We are back in Yendi safe and sound; well, the sound part might be questionable; after 3 days of dealing with paperwork and vehicles no one should be sane!
Isaac, the air conditioner repair guy, had the van ready for us as promised at noon. Steve said the air conditioning unit about froze him on his drive back to Yendi. We were very disappointed in the tinting of the windows; we asked for medium tinting but the guy put on the dark tint. You can stand with your face pressed against the glass and still not be able to see into the van. The front driver’s window and passenger window are not dark like the side windows; neither is the window on the tailgate. I am afraid that when the police stop us at the road barricades, they are going to make us open the door so they can see in the van. I want to sit in the back and see how dark it really is before we make a final decision to take the tinting off and have it replaced; I know it will make the van much cooler but when I ride in the van I like to read, cut fabric squares and do paperwork; the dark atmosphere might hinder my work!
As we passed through Kulkpeni on our way to Yendi we stopped to talk to the mason; last night he sent us photos of the pit and it was a mess; there is no way that we could use it the way he built it. When we got the pictures last night we called John, the mason and told him to stop working on the pit until we got back to Yendi. He asked us to send him a drawing of what we wanted so we did; he said that he could fix it but we wanted to talk to him in person to make sure he really understood what we wanted. He actually made a pit for a flush/ bucket flush type toilet but ours is supposed to be a dry pit. He tried to convince us that the poop could pass through plastic pipe; that will not happen with a dry pit. He was very gracious this afternoon when we talked to him and he seemed to understand what we wanted. He will start the demolition tomorrow. We hate that the block, cement, and labor have been wasted. But it is what it is!
While we were visiting with John about the pit he told us that he had wired the small gate closed but someone removed the wire so that people could start passing through the church property again! That is so annoying. After we got to the mission house and unloaded the vehicle we headed back to Kulkpeni. The small gates did not have a good way to lock them so Steve took his drill, eye bolts, washers and padlocks. He drilled the gates and inserted eye bolts so we would have somewhere to hang a padlock. They looked nice when we finished; Steve also put a big padlock on the main gate because it was also wired shut. The people can still climb over the wall but at least locking the gates will stop the foot traffic, the motorcycle and bike riders.
Please keep us and the work in your prayers.
In HIS Service,
Steve, Kandie and Skeeter
The Monkeyshines
The parents brought me 2 gifts when they came back today! One of the gifts was really good and the other one was very creepy! The best gift was a whole case of dates; these are the best dates; they are the ones that are soft and very sweet inside; sometimes they buy the hard dried dates. I don’t like those dates very much but I still eat them. Dates are my treat; I usually get at least one date a day. Mom cuts the dates in half for me. I was excited to see the soft squishy dates! The creepy gift was a hard bodied monkey that had fur pulled over its stiff body. It had huge plastic eyeballs; it was very ugly; it could stand up but its arms were outstretched and appeared to be disjointed at the elbows! Mom said that the monkey was supposed to have batteries and she thought that it should be able to walk! Well, let me tell you she put batteries in that thing and it could not walk; it could not even wiggle or make a noise! It was completely dead! It had big ugly lips and a floppy tail; it did not look like any monkey that I have ever seen! If you ask me, it was a waste of money!
I was very happy that they finally came back! I heard them whispering; they are going to have to go back to Tamale on Wednesday! Bummer! I can’t like that! (that is what my cousin Lilah used to say when she was little and something did not please her)
Hey, the parents were gone for 3 days; don’t you think I should have gotten 3 presents? I feel cheated!
Love, Skeeter
