We did not know that today was Yendi’s big market day until we were in the middle of Yendi and could hardly get down the road because there were so many people. We intended to buy pre-paid units for the electric meters but when we finally got to the office there were so many people waiting that Steve walked right back out. We needed onions and tomatoes but there was no place to park. We did not see anyone else wearing a mask! We decided that we will go back tomorrow; it will be safer. Zorash said that today was such a big market day because everyone is trying to prepare for Christmas. She said that the Konkombas are the ones that celebrate Christmas because most of the Dagombas are Muslims. Evidently they bring their goods to the market to sell so they will have money to buy fabric and new clothes for the big day.
Nakpa church had sent a messenger on Monday to bring us some of their paperwork. The messenger had never been to the mission house so he dropped the envelope at the clinic that is just near the mission house. When the paperwork did not show up we called Timothy to check on it. It took a little while to figure out that the guy dropped it off at the wrong place. He said he left it with one of the doctors but did not know which one. We don’t know much about the clinic or who is in charge but Zorash goes there quite often and she speaks the language. We enlisted her services; she was more than happy to track down the mission paper. She went to the clinic first and then to one of the workers’ houses. She was successful in finding the paper. We gave her a nice “finder” fee.
Mr. Iddrisu did not come to work today; he said that he could feel the hard work he had been doing in his back so he was going to stay home and rest. He told Steve several times that he was not lazy; he just needed to rest his back. He knew that the masons were going to begin plastering the building today and that he would have to do some serious work. We missed him; Steve had to make multiple trips back and forth to the jobsite and to town to rent stuff. They rented boards and scaffolding. He had to make a trip to get more cement and additional burglar mesh. Dawda had us hire additional workers today. Today 14 people were working. They hired 4 women today. There was a crew of masons working and a crew of carpenters. I think they will have the same number tomorrow. They got the insides of 3 rooms plastered today. The carpenters got ¾ of the ceiling put in and most of the burglar mesh hung.
We keep all the cooked chicken bones and raw chicken skins and fat for Timothy’s dog but since he has been sick we have not had an opportunity to give him the bones and they are piling up in the freezer. Zorash has a dog so I gave her the bones today. She looked in the bag and said that she was going to take out the chicken skins and cook them for her family. All I can say is that we have never been hungry!
Thank you for all you do for us and for the work.
In His Service,
Steve and Kandie
