my sweat glands work very well

I am sure for many that is too much information but today I sorted the boxes etc that I have shipped. My goodness it got very warm, job is done thank goodness
Cathedral is having a Harvest (fund raiser) this Sunday so each evening this week there is a one hour gathering, singing, prayers and an address talking about donating etc and our responsibility in that as a lead up to Sunday. I am so impressed that everyone knows the words to many many many hymns as they can sing for a long time with everyone knowing the words, not like Canada where the book is very much needed,                              Ghana still a very oral society.

Eye Clinic

Mother Felicia has been working on establishing an Eye Clinic in a suburb of Sunyani for the past couple of years. A couple of funding proposals have been sent out with no success. I thought that maybe a better grasp of language about Eye Clinics might increase the success of proposals.  I found an online Certificate course on Eye Clinics. So I registered and just finished the last module #10 and submitted my answers. Whether I pass or not is really not important as I have saved all the readings to refer to when writing the next proposal... here's hoping

Advent...Christmas is coming

 DECORATING ALL DONE

today a day of rest

a 7 hour bus ride on Wednesday and same on Thursday makes one a little weary
On bus  Wednesday, seat mate was a detective, I wondered whether she was a judge as when I eavesdropped on her phone conversation she spoke about High Court in January ??? what did I know
When she saw my collar, she said Oh a clergy man, I quickly said woman, she smiled

Went to St. Nicholas Seminary after arriving in Cape Coast to deliver a donation for Diocese of Sunyani,.then went out to dinner with Seth, the person accompanying me and Sam the driver

restaurant was down by the Slave Castle,
table faced out to the sea

 tough scenery I know
but someone has to look at it

back from Cape Coast

tired after long bus ride. more tomorrpw

in Cape Coast

Have a video of the sea but can't figure out how to transfer from iPad to computer so tomorrow
Had nice visit to St. Nicholas Seminary and a conversation with Prince, then1st year student from Diocese of Sunland
Will do pics when I get back to Sunyani

school in Berekum

got a drive to the school site with Fr. Josiah (he is taking a visit back to his home in Nigeria as  he is a missionary from there) so I thought I best get my pics while he is still here

school is progressing, walls are up, someone has donated the doors which are to be installed yet
It is still very rough but you can see it is slowly coming together.
Three classes,
 the wall between two class rooms will be left down for the moment so the bigger space can be used for meetings etc

last spring

TODAY

BAMBOO POLES THAT WERE USED FOR SUPPORT

Fr. Josiah in front of base for the next building phase

in a class room

hydro comes and goes

buying bus tkt to go to Cape Coast to visit St Nicholas Seminary tomorrow and will stay overnite returning on thursday

no hydro

been off since after 1pm. left church early with a headache so no fan is adding to the pleasure
Made pickled beets for the freezer yesterday for Xmas day...the menu begins to unfold

potatoes

mashed, fried and salad, nice, very nice   now all gone
households duties are a pain, washing floors and windows .....   ugh

ok I need help

I am having people in for xmas day dinner
I have a hot plate and a microwave to accomplish the cooking, refrigerator with a freezer, some spices, would like to make dishes ahead and either freeze or put in fridge to reheat on the day.
- have chix rather than turkey, veggies, limited salad ingredients as I really like to be able cook everything rather than get a 'jelly belly' and the runs.
ok folks, suggestions are welcome and I have  a few weeks to get it together

potatoes !!!!!!!

for the first time I saw potatoes at the veggie stand, I bought but they cost a mint so I will cherish the taste and not buy them again unless it is a very special occasion. Still lots of info about the attack in Paris last week, I don't know what to think

Bonanza delivery day

the goods I sent by ship were delivered today AND a Xmas present/card that was sent only 5 days ago from London Ontario, neat eh, amazing what can happen quickly in this world

travelling - the challenge that it is

Travelling yesterday reminded me how much getting from one place to another here is such a challenge, buses wait until they are full before they depart, upholstery needs many repairs, buses are used as parcel transport so much time is spent getting parcels (some as big as a small stove) paid for and stowed underneath, roads get tore up with one government and not finished by the next so stay dirt (great fun in the rain), resulting in the driver having to pick their way from side to side over 6 lanes to where the holes are the smallest; that's the bad news: the good news the bus will stop where ever, for a pit stop, you can shout out where you want to get off, no designate stops only, (on the way to Kumasi someone was in the aisle promoting their product which the Black Seed for piles so I was told, entertaining if nothing less). had lunch and got to the robe maker, Lawrence, he laughed when I told him I could not find the belt, getting another and ordered a white chausible (will show pics when it arrives next week) then off to the Cultural Centre, they always have really neat things for sale so bought a few and then headed for home. it was an 11 hour trip, yep a test of endurance it could be called or just travelling in Ghana.

Kumasi at lunch time     -      Melcome my favourite store, somewhat like Walmart

All taxis have orange bumpers like the one below, no meters, pick up drop off like the bus as there are seats available, if you want the cab exclusively then pay a little more

She does not let carrying a heavy parcel  stop her from working her phone

(the bag she has on her head has 30 sachets of water each one with 500 cc, so 15 liters of water) 

how much ever that weighs,  I find it heavy to carry one in my arms.

off to Kumasi

to the robe maker to get a new belt to wear with cassock, former one has gone the way of many odd socks, I have no idea where it is so need to replace it and will visit the cultural centre as they always have neat things for sale

Saturday night

Visit the ATM today, such a convenient device. water off and then back on, hydro coming and going this evening, right now it is here. thank goodness there is a new generator for the cathedral so services can be carried out without a hitch.
Even with the mundane activities of life  we are reminded through the news with updates regarding the tragedy in Paris, so many affected one way or another, not just in France but the world.

may the soul of those who died, rest in peace and rise in glory,

 and may the injured recover in body, mind and spirit.

PRAY FOR PARIS

AND THE LIGHTS CAME ON

charging all the things that need to be ........
had Precentor's wife cook the chicken I had in freezer as the  refrigerator  was as warm as outside after 30 hours, will eat it over the weekend, preaching Sunday and had it done before the lights went out and now can make a copy for the translator
now to have the fan blowing in my direction  ahhhhhhhh

no hydro

from yesterday till at leadt monday
doing  this on my phone so a llittle rough
explsion i hear at hyfro plant
later

Advent in two weeks

Are you getting ready to welcome the Christ child? 

huge rain storm

winds, torrents of rain, for about an hour or so and then all gone
Kids at the school out my back windows discovered the tree branches were low enough to swing on, they found a pail to stand on to give them a better swing

banking in the outdoors

I was walking back from shopping, stopped to buy apples and there was a woman who I thought was a traffic ticket person, began to chat and I asked her what she was doing, she was collecting money from the woman whose stall were in front of, I immediately thought it was a rental fee or a fine for squatting but the emblem on her shirt was from a bank, after several starts I figured out that she was collecting deposits from the stall owners to put in a savings account as she would go back to the bank and make the deposits - one way a bank is going after patrons so the patron could have a savings account. I have to guess that having a bank account and saving money is still a new concept here as many folks just eke out enough money for day to day living

I also bought some beads (cant remember her name but will get it next time) 

maybe I could bring some back with me - nice eh!

what more can one ask for

LAZY SUNDAY - of course it does not start until after two services in church ... 130 pm ish,
no construction sounds from next door, no kids at the school in the back yard, just roosters, chickens, the fans and a good book....
                                                what more can one ask for

no room .. on the clothes line

so the wall is the best bet

remembering the wall

in 1969 we were in West Berlin and wanted to go to East Berlin, just to do it. We entered through Check Point Charlie, had to convert some money to East Berlin coinage, I don't remember what it was called, walked through a double S shaped walkway(built that way so no one would drive straight through), once through to the East noticed the cut glass on top of the wall, an armed guard at the end of every street that we passed, tried to get food in a restaurant but was not served, bought post cards but no stamps were available, saw the tops of buildings blown off and folks  still living in the bottom two intact floors, I just remember it being a very grey atmosphere with the occasional curtain of colour fluttering in the breeze, When back in the West went into the museum at Check Point Charlie to see pics and actual cars that made it through this Check Point when it was a straight run, This wall is down but I am remembering another wall that exists today, the one the Israelis built around the Palestinians, solid metal, about 15 feet high and ?? how deep in the ground, very few gates but told that families separated by the wall, have to walk miles to a gates to visit relatives just on the other side, armed guards at the gates just like at Check Point Charlie, I guess somethings never change. Disagreements, power struggles, ideological differences, entitlement ideas .. to be human .....

Wall in Berlin

25 years ago is when the wall came down, so much has changed since then, my friend Deirdre commented as she was dying that New Year's Eve that she never thought she would leave this world with her children knowing that the wall came down, many things happen it seems that one cannot imagine.

the smell of rain

I really like the smell when it is raining and it was pouring tonight.
I printed out pics and descriptions of embroidery stitches today, going to make a binder and put them in plastic sleeves for the women at the Skill centre when we start to embroider, they will have a reference as I am sure there are times when I am talking they can not cut through my accent and understand what the heck I am saying. An angel in Canada sent embroidery floss which should be here next week so I am told..thanks Wendy. cant wait...

just a slow day

temp 92f, fan whirling the breeze, researching societal change: barriers and encouragements, very interesting to say the least. I guess my sociological hat is coming out.
yesterday I called Adu, cabbie that Gifty uses, waiting and then saw a hand wave from the driver, got in the cab, drive off and realized wrong driver, what to do... kept on ... stopping at Barclays Bank ATM and then home, then phoned to apologize to Gifty for calling Adu and then not being there    ooopsy

tv is working again

I thought it was the tv and thought I might need to buy another, not so, the connector from the dish wire to the box fell off this am so I went to the stall that sells the dishes and asked is there a repair person,,  Charles arrived later, reattached the connector, fiddled with the dish so I now get 45 channels and he showed me how to turn the radio on  WOW I tend to watch a channel out of Berlin which has some very interesting docs, I guess I will need to look around at others now I have them.
A successful resolution
Bought a newspaper today, looking at the ads and the items to get a feel for how things work here.

watch band is dying

I meant to get a new watch band in the summer but I didn't, now the perspiration is causing it to have big cracks SO duck tape to the rescue... nothing it too good for my watch so I have a Hello Kitty duck tape watch band that probably will last until I need to replace the tape or get a new band,one more use for Duck Tape

off to St. Peter's in Berekum

youth group

Moi

Evangelist on left and warden on right with servers and crucifer

cute kids

Mother Ben Smith and I after service

St. Peters having a Harvest (fundraiser) for the school. It was quite successful. Fr. Josiah showed some progress pictures of the school. It is coming along. Since the service finished at 230pm from 9am we decided that I will come out when the wall blocks are in at the end of this month to get pics.
Have pics of service though.

looking down from altar