoe tagged along, and as you can see, was more interested in being out on the floor with me than sitting on the sidelines like we talked.
