Today was the last real day that I had opportunity to take my parents to do some more site seeing. Tomorrow night they fly home via London. Can you believe it? Wasn't it just yesterday that I was asking for prayer for a safe arrival and now they are leaving? We still have so much to do and see! So today we went up to the Volta Region where they have the dam that provides our hydropower. It was really, really interesting to see it and hear about how it works, etc. I didn't realize that the water that fills the dam comes from Benin, Burkina Faso, Togo, and Ivory Coast. Additionally 8% of the electricity produced goes back to Benin, Burkina Faso and Togo. The dam is still very low despite the recent flooding in the northern region of Ghana and other countries like Burkina Faso. It should be around 280ft high but it is at 255ft. One of the reasons we still get occasional losses of electricity is b/c they can only run some of the turbines at a time instead of all of them like they would if the dam was full.
The ride to the dam and Volta Lake is really beautiful. Green trees, grasses and jungle are everywhere. Hills and rock formations are in the distance. I just can't seem to get enough of the beauty of this country. I am so glad that I have gotten to see more of it and meet people from different regions.
We ate lunch at a restaurant with a breathtaking view overlooking the dam, lake and hills. It was so quiet and peaceful. I found it so relaxing and mesmerizing. The food was pretty good also. We had a ton left over so we packaged it and decided to give the left overs to people we passed on the road home that seemed to need some food. The first recipient was the police guard at one barrier. Then we stopped the car to give it to two children who ran away as fast as they could when my mom yelled "come" from the window. (I am still laughing so hard at that I can hardly type.) You never saw two kids run so fast. Then we tried to give it to a girl who looked at Margaret with big eyes and shook her head no. Obviously they had been taught well to not take things from strange obronis who stop on the road. A young boy came up though and had no problems at all taking one package. We had two left. After passing by a few people - we couldn't have stopped without getting whiplash - we came to a small town and saw a handful of people by the road. One of the men was obviously not entirely with it mentally. So Margaret went to give him the food. At first he was walking away but then realized she was giving him food, took it, put the package on the ground and began eating it immediately. He was so hungry. The people nearby started saying thank you that we gave the food to him. I was really moved by watching him devour it. There are people like this that we see on the road side in Accra also. Actually there is a man in our neighborhood. It is hard to know if the problems are b/c of drugs or alcohol or simply mental disease but it is sad to see them. I am glad we had something to give to this man.
After having to turn around only 2 or 3 times this trip we get back to Accra. B/c it is late we decide to grab something to eat. I only mention this b/c of what happened to Michelle. Just note that she is fine and we made sure she was fine and able to laugh too before we started laughing. Margaret was having trouble sitting at her place at the table b/c of some men smoking cigars nearby. After getting a fan and trying a few different places, she finally came down to Michelle's end of the table. Being the kind person that she is Michelle told Margaret to take her place and she would go to the other end. I see Michelle walk around the table and then I see a chair on its back on the floor but I can't see Michelle. Suddenly her head pokes up from below the table and I realize that somehow when she went to sit down, the chair broke and she landed on her backside. We are all staring at her b/c I don't think anyone really saw what happened. She is staring at us and then starts to smile. Of course, as I said, we make sure she is ok and then we all break out laughing. We were so tired by then that we were a little slap happy. Anyway, it was a good laugh at the end of a good day and I am glad Michelle is ok.
On a completely different note...Christmas lights and decorations and signs are going up all over the place now. It is so weird to think of Christmas when we are all dripping in sweat and the sun is glaringly bright. But it will soon be upon us. This Friday we are having several of the single girls to our house for a sleep over. We plan to watch White Christmas and maybe even go caroling to those that live close to us. Then in the morning after eating, they are going to help us decorate the little tree Margaret and I got and put up a few other things around the house. It is going to be a lot of fun and so good for building relationships. I am grateful for the women I am getting to know bit by bit.
Well if you read this before Thursday night at 11pm Ghana-time, please pray for a safe journey home for my parents. I know they are tired but they have had a great time here. They can't stop talking about how much they enjoy Ghana. Thank you for praying.
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