Continuing my adventure from last week...On Monday the dads went to do the same course in a village called Fumbisi, which is 32km away from Sandema. In the morning, we went to Paga and met with an amazing woman named Nafisa who helps women in poverty by selling the beaded jewelry they handcraft. http://detiina.com/online/ feel free to shop online!! Nafisa has a beautiful story and now wants to help other women. Emily may end up selling some of her things.Then we headed to Fumbisi because Emily and Katie needed to sit on a panel at the conference with the topic being about entrepreneurs. There were also people from Ghana on the panel.
we stayed in Sandema until Tuesday and I took Emily and Tara back to Tamale with me. We met up with one of my fave pastors, Pastor Stephen Aputara. He came to visit my family way back in 2004. He fell in love with cheeseburgers, custard, and cheese (you wonder where we took him for dinner??). He knew I was in America for Christmas and he facebooked me and said I needed to bring back cheese for him! I told him it was too big of a sacrifice, he will get zero blocks of cheese. But... (sigh) since I am a christian :) I decided I better give him one. So, we made sure to pass by Navrongo on the way to Tamale and hand over the Wisconsin cheese. When I gave it to him he said, "At last". HA.We stopped in Bolga where Em and Tara went looking for cultural treasures like cloth and bags. They ended up with some good finds. Emily remembered a shop that sold tea and fried eggs when she was little. That shop is still there! We had coffee, Milo, and fried egg sandwiches. Classic Ghana. I asked her if it was what she remembered and she kind of shrugged her shoulders and said, "I think everything is a bit more magical when you are a kid."In Tamale we met up with another woman who helped Emily make bags and dresses. We did not stay very long because we had to stop at home before meeting up with Yvonne for dinner. Yvonne helps christian business owners in Ghana to use their work for Kingdom purposes. She is an amazing woman!Now...work time was over...ok, so I still had to drive BUT...where we were driving...O.MY.GOODNESS! Emily, Tara, and I went to Mole National Park, which is beautiful. BUT...we stayed at Zaina Lodge http://zainalodge.com/.
we stayed in Sandema until Tuesday and I took Emily and Tara back to Tamale with me. We met up with one of my fave pastors, Pastor Stephen Aputara. He came to visit my family way back in 2004. He fell in love with cheeseburgers, custard, and cheese (you wonder where we took him for dinner??). He knew I was in America for Christmas and he facebooked me and said I needed to bring back cheese for him! I told him it was too big of a sacrifice, he will get zero blocks of cheese. But... (sigh) since I am a christian :) I decided I better give him one. So, we made sure to pass by Navrongo on the way to Tamale and hand over the Wisconsin cheese. When I gave it to him he said, "At last". HA.We stopped in Bolga where Em and Tara went looking for cultural treasures like cloth and bags. They ended up with some good finds. Emily remembered a shop that sold tea and fried eggs when she was little. That shop is still there! We had coffee, Milo, and fried egg sandwiches. Classic Ghana. I asked her if it was what she remembered and she kind of shrugged her shoulders and said, "I think everything is a bit more magical when you are a kid."In Tamale we met up with another woman who helped Emily make bags and dresses. We did not stay very long because we had to stop at home before meeting up with Yvonne for dinner. Yvonne helps christian business owners in Ghana to use their work for Kingdom purposes. She is an amazing woman!Now...work time was over...ok, so I still had to drive BUT...where we were driving...O.MY.GOODNESS! Emily, Tara, and I went to Mole National Park, which is beautiful. BUT...we stayed at Zaina Lodge http://zainalodge.com/.
This was such a treat and a beautiful getaway for the night that we stayed. Of course, the next day rolled around and as lazy as we were feeling we got back in the car and headed to Tamale. They wanted to go back to the shop where the seamstress girls are and get a few more pics of them. Tara, being an amazing photographer, would set up for her shots, mostly portraits. I just stood back and watched the girls. I know they could not figure out what she was doing :) I think they loved it. Loved that someone would want their photo. Loved that someone kept telling them how beautiful they are. Loved to get some attention. I am proud of Tara to be such a professional and yet laugh and smile and get the girls to feel comfortable.We met up with Katie and the dads for dinner along with Damary and Yvonne. It was fast and lovely but the dads were meeting one last person and the girls needed to start packing up. They stayed at our house and we had such a great time for one last night. Katie and Damary strummed and played on the guitar, we laughed some more, and we talked about the highs and lows of the day. I did not want the night to end.Friday morning they left. (sigh) I was sad. In some ways, because they were from my culture, I found I talked more and didn't have to explain myself as much. Like, I was more comfortable being me, if that makes any sense. Maybe because we would understand each other? Anyways, I was supa-dupa blessed by these gals. I hope to have a reunion with them when I come for Home Assignment.How I love traveling around and hanging out with people but real life needs to kick in...or I need to get back to a routine would be more exact.Thanks for praying for my cyst wound. There has not been any more blood. It is still healing. There is still no infection. YAY!!