We think we figured out why the mason did not work yesterday and said that the blocks were too heavy because of the rain. They did not get the footer laid until late in the day and then it rained; the footer did not have enough time to dry and if they had laid the cement blocks on the newly poured footer it would have crumbled and not been strong. The masons were back at work today. John, the foreman said that he is going to hire lots of people tomorrow because he wants the work to go quicker. He said that his hope is to finish the work by Sunday. We will see how that goes. It was 5:30 pm when we left the building site this evening and the men were still working. John said that the neighbors were continuing to insult him and ask why he was closing off the roads. He said, “I don’t say anything; I just act like I am a fool and keep on working!” I think that the insults are part of the reason he wants to hire more men and finish quicker. One of the neighbors has built a pig house on the corner of the church property; we decided to build the wall in front of the pig house and not fight to get him to move it. Who knows how long it would take him to get it and the pigs moved. John got the small area that they were passing through closed and he also got the small people gate set in place. It is not yet secured but it should be by tomorrow.
This afternoon we got a visit from Papa Zacharia, our old night watchman, he is now a chief and has a title of some sort but I can’t remember what it is; he will forever be “Papa Zachariah” to us. He said that he had heard that we were back in Ghana and just wanted to come by and say “hello”. We told him about the man asking for the monkey poop; he said he had never heard of anyone using monkey poop to treat anything. Papa is an old guy and knows lots about their traditions; this was a new one to him.
Timothy has been in his farm all day. He was able to find a guy with a tractor and corn sheller so he got his corn shelled and bagged. He is now looking for someone with a motor king to come to his farm and haul the corn to his house. He said that he hopes to find someone to do it tonight because he is afraid it will rain. Once he gets the corn to his house, they will dry it in the sun on the days that the sun is shining. They pour it out every morning and have to pick it up every evening!
Thank you for the love, prayers and support!
In HIS Service,
Steve, Kandie and Skeeter
The Monkeyshines
I am in so much trouble! This really, really old guy named Papa came to visit the parents. I mean he is really old! I thought Mom and Dad were old but this guy is ancient of days! He has a white goatee and walks with a stick; I think he uses the stick to knock the goats and kids that get in his way! Part of his teeth are missing; he is really old! Anyway, when he came for a visit Mom took me out of the bedroom and put me on the cabinet where I sit when we are cooking; I can see outside from where I am sitting but I was not happy because there were strangers in the yard and I was left all alone! I had a temporary moment of insanity! I started pulling everything down that I could get my hands on! I pulled the curtains off the bookshelf, I dumped out Mom’s container of pre-cut fabric squares, I knocked down the cutting boards, I got a packet of Dad’s class lessons and shredded them. There were bits of paper strewn all over the floor. You should have seen the surprise on the parent’s faces when they saw the mess I had made. I know that I should not have torn up everything and I will try to do better but Mom hurt my feelings! She scolded me; she scolds me all the time but this time she said in her stern voice, “Skeeter, you were a bad monkey!” I don’t remember her ever telling me that I was a bad monkey! Does she not know that she should never say things like that? She will give me a complex of some sort! I will lose my confidence, become introverted and have psychological problems!
I love Mom so I guess I will forgive her!
Love, Skeeter
