Disneyland for $2.50

The last day of the term for the children was on December 15th.  Since funds were tight we had to cancel the Christmas program the children had been working very hard on.  So, I felt we still needed to do something fun for the children; not only for the end of the term but to make up for the loss of their program.

Not far from the school is a little playground for children to spend the day just playing and enjoying themselves.  I figured it was close enough that it wouldn't cost too much to transport the children and we wouldn't need to worry about the traffic.  

We kept the fun day we had planned as a secret all week because we knew it would blow their little minds if they knew beforehand and they had exams still to finish.

When I first saw the playground I was worried the children would be bored or not find it as fun as I hoped.  Mainly because the toys offered are toys most homes in America have just in their own backyard (with the exception of the castle).

Playground:

I was wrong...

 They jumped for joy and gave each other hugs once they saw what type of day they had ahead of them.

So cute!!!

I love her!

Just doing her own thing

and enjoying every moment of it!

Same as with most kids, when my little buddy gets quiet, I know he's up to something.  

I look over to see him going through one of the teachers bags.

 Then.....

In the picture above you can't really see but one of the other little boys, David, decided to drink someone's soda!

Little thieves!

Checkout his strut! 

Checkout David making his escape in the background.

For those of you who know who Nelly is, he reminds me of Nelly SO much 

(as far as looks go)!

Busted!

The glasses belong to Maxwell's mother so he got his shot at wearing them too!

Honestly, this small playground was their own huge DisneyLand.  However, it cost me the same amount for 33 kids as it would for just one child at Disneyland. 

It was such a fun way to end the term and to make up for the missed Christmas program.  They got to sing a few of their Christmas songs just before we left the playground.

The memories I get to keep of each child's smile will last me a lifetime. 

Bull What?!?

As I was in a taxi driving down one of the busier streets here, I saw a 

HUGE bull

tied to a little tree with a little rope.

Imagine a bunch of beautiful people dressed in their Sunday best, walking to church right past a huge bull.

Spiritual.

I can pretty much guarantee that I will never see a bull tied to any tree 

on 

State Street 

in 

SLC.

Oh, I love what I get to see in Ghana!

Merry Christmas to Me!

I'm pretty sure I found the only Dr. Pepper in all of Ghana!

My Heart

I am not sure how much longer my heart can take living in Ghana.  

Yesterday I had one of the best days of my entire life but also a pretty tough day.  

Please, just make sure never to take family for granted.

I'll post more about it later.

Just a Few Reasons Why I Love Africa

I'll Take Her!

This little girl's mother and father have a shop near the home I was staying at in Accra.  

As I've mentioned before, people here work so hard and for so many hours so a lot of time, they just sleep at their shop.

Over the 40 days that I've passed by their shop, I've had the chance to watch this little girl grow. 

The day I took these photo's she kept laughing which made her momma and her daddy laugh too.  Of course I had no idea why they were laughing because they were speaking Twi but momma could see that I was a bit confused.

Here is her momma resting.

She told me that her little girl wants to come live with me.  

So, every time her parents would say, "Ok, go with the obruni then"  she would just giggle.

I told her parents I would gladly take her back to America with me...

...but they love her smile just as much as I do and would never want to let her out of their sight!

LOOK AT HER!!!!!

BEAUTIFUL LITTLE PRINCESS!

African Monkey?

I wanted to check out a few shops in an area called The Pitt.  It's much like the Art Center that I visited when I first arrived in Ghana where the salespeople are pulling you every which way to sale you their "original" art work.

Well, when I got to one man's shop, Abdul, he offered me a chance to see his monkey....

I told him I didn't know there were monkey's in Accra.  He told me he brought this one from the jungle to raise.  

Okay, I'll check him out.  

I see pictures of people holding monkeys in Africa all of the time!

Right.

Okay, so the man really does have a monkey and it wasn't some sales speech to get me to buy something from him...

The man, Abdul, told me to give the monkey a banana and he will come to me.

Yep, he came to me but only to attack me for the stupid banana and then he ran behind the tree as if I attacked him!

He was pretty proud of himself for stealing the banana!

Abdul assured me the monkey is nice and to try again to hand him a banana.

Attacked again!

I don't care if I EVER see that African Monkey again!

 Look who ended up with the banana!

I ended up with a rash on my arm for 2 weeks from his scratch!

Then to top it all off, Abdul asked me for money to pay for the banana's I gave the monkey!!!!!!!

Never trust a monkey on a leash or his owner!

Not My Wasatch but He'll Do

Most Ghanaians don't even know what the beautiful creature of a pug is.  

However, I found a man who can appreciate the beauty in all of God's creations.

Little Jazz made my day more than I could ever explain!