Shortly after we got up this morning we went out to Kulkpeni to make sure that there were men available to paint the wood treatment on the rafters for the new building. Timothy said that they would start after he came back from Sambu. Sambu is the village beyond Kulkpeni. Today was Sambu’s big market day. Sambu is known for its yam market. Timothy had some yams he needed to sell. Hopefully he will get a good price for them.
Mr. Iddrisu and I played hooky from the Child Center this morning to work up this month’s payroll. Wish we had been playing hooky for a better reason. Mid way though our work Mr. Iddrisu had to leave and go to the school. It seems there was some confusion over his son’s school fees.
Around 10:00 Zorash, the Child Center receptionist, left because the masons who are re-plastering her shop ran out of cement. She was just supposed to be gone for a few minutes but she did not come back for almost 2 hours. She said that her motorcycle ran out of gas and she had to push it. At least she ran out of gas after she delivered the cement. She hauled the bag on the back of her motorcycle. It is amazing the things they can haul on a motorcycle. The other day we saw someone with a small refrigerator on the back of their motorcycle. The most dangerous thing we see them carry is plate glass for windows (no frames). The glass is held by the passenger between the driver and the passenger.
Yesterday while we were in Tamale we saw a terribly sad sight. Tamale is full of beggars; they are at every intersection. They come up to the vehicles and motorcycles when they are stopped at the traffic lights. Many of them are blind. They walk with the assistance of a small child. They rest their hand on the small child’s shoulder and the child weaves in and out of traffic trying to get coins from the drivers. We keep coins in the van to give to the beggars. We noticed a small girl about 4 or 5 years old leading an old blind lady. The girl was walking slow, hunched over; she did look like she felt well. Then we noticed the little girl had an IV tube hanging out of her arm. The little girl had obviously been in the hospital and taken out so she could lead the blind lady around the town. It is not uncommon for a patient to leave the hospital with an IV tube and then go back to the hospital later. Sometimes they leave because they have run out of money or to buy food or medicine the hospital does not have.
Steve and Nazo took the wheel chair we bought yesterday to Abdulai Fusheni this afternoon. He was very pleased with the new wheel chair. He was also surprised because he did not think we would be able to find one so quickly. When we were there a couple days ago Steve left him some money to get the seat on his handicapped bicycle re-upholstered. He made sure Steve saw the new seat.
Thank you for all your help.
In His Service,
Steve and Kandie
