There is a company in Yendi that digs outdoor toilets and sets up the small septic system for them and puts up a small cement room around the pit. The toilets do not have a seat; they are squat toilets. Nazo and Mr. Iddrisu do not have toilets at their houses; their families have to go to the bush to use the bathroom. Those of you who support the work have been so generous that we are going to be able to have toilets built for both of their houses. Nazo and Mr. Iddrisu are beyond excited about the prospect of having their own out house. The man in charge of the toilet project came to the mission house this morning and we gave him half the money for the toilets. He said that they would start immediately; he said that he was going to organize his workers and have the cement block delivered this evening. He thinks the toilets should be completed in a week! How wonderful! In case you are wondering, a toilet cost is $366. I think that is money well spent!
The church from Kpande sent one of the church members to visit us today; just to greet us and welcome us back to Yendi. They sent ½ a toe sack full of yams and the most beautiful rooster as a welcome back gift for us. How sweet; of course we shared the yams and rooster. There are only so many yams one can eat and I didn’t feel like slaughtering the rooster. We decided to share the wealth!
We also had a visit from Mr. Mohammed; the health care worker that used to work in Yendi. We have known him for over 20 years. First he was with the leprosy program then he helped with the guinea worm project. After the guinea worms were eradicated from Ghana he went back to the leprosy program. He has been retired for a couple years and he lives in Tamale. He was in Yendi for a meeting or something so he decided to stop by and say Hello. He is such a joy to talk to.
This afternoon we went to the Ghana Revenue Authority to take them the application letter for the Tax Clearance Certificate. They had the certificate ready but it had the wrong Tax ID number. When we were in Tamale paying the gift tax the officer said that we had been given a private Tax ID number not one for a mission. The tax officer in Yendi was beyond annoyed that we had paid the gift tax in Tamale instead of Yendi. He said that Yendi should have gotten the revenue credit for us paying the tax instead of Tamale. We told him we still needed the Tax Clearance Certificate with the correct ID number. He told us to go home and write another application letter and tell why we needed to reprint/rewrite the Tax Clearance Certificate! Please none of that was our fault. We rewrote the letter and turned it in only to find out that he has a meeting next week so it will be a little while till we get the certificate. Oh! Well, such is life in Ghana.
We would like to request prayers for our good friend and long time supporter of the work in Ghana. Gary lives in Ohio and has some serious health problems. We know he would appreciate your prayers. Please pray for him and that the treatments will be a success.
In His Service,
Steve and Kandie
