It has been thundering for the past couple hours. It started sprinkling a few minutes ago; we are praying for a big rain! Zorash stopped by a little while ago to get the mangos she had picked up this morning and she said that everyone in her area have set all their buckets, head pans and plastic containers out under the eaves to catch the rain as soon as it starts to fall. It was not as hot today as it has been; the high temperature was only a balmy 110 degrees. Zorash said that when she passed over the Daka River the Konkomba people were making some sort of sacrifice on the river bridge. She said they were roasting a chicken; we figure that they are making a sacrifice for rain. If it rains there today it will just reinforce their belief that they have the power to sacrifice and make the rain come. Steve knows the electricity is about to go off so he has his flashlight and the keys to the generator ready. The electricity almost always goes off when it rains. It has been flickering on and off.
We had a 2 week old baby come to the Center this morning that had a seriously swollen belly. His tummy was so swollen that his belly button had no indentation. The parents brought the child yesterday and we told them to take him to the hospital. They took him to the clinic and were given some antibiotics. We thought that they would have referred them to Tamale hospital. Steve gave them the money for the transport to and from Tamale because he did not feel comfortable with them waiting around. The parents agreed to go right away to Tamale. Zorash gave them her phone number and told them to call and let us know what the doctors said.
We spent a good part of the afternoon grinding weaning mix for the malnourished children. The man at the grinding mill is always happy to see us because we always pay him more than the going rate. The grinding mill is right beside Mr. Iddrisu’s house. Mr. Iddrisu’s wife Afishetu came to the grinding mill and helped us with the grinding. Of course Zorash was with us too. We had planned on grinding this morning but Zorash had to leave early to take care of her women farmer’s group. So she made up her time this afternoon. Women farmers in Ghana is really a joke but the women have demanded the right to farm. Of course they hire a man to plow the field; men to plant and weed the crops, men to harvest and they hire a man to carry the crop to their house after it is harvested. Now I asked you how are they farming? They are farmers in name only. The group got a grant which is not really a grant because it has to be paid back but there is no interest attached to the money.
It is still sprinkling so maybe the rain will help cool things down.
Thank you for all you do for us!
In His Service,
Steve and Kandie
