Red stopped by this morning. He is buying a new truck that has a crane on the back, sort of like a tow truck but it is also a dump truck and the tow arm is not stationary; it can swing up near the cab of the truck and be out of the way when he needs to haul a load of sand or gravel. He was supposed to finish the purchase tomorrow but he was a little short. We loaned him the money he needed against the sand and gravel that we will need the next time we come to Ghana. We will need the sand to plaster the new rooms at Kulkpeni and we need the gravel at the mission house for the foundation of the toilets we will soon be building.
We worked outside this morning; Steve trimmed up a few of the teak trees and put a new screen around Skeeter’s cage. The wind destroyed the last one. When we first got here we used a piece of 4 x 8 burglar mesh and attached the tarp to it to try to keep it from getting beaten to death by the wind. It did not last very long. We are now moving to plan B. We are going to sandwich the tarp between 2 sheets of burglar mesh and see how long that method will last. Red makes canopies for people to park their vehicles under. He bought a very thick sun proof fabric in Tamale. Tomorrow when he goes to Tamale he is going to buy us some of the fabric. When we found out that he was going to Tamale tomorrow we stopped working on the screens. We should be able to finish it on Saturday.
This afternoon Steve worked on the monthly GRA (IRS) taxes for the West Hobbs Street, Child Center and the employees. He got everything done that he could do; he is waiting on me to finish figuring the Withholding Tax for the month. We have had lots of building projects this month so we have 2 pages of Withholding tax to pay. I think that I got all the receipts figured so after supper Steve can finish filing the taxes.
Donkey was the only worker in the compound today because today is a national holiday; it is May Day. Donkey could have had the day off but he needed the extra money so he spent the day raking leaves. We were surprised that none of the mothers came to the Center; I guess they knew it was a holiday. It was very cloudy today and it sprinkled off and on this morning. That is another reason no mothers came to the Center; no one brings their baby out when the weather is so cold! We thought it was very pleasant today but the Ghanaians are cold when the sun is not out!
Thank you for the love, prayers and support! We appreciate the help!
In HIS Service,
Steve, Kandie and Skeeter
The Monkeyshines
Dad cut branches off the big mango tree to put inside my jail cell. The branches are very nice and they still have some fresh leaves on them. Mom said that she wants me to feel like I am in the jungle! Well, I don’t feel like I am in the jungle; I feel like I am in prison! No matter how many branches they cram in my cage I will still feel like I am incarcerated! How do you like that big word? That is a really big word for a little monkey. I am happy to have the new branches because I have chewed the bark off all the old branches. When I have nothing better to do I use my teeth to strip the bark off. Every once in a while I find a small bug or spider. Spiders are my favorite! They are sweeter than ants; ants are sour; they taste like lemon drops.
I helped Dad with all of his outside work this morning. I could tell he was happy to have my assistance! The reason he had to trim the teak trees is that when I am running free I like to climb out to the end of the branches and look at the kids that live on the other side of the wall. When the kids see me they are very mean! They shout at me and throw stones and sticks at me! Now why would they do that? I am just a little guy and I just want to see what they are doing! Dad is cutting the limbs up so high that if I climb out on one it will be too far up in the air for me to jump to the ground and chase the kids! Another problem with the branches is that if I jump down to the ground I will be on the outside of the wall and the kids will chase me and try to catch me and probably hurt me in the process! To get back in the compound I would have to cross the razor wire.
Someone needs to report the kids for “Monkey Abuse”!
Love, Skeeter
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