Steve called Ms. Hawa, the lady in charge of sending and receiving the report for the Child Center’s license renewal, last week she said that the report had just arrived and that it was ready for us to pick up next time we were in Tamale. We went to Tamale this afternoon and guess what? Ms. Hawa was not in the office; she had “traveled”. We needed to check on the land papers but no one was in that office either. The trip was not a total waste of time because we needed to get money. This time we did not get it from the bank; we went to the FOREX (foreign exchange bureau) and changed dollars into Cedis. As usual with these transactions I am never fully satisfied with the amount of money they pay us for our dollars. Today I dickered with the lady and got 5 pesawas extra for each of the dollars we changed. In case you are wondering how much 5 pesawas is in dollars; it is almost 1 penny. Yes, I dickered over 1 penny! But when you are changing 4000 dollars it adds up to someone we can help! The Ghanaians have a proverb, “Drop by drop the ocean is filled”.
Steve mixed 5 gallons of the waterproof paint this morning. Nazo and Mr. Iddrisu got it all put on the cement walls that surround the mission house. The paint is tar based ; it is black and very sticky. Once it dries it can be painted with any color that we want. The paint can only be painted on during the dry season. Cement blocks are porous and the moisture inside the blocks can cause the waterproof paint to peel off. Once the men get some of the wall painted with the waterproof paint we are going to have the ladies come behind them with the white paint.
Mr. Iddrisu and Zorash went to the bank in Yendi this morning and got out next month’s payroll. I think this system is going to work very well and keep the money safer. The bank was even able to give them the smaller denominations that we need to make payroll and to pay the church leader’s transport.
Timothy is still not feeling his best. He has chest congestion; he went to the doctor and got cough medicine and an antibiotic. Steve feels pretty certain that he had the Covid virus. Maybe he will get to feeling better soon. Steve checked on the outdoor toilet as we passed Timothy’s house on our way back from Tamale. They are about ½ finished with them. Timothy is so happy about the toilet.
Thank you for all the love, prayers and support!
In His Service,
Steve and Kandie
