A Crazy Love

I realize that all this time I have been writing that I have been talking mostly about the team and actually mentioning relatively little in regards to the library that we are building and the activities of the volunteers so, being that really nothing new or crazy has happened in the last few days (apart from me getting kind of sick off of a particularly awkward piece of chicken).

As of today everything on the library project is coming along right on schedule which I have to admit is nothing short of miracle due to the amount of work we had to do (As I am scattered a bit and am not good at remembering what I have already said, I might repeat somethings but if this is the case just consider it a refresher). Last year when building the library it took me and Adu (the guy here who helped me) exactly 6 weeks to build the entire library, with building consisting of installing a new wall, redoing the floors, installing a ceiling, fixing the roof, putting in electrical, painting and also having tons of furniture made for the library itself (shelves, tables, chairs). Overall that library cost us about $3k.

Well when we arrived here in Ghana this year and were taken to the building, I was pleased but surprised to find that the building we had this year was exactly two times as large as the one from last year. This was fine of course but the increase in size meant two things as well: an increase in work and increase in cost. Though I knew from the start we could do it, after the first two weeks after numerous set backs I began to get nervous about the completion. If everything went as planned there would be no problem but, as TIA (THIS IS AFRICA), anything can happen so I began to get nervous. Well, by the grace of God I had nothing to be worried about.

As of today the library is pretty much in a position that, once we fix up the floor, we will be able to paint and thus be complete with the project. It turns out that last year one of the biggest hold ups was actually getting the shelves for the library made (we had one of the most frustrating carpenters on earth that I still have nightmares about). This year we learned our lesson and spread the work load up amongst three different carpenters which resulted not only in all the furniture being completed on time but actually early, with the team finding out last week that all the furniture was done. For the most part this is how the entire library has been going and it is nothing short than a blessing!

In addition to the library all the students have also been teaching their own classes and tutoring and having activities in the library that we established last year. While this has been overall very rewarding for everyone, it has nonetheless been a fair source of frustration to the team which in the end really makes for a bunch of good laughs. One of the most difficult parts about teaching is simply the challenge of communicating with children who really have an extremely difficult time understanding English since they normally speak in only their tribal language. Not only is their English already very bad to begin with (even though they are supposed to be learning only in English...bad teachers???) but if you combine that with our high pitched American accents, communication is almost a joke! Most of our volunteers find themselves S-P-E-A-K-I-N-G V-E-R-Y S-L-O-W-L-Y without even having an effect sometimes. Add this to the general disorder of the school (we went to school on Friday to teach only to find our students carrying stones on their heads for a new garden...of course!) and there is almost a comic insanity to the whole situation. Even with these seemingly impossible barriers however, all of the volunteers have been making progress and, as I am proud to say for myself as well, have once again garnered the love and admiration of our students!

So alas, while the team is no doubt counting down the final days till we leave, it is already becoming bitter sweet reality. As I learned last year, Africa has a way of absolutely frustrating you to the core but, at the same time, when you least expect it, making you fall absolutely in love with what it all. Sometimes your opinion of the place varies from day to day but in the end, the love always conquers and, as happened to me, you begin awaiting the day of your return. But until then I wait and see what tomorrow brings. I am happy that God has blessed me with this amazing opportunity to serve but, as travel always does, I appreciate all the more the blessed life and loves that I have left behind. But until I come home, there is still work left to do here and all I can ask is that God bless me to do it with a joyful heart and and a happy smile.

Depressurization!

Depressurization. I cannot think of a better word to describe the last week than that. There are times in life when pressures and situations build up to a point where they are almost about to break. The build up to this point is always nerve-wracking and the breaking point is always feared but as with every buildup, there is a time after the break in which things truly depressurize and calm down. It is at this final state that we are currently at in Ghana.

As I mentioned in my last entry, the team last weekend got the chance to go off and spend a night in a very small farming village about an hour or so away from the town which we are currently in. In truth the experience should have been extremely pleasant the whole time. We arrived at the village on Saturday afternoon fully unannounced due to a mix up that took place earlier (the original village that our friend had arranged for us to go to was not a village at all but a large town and greatly disappointed the team, thus lending to our change of plans) and were greeted by the entire village as a welcome. After explaining our intentions in the village, the city council member gave us the keys to a mud store building that they used to keep cocoa beans in (being that the village was a cocoa plantation village). Our team soon settled in and spent the rest of the day reading, going down to a nearby river and, in the evening after a heavy rain, running around the village with the children chasing fireflies, imagining that we were all Lost Boys in Neverland and were actually chasing fairies. The night was beautiful and cool and everyone seemed to be in good spirits.

However by morning all this had changed. Due to the nature of the village (we all slept on a huge bamboo mat) and due to the fear of spiders (we had the unfortunate experience of finding an extremely large spider crawling over someone’s net) many of the team members did not sleep soundly. In addition to this, throughout the morning a series of strange, albeit cultural events, took place ranging from people constantly staring at us, giving us gifts of food (and a chicken) and sadly ending with the city council member coming to us raging drunk at 9am. So by 11am (our planned departure time) a very serious Sinicism had arisen in the group, bring birth to a great negativity and numerous complaints.

Now I wish that I could go into more detail but I am limited both by time (I have a meeting soon) and also the attention of you, the reader, so I will keep my reaction short and give you my 5 minute version of the events that followed. As I mentioned in the last blog, over the course of the last few weeks there has been an increasing skepticism and negativity in the group that, as I mentioned, I feared would have bad consequences if not checked. Well by the time we got back from the village the skepticism and negativity had reached what I would call a breaking point to extent that me and my leaders decided that it was time to have a group meeting to discuss it. There was a major underlying sentiment in the group that was poisoning people’s attitudes and we decided that enough was enough and we would open the closet to see what things would come out.

For over an hour we all sat down and discussed everything that was on peoples minds, listened to complains and basically had a big venting session. While asking people to say something positive, we also asked everyone to state one negative thing about the trip and how it has been affecting them. The result of this was an outpouring of frustrations (done, I must add, in a polite way) and a chance for us all to say what was on our minds. It turned out that a lot of the frustrations that were taking place in the team were very much due to Africa in general and the typical frustration that would attack anyone should they be thrown into the crazy and sad situation that often is Africa. When it came down to it many people were having a difficult time adjusting but, by fault of none, had also taken to complaining and being skeptical. The result was the negativity and skepticism that had been affecting the moral of our group for the last few weeks.

Though so much happened we ended that meeting by trying to readjust people’s views on Africa to one that focused not on ourselves but the people we were trying to serve. It was a good reminder. As servants here, we are called simply to love the community we are in, putting their needs and wants first before our own. While this may seem like a simple concept, when actually put in the situation of serving for long periods of time without any of the normal comforts that culturally we are used to, the idea of loving someone can actually be quite difficult. I think that really we don’t often realize how difficult it is to fulfill the sacred commandment of ‘Loving your neighbor as yourself’. When over here serving, it is important to always keep that commandment at the front of your heart and truly offer yourself as a servant. Otherwise your ability to love others is severely hampered and what should be a positive experience can quickly become negative. I am thankful to God that our group has made this realization together and has now readjusted the way we look at things. While we are now in depressurization, I feel that we are all headed in the right direction and that in the end, this experience will be truly amazing.

This is Africa- AGAIN!

Hello All Again!
I want to start by once again apologizing to everyone for not being able to write in awhile! Things here have been increasingly busier and busier and with the faulty internet (and now 15 Americans to share it with daily) getting a chance to sit down and type out the events of our trip is more difficult than I would have imagined! And now I only have less than 30 minutes to write so I must be quick!

We are now already three weeks into our Ghana adventure and things are finally moving along at a regular pace. Things definitely started off slow at first due to regular Africa time. It took almost 5 days longer than I wanted to get the teams into their homestays and it wasn’t until a week later that we were really able to begin with the library project but as I have said, now everything is underway and everything seems to be on schedule.

It has been interesting since I have come here because I feel for the first time in awhile I am actually quite stressed! I feel here that I never quite have a free moment to myself and from day one I was surprised at how much work I am doing here. Not only am I leading the team and coordinating everything (15 volunteers and all their food and family needs) but I am also teaching my class from last year, working in the old Manshyia library, coordinating the building of the new library in Assenemaso and also leading a mens small group with homeless workers from the north of Ghana. Of course all of this work is really rewarding but it is of course very stressful and sometimes quite frustrating with the cultural and lingual differences. I find that by the end of everyday I am quite exhausted. My daily escape is that I get to call my girlfriend every evening and talk to her but of course that makes me miss her more! Its worth it though.

I am also finding out on this trip that this is definitely the most difficult leadership position I have ever been in. While the team has been acting really well and getting along well with each other, it is inevitable that there are at times butting of heads. Furthermore, there are also times where just my leadership style seems to crash with the group. While some of these things are definitely fixable, others I have learned just come with the territory of being a leader and have to be taken in stride.

I would say one of the most difficult things about being here has been readjusting back to the African way of life. The last time I was here Africa had a profound effect on the way that I viewed life. When I returned to America, I tried my best to maintain that view and avoided readjusting to the Western view as much as possible. Now that I am back however I realize that whether I wanted it to or not, I still got used to being in America. Things are still frustrating here and it has been interesting watching the team go through these emotions for the first time. The last week there has even been some bitterness about the situation here in Africa among the members and if not taken in the proper context it could be damaging. I think we all need to be reminded of the reasons why we came to Africa, not to have an out of world tourist experience and to have an easy life but to come to a place where there truly is a need and help and love the people as God has called us to. I know that for myself this is something I need constant reminding of, particularly with all the stress I have been having lately.

Well, I will try in a few days to write more but for now I must go as my team is about to go off into the bush for the night to stay in a small farming community. Pray for our safety and strength and as always, pray for Africa!