We got 2 more loads of clothes washed! The sun was out most of the morning. We also got the corn and soybeans washed and dried. The grain will be turned into weaning mix.
First thing this morning Zorash and I went to the town to try and buy containers for the diaper rash ointment. We saw the lady in the market yesterday and she assured us that she had plenty containers but we would have to go to her house to get them. Are we surprised that she did not have the containers? Not really! She said they would be here on Thursday; hopefully they will. While we were out I took Zorash to the market because a couple months ago I saw an elderly lady using a small wooden mortar and pestle. The mortar and pestle were about as old as she was. Most of these are huge but this one was small enough to fit into my suitcase. I tried to buy it from her but I had no one to interpret for me and she could not speak English. I was happy that she agreed to sell it to me of course I had to give her the price of a new one but that is ok! She told us that a couple of her friends also had some they would sell.
Next we stopped at Zorash’s house to give her mother the peanuts we bought; she will roast them for us and we will make fortified peanut butter out of them. When we got back in the truck it would not start. The plug heater would not come on. I called Steve. He said that they were swamped with mothers and babies at the Child Center and he could not get away to rescue me. We were only about 6 or 8 blocks away from the mission house so I told him I would lock the truck and walk back. I decided to giggle and wiggle the key and see if I could get it to make connection because I hate to walk! Luckily the coil light came on and the truck started.
By the end of the morning 61 babies had passed through the Child Center. We started feeding a new orphan this morning. The baby’s mother died 4 days ago of unknown causes. We also had a new set of twins come this morning. There was nothing wrong with the babies except the mother was worried that she would not have enough milk to feed 2 babies.
We had a big discussion about “witches”. Most Ghanaians believe that witches are real and they are the ones that cause people to fall sick and die. They believe that the people who are witches do all their evil activities at night. They believe that the spirit of the witch leaves the body and roams about at night passing to and from the astral world. If you wake with a head ache perhaps the witches removed your head in the night and played football with it. They believe that the reason witches kill people is so they will have meat to eat in the astral world. It is all rather confusing but very interesting. This discussion came up this morning because a lot of people have been dying in the Kuga area of Yendi. The Kuga chief hired soothsayers to come and identify the people who are witches. They identified several people among them were the Kuga chief’s old wife, and a not mentally normal young man. The people will either be sent to live in one of the witch camps in our area or they will be taken to the camp and treated and released. Whatever be the case it is a sad day for the accused.
Please keep us and the work in your prayers.
In His Service,
Steve and Kandie
P.S. Please keep our good friends Bethany and Toby in your prayers. They lost their unborn child last night. We know they would appreciate your prayers. We cannot imagine how awful it would be to lose a child.
