First words from Ghana!!

Dear friends and family at St. Paul’s and St. Andrew’s, and family in general,
I remember many asking us why we had to go on this adventure, why couldn’t Africans help Africans?
Well, I can answer you now. If a Ghanaian gets some money the first thing to do is build a home from some corrugated tin and some scavenged lumber. If he gets some more money he could build a concrete block home, if he gets some more money he could put a roof on the home, if he gets some more money he could try to secure a reliable source of water for his family, then more would provide uniforms so that his children would be able to attend a basic elementary school, do you see now?
Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we do work that nobody here could do without our help.
Love to all,
David & Ellen

Hi. This is Donna here in Africa where it is very hot and humid. So far it has been a most positive experience and I am soaking up all kinds of new knowledge. The church service Sunday morning was the most joyous gathering of Christians praising the Lord using singing, dancing, clapping. So welcoming and Philmore the little boy I made the quilt for last year came and sat on my lap. Our first work day went well. We are building cement block walls on the second floor of the centre where we are staying. Hauled blocks, sand and water up the stairs and I managed to do my share. Mind you never been so dirty but it all washed off. Looking forward to the rest of our stay. I am well, and yes Anne it is the experience of a lifetime.
Hello Dick, Care, Kate, Beth,Bev,Doris and all the friends and family. This is the first time we are able to get in touch with you. Please tell everyone that we arrived safely and can’t wait to tell you numerous stories about Africa! It is amazing, hot, humid, wonderful people, hard work, wow, we are building a brick building right here at the compound! Amazing! I love you all and miss you too. It is an amazing journey here too! Can’t wait to write again. Cheers, Love Mary, Gramma, Mother

Hi Guys, Janice here. We had a fabulous trip over…waved to all my friends in Brussels, saw the sunrise over the Alps, and flew over the Sahara. Ghana is incredible…everyone is so friendly & welcoming and the food is fabulous. Although it is hot hot hot, there is a nice breeze coming off the ocean. First day on the worksite, what a sense of accomplishment to look up at the building and see new walls…yes, we are learning masonry, and so much more. Miss you! Chat with you soon. Cheers, Love Janice/Mom


Hello everyone from Ghana! I am here safely as I hope you all know already. The flight here was boring as anything is life ever is but boy was it ever worth it. Everything here is so… different from life in North America… it is quite the experience. The first few days we spent getting accustomed to everything here but we started construction on the second floor of the hostel today. Hard work to say the least and the heat really gets to you after a while, but we did a lot today so it’s all good. The breeze coming off the ocean (we are right on the coast) is nice and the people here are very friendly. Anyways, that’s all I’m going to write for now. Hopefully the next blog post will be closer to this one, as we have had internet problems the last few days. Looking forward to seeing you all soon. I miss you all very much and I send my love to all of you, especially Danielle.
-David

Hello to everyone at home from Lawrence and Penny! Of course a special hello to Benjamin, Lawrence and Christopher! We are enjoying our time here meeting new friends and Mom is having a great time reuniting with people here. Dad has been fighting a headache from working so hard in the sun today. Lawrence, you’d be very proud of your Dad! Mom has been enjoying every minute of work, market, church and visiting in the village. Dad is starting to come out of his shell and had a hand in another one of our great Canadian inventions on the worksite! We are also very pleased that Comfort has opened a store down the road from us and has already begun taking orders from the team! Joshua and Kimberly are growing and beautiful, so is Theodosia. Andrews is a new friend this year, he is the prayer coordinator and he has been a great tour guide. It is quite a bit hotter than the trip in 2006 and our first day proved to be a little challenging because of it. Everyone did wonderful though! Everyone seems to be enjoying the food; all the ladies are back to cook for us! Yeah! George is driving us again and is still amazing. Lawrence is convinced that if you don’t live in Ghana, you don’t drive in Ghana! He’s probably right! We are also learning the cardinal rules of travel from Ellen! We must keep this short. Hopefully, you were all not too worried by the delay. We are praying that all is well at home with everyone, especially our boys (all four of them)! Wednesday is Lawrence’s 17th birthday and a special Happy Birthday if we don’t get to contact you, Lawrence! We love you all at home!

Hello to my family we have finally arrived safely. Jake had a couple of rough days, but he coming around Me I’m handling food pretty well still can’t eat things that are looking at me. This is been a great mission trip so far we have started to work on the second floor laying bricks. We went to the market and had fun bargining with the people, but it takes a lot of effort and takes so long. We have been having networking problem so we are sorry for not getting to your response. Hope to have the network issues figure out shortly. I have been told TIA. This Is Africa. Things just take more time here. Hope you are behaving for Grandma. We miss you kids very very much. Kelly and Jake

Hello people out there, Ghana is amazing oh wow!!! I think that I am in love with the people and this country. i have only been here for 4 days and I already don’t want to go home!!! But I know that I must L. I miss you all. The food is going okay, I am trying everything but the fish! I have had a great time so far, I have been to the market and went down to the villages, I have put my feet into the ocean for the first time. The work is going so well we got two walls build to the hostel where we are staying. It is very hot here but I am getting use to it not sweating as much. Have been doing great and the people here are so special and unique and love them all. See you all later. Darcie

Hi from Hope!!!
First of all…June, Karen, and Josh and Sarah your prayer has been great> I made it through the airports without a hitch!!! And all the other things I wished I could ask for your prayers for have gone well, so I know you must be praying. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!
The rest of my message is mostly for those of you who have been here before. Comfort has her own shop about half way down “holy road”. We have been some of her very first cououustomers. Joshua is adorable of course and is sharing big hugs with all us white people, who he calls “Diane”. Kimmy ( yes Kim that’s what they call her.)is as beautiful as all African babies. I had a one hour cuddle with her while Comfort dyed cloth yesterday. Beulah and Philmore are great too. Beulah wants to come home to Canada with me, even if there is snow. Juanita is pregnant!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She looks more beautiful than ever. AND Emma has his own car!!! (It’s a 1998 Toyota corolla, Nathan and Jason)Emma looks great, just like the successful young businessman that he is.
Back to everybody. Please pray for us. It is “hot-hot”. We are having to learn new coping skills to work in this weather. Also pray for Daryl, Sarah, and Janice, who are suffering from the effects of too much sun and heat on the first work day. They will be okay, but they hated sitting and watching us work today. We are also doing much harder work than we expected, moving sand, water and blocks to the second floor of the hostel to build walls. Otherwise, Ghana is just as wonderful as ever. God is good!
God bless you all, Hope


You know when your Gatorade tastes like kool-aid, that perhaps you need more fluids. Our first day on the worksite went well all things considered. Penny and I moved a large volume of sand in headpans up the stairs. By last night though my body was having trouble getting rid of excess heat and so I spent virtually all day today sitting in the shade where the breeze was. Tonight I’m feeling better though, and looking forward to my first afternoon at the clinic after we’ve worked on construction in the morning. It was great to walk into the clinic today and have the doctor and midwife recognize me – and be glad to see me back. I asked the doctor (Madame Beatrice) about making arrangements to come help in the clinic, and she said “This is your home. You may come anytime.” Another woman whom I met in 2006, Augustina, was expecting a baby in January. She told me that she had wanted me to be there and knew I was coming in February so tried to ‘hold out’, but her baby came before I did. Only one of the midwives I worked with is still there, Sister Esther; she assured me that the new head midwife would be good to work with. Kelly and I will both be going down to the clinic tomorrow. We are excited to work in the clinic, and with each other too. While we consult each other frequently in Canada on doula ‘stuff’, we have yet to work together to support a labouring woman. I could write more, but we need to get all these messages loaded up for you to see….. let me wrap up by saying “it’s good to be back”