16th March 2020
Yendi Notes
Today’s High Temp: 118 degrees
Heat index: 144 degrees
We had planned to go to Tamale today to do errands and spend the night so we could get the good van serviced tomorrow but after the president of Ghana announcement Sunday night about the Corona Virus we moved to “Plan B.” The president begged people to limit travel; he put a ban on public gatherings; he said that even churches and mosques were not allowed to meet for 4 weeks. He cancelled all public funerals. If a family member dies a small group of not more than 25 people could gather for the burial. He said that Ghana now has 6 confirmed cases; all of which have come from outside the country. He closed all the schools. We decided not to spend the night and not to get the van serviced.
Before we left this morning we opened the Child Center with the new regulations. We are trying to follow the ministry of health guidelines. We closed the Center and are only letting the caregivers that have a baby on formula come into the Center. We set up a 6 foot barrier around Zorash and the weighing station. We made sure everyone’s desk was at least 6 feet apart. We always have hand sanitizer at the Child Center. We set the formula out on one of the desks and had the caregivers pick up their own formula so the workers did not have to get too close to them. We made a place for the women to set down their identifying card so the number could be read without touching it. We also gave the women twice as much formula as normal so they will only come back once a week instead of twice a week. This week we will be open on Monday and Thursday but starting next week we will only be open on Monday. There have not been any confirmed cases in our region yet.
We had to go to Tamale to turn in Steve’s Ghanaian nurse’s license renewal and to go to the bank to get payroll. We were supposed to pay the “stool” tax on the property but we forgot until we were almost back to Yendi. The “stool” tax is the tax that we pay the chief (king). This practice came from the southern part of Ghana where the kings sit on stools instead of thrones. In our area the chief (kings) sit on animal skins.
We also bought fresh fruits and vegetables. We always enjoy buying in Tamale because they have more vegetables to choose from. Today we found green onions, cauliflower, eggplant, green beans and Chinese radishes. She even had parsley. You never know what you might find; today was a good day for hunting and gathering.
Hope you have a great day and stay Corona Virus free!
In His Service,
Steve and Kandie
