Mr. Iddrisu, one of the Child Center workers called and woke us up this morning. He wanted to let us know that Abochi’s eldest brother died and they were making arrangements to go to the cemetery and open the grave so he could be buried later today. Abochi is the carpenter that put the new roof on the mission house earlier this year. Traditionally in this area the body is buried the same day that they die and then the first funeral takes place on the 3rd day if the person was a man and on the 4th day if the person was a woman. Then the final funeral will take place on the 7th day. We will probably visit on the 3rd day just to show our respect to Abochi since we did not actually know his brother.
When the ladies came to work they were happy that we made it back to Yendi safely and that we had not forgotten them and brought them a loaf of bread. We were busy in the Child Center this morning. A total of 51 babies came to be weighed this morning. We had a new baby come today that has a mentally disturbed mother. They came from Accra seeking treatment for the baby’s mother. The mother is not even aware that she has a baby. The family took the mother to the hospital in Accra 3 times but there is nothing they can do for her. She wants to roam around and she takes off her clothes. The baby was in very good shape. They have been feeding the baby formula. The baby is 5 ½ months old. We will help the family feed the baby as long as they are in this area. They brought the mother for local treatment by the traditional healers which are nothing more than the witchdoctors of our area. Some of their fame is far reaching. Many people turn to them when they do not have the money for Western medicine or if the doctors have told them that there is nothing else they can do!
A middle aged man came to the Center just before we closed this morning and said that he had special needs child that he wanted us to see. He said that the child was about 10 years old and had never spoken. He tries to communicate by making barking sounds and when he is not pleased with the children he is playing with or his parents he will bite them. He is still in diapers but he can walk and he will play with the other children. The father said that his friends and neighbors are saying that he is not a real child but that he is a witch. He is going to bring the child tomorrow so we can see him. We are totally out of our depths on this one but we will see if we can give them some help if nothing more than introducing them to the social welfare people.
Today was Yendi’s big market day and we needed everything. We actually found fresh lettuce in the market! We were excited! All the fresh vegetables that we are going to eat raw have to be soaked in either iodine water or chlorine water because of the unsanitary conditions in which they are grown.
It is time for supper so I will close for now. Take care and have a good day!
In His Service,
Steve and Kandie
