For the Sister Missionaries a Stop at the Bead Factory is a Must

How could we possibly drive by Kpong without taking a left turn and traveling up the road to Cedi Beads? After all we had two couples who had never been there. Cedi Beads is well known in Ghana for being one of the premier places of creating hand-made beads. When you wind down the rutted dirt road you finally come to the factory.

It's all outdoors. Cedi, himself, demonstrated how the beads are made. It's very fascinating and deserves a blog entry of its own. Basically they crush glass bottles, sift the glass into a fine powder, pour it into molds, bake the beads in termite clay ovens, polish them with water and sand, and then string them into necklasses and bracelets.

Cedi takes his beads all over the world and makes a good living.First timers and old timers love to look and buy the beautiful beads in his store.

The Volta Dam

The last place we visited on Friday was the Volta Dam. The Volta lake is the largest man made lake in the world. It covers about 2/3rds of the length of the country.
The dam appeared to be an earth filled dam. The dam generates 70% of the electricity for Ghana. So Ghana depends on rain. No rain, no electricity. The dam was funded by the United States. Jackie Kennedy came to Ghana to dedicate the dam in 1966.
We thought of what a challenge it would have been to come to Ghana almost 50 years ago.

Want a Banana!

An hour out of HoHoe we stopped at the Tafi Monkey Sanctuary. Here we walked into the forest while our guide called the monkeys with kind of a squeeky sound he made with his lips. The monkeys came in all directions. We pulled our bananas out and held on tight while they would come down the limbs of the trees, pull down the sides of the banana, break off a piece and run back up into the tree tops. If you didn't hold on tight they would just rip the banana out of your hand and take it up the tree to peel in peace. In the movie you can hear the guide in the background making that squeeky noise. Monkeys like green bananas. Our bananas had turned yellow in the hot car. It was a holiday weekend and these monkeys just were not that hungry. Too many visitors the day before.Some were not even interested.Others would take the banana and spit the piece out onto the ground - but then the small timid monkeys would jump down on the ground and pick up the pieces and run back up the trees to savour their treasure.

The Road to Wli

The road to our last destination wound through villages and then a long dirt road. We stopped along the road at an Evangelical Church to have lunch.
Sister Sidwell said she prepared a little lunch and hoped that it would be to our liking. Coolers were opened, the table was covered with a cloth, and container after container was opened. Three salads, ham, homemade rolls, tuna, guacamole, baked beans, peanut butter, cookies, cupcakes, drinks,and 5 types of chips were unvieled. A little lunch....it was a feast that could have fed an entire village!
We loved it. We were hungry and it was a nice break. We told stories and shared thoughts and just enjoyed the beautiful scenery of Ghana.

Deep in the Woods

Our last stop on our adventure was in a forest just outside the town of Agamatsu.We entered a foot path walking through a beautiful diciduous forest.
The path wove across a stream that was crossed by bridges - nine in all. At one point we saw a group of beautiful lillies. Butterflys darted in, out, and around the bushes. After about 35 minutes on the trail we could hear the sound of falling waters...until finally the scene broke open into a spectacular waterfall that reminded me of the opening footage of Jurasic Park. We arrived at Wli (pronounced YLee) Falls. Water plummeted 400 feet off a sheer cliff into a large inviting pool.

Elder Shipley's the one in the tee shirt under the falls.

A Calico of Missionaries, Each Bringing Beauty to God's Work.

We spent the night in Ho where we were joined by Elder and Sister Sidwell who serve in Ho. Our hotel, The Chance, was the nicest hotel we've stayed in on our mission. The beds were even soft - most beds in Africa are like bricks.


MISSIONARIES AND WHAT THEY DO
Missionary work is not limited to proselyting. Most proselyting is done by the young missionaries. While the senior missionaries have different responsibilities.We had six couples. Each has a different responsibility. Our Area Doctor has over 750 patients: the young missionaries, the senior missionaries, the mission presidents, and the Area Presidency. He's treated Malaria, Mumps, Typhoid, Menningitis, Depression, Skin Cancer, and illnesses you never see anywhere else. His wife helps give shots to the missionaries and she keeps all the records of treatment. Our welfare specialist determines what projects the church needs to be involved in, processes requests for funds to treat members in hosptials, etc. Our PEF (Perpetual Education Fund)missionary is in charge of loaning students money to go to technical school or university. One of our missionaries is developing a literacy manual to teach English as a second language. Her husband is an attorney and works in our legal offices. Two of the couples are "bush" missionaries - they work in the villages teaching the gospel and assisting the leadership in the local church unit. Elder Shipley and I are executive secretaries to the Area Presidency. We process reports, requests, and documents that are sent to the First Presidency. We work with Stake, Mission, and District Presidents daily. We have missionaries that help the West African's trace their family history, and other missionaries who work in the temple.

I love the scripture in 1st Corinthians 12:12-18. One mission in the church holds no more importance than another. We all work together to complete God's work.

Bad Hair Day - West African Women Have the Answer!

Ever had a bad hair day? Well the West African women have two solutions:
1. Put on a wig. One day they have short hair another day they have long hair or their hair pulled back and a beautifully braided or curled bun on the back. Whatever fits their fancy!
2. Other West African women just put on a "head wrap" - a piece of material wrapped around their head.
These are our beautiful sisters of West Africa. We have much to learn from them.(Thanks to Carolee for some of the pictures!)