When Steve talked to Jimmy and Mary Stroud yesterday they were almost home – Athens, Alabama. They were tired but still in good spirits. Jimmy will go to rehab for a few days to regain his strength.
This afternoon the uncle of a new born baby came to the Child Center to get formula. The baby was born 3 days ago and has hydrocephalus. The Yendi hospital wants to transfer him to Tamale but the family just wants to take him home because they have run out of money. Steve went to the hospital to check on the little guy and to find out how much the ambulance cost would be. We told the family we would pay for the ambulance but they are still thinking about taking the child home and letting the family decide what to do. Sometimes the families of these special children think that the child is not really a human and that nothing should be done for the child. Hopefully the hospital has contacted Social Welfare so they can step in and give assistance.
The sanitation department did not come to suck out the septic tank today. When we called them this morning they said that they would be here by 2:00. When we called at 3:00 they said they would not come until tomorrow because they were “head counting”. Head counting is a way to purge the government system of “ghost” employees. If a employee dies the family will not alert the government of the death and continue to collect their monthly pay. Also the people in charge of hiring will get fake IDs and put fake people on payroll so they can collect the money for themselves and their departments. Every year each department is required to do a head count and make copies of their employees’ documents. Obviously while this is going on no work is getting done. Meanwhile we sit and wait.
The only thing the ladies have left to cook is the soybeans. They think they will be able to finish tomorrow. The soybeans are not well dried so it will take longer to cook them. We did not realize they were not completely dried until this afternoon. They should have been drying in the sun.
We almost forgot to go to the naming ceremony for Dawda’s new baby girl. Yesterday he sent a handful of hard candy to the mission house for us. Passing out candy is sort of like sending out invitation cards. Mr. Iddrisu stayed late today because we needed him to show us where Dawda lives. They named the baby Miriam. We took pictures of the baby. Hardly anyone has a camera. We will make copies for Dawda.
It is almost time for Bible study. Have a great day.
In His Service,
Steve and Kandie
