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!