Laughing through our Overnight Outreach

        I don't even know where to begin with explaining this week. It was such a hilarious week and we just found ourselves laughing and laughing at everything. Every time we thought it couldn't get any worse, it did. It's hard to explain everything that happened, and writing it down makes it not seem to bad, but here is an attempt.

She was so cute! She wanted to be my helper
all day too.

        So let me start with Monday. Monday we planned to leave at 6:30am to go to Elmina where we would stay for three days. So we got up and packed everything up, put the stuff we weren't bringing into storage so we didn't have to pay for two hotels, and were ready to leave. Well two other girls had come and their clinic leaders (Charity Eye Clinic) didn't pick them up and so after making a million phone calls, our staff members decided that they should come with us. So we finally left around 8am and headed to Elmina which was about 2.5 hours away. The first day of clinic was rough. There were 8 of us, doing a 4 person job. So it was frustrating figuring out what everyone should be doing and how we could all be productive and organized. After finally finishing, everyone was starving and so we went to eat, chicken and rice of course, and it was 22 cedis when it is normally 6! So that was crazy. Then we got to our hotel (The Hollywood hotel) and well I ended up having to share a room with mercy, our Ghanaian staff member. I was sooo worried about that but they didn't have another room available so I just prayed that it would be okay. I didn't really sleep at all that night because I was nervous and worried about sharing a room with a Ghanaian haha. Luckily she is probably the most hygienic African here, and she is very respectful of privacy. So it ended up not being toooo bad besides the fact that she woke up at 4am.

Mosquito net life.

        Anyway, Tuesday we wake up and they tell us that if we start early then we can finish by 12 and go to the Elmina Slave castle and look at the beaches there as well and maybe go to the market. So we started at 7am. An hour into it, the doctor disappeared which meant everything had to pause. Then there was this huge fiasco of the coordinator at Elmina telling our staff members that they owed him money but in reality they didn't and so the doctor was gone straightening it out. Even that didn't fix everything so after the day ended they all had a little meeting to fix it all, which added more time to the day. Well we didn't finish until 5:30 so we didn't have time for the castle. Also during that day, all the patients suddenly started yelling at each other. I'm not sure if people were cutting in line, or what exactly happened but it got suuuper loud at one point and it was kind of scary haha. Oh and there was this music playing for a majority of the day that was so loud and shaking the building so much that all of us started feeling nauseous and dizzy. Well when it came time to go get dinner we decided to go to cape coast so we could get food for cheaper, and we did so that was good....but sadly it made everyone sick. We were all tired at that point so we decided to go back to the hotel and sleep. Well we all knew there might have been bed bugs but we were exhausted and we only had one night there so we didn't want to be annoying and complain make everyone move so we all decided to just tough it out and stay there one more night.
        On Wednesday we got up and there had been no power all night, which meant we were all suuuper sweaty and gross...and then there was no water. So we used wipes and then packed everything up and left, all sticky and probs stinky though we showed the night before and everyone was just not too excited for the day. Well our driver, Seth, wanted to stay another night but Mercy and Doctor Imma wanted to leave back to Accra that night to get back to their families. We all wanted to leave though so we thought for sure we would. Well we start early, 7am without breakfast or snacks left. The doctor and Mercy both were super sick from the food they ate the night before and so that slowed the doctor down a lot because he was running to the bathroom frequently. The whole time all the staff members were mad at each other cuz two wanted to stay and two wanted to leave and nobody understood why we would stay. So there was a little tension there. Oh and this whole trip we never really had any drinking water at all because it all tasted soo nasty, So everyone was a bit dehydrated and sick. Patients were being really rude that day as well. They were yelling at us, saying it was our fault that we didn't have the glasses style they wanted and that the glasses were too expensive (mind you some of them we sell for 60 cents and the most expensive are not even 2 US dollars) and ya they were all just being rude. One man yelled at a girl from my group so much that she just went into a little shock and cried and it was so sad. Around 12 or so, I started feeling super sick. I was coughing up a storm, I started feeling soo dizzy and nauseous and I thought I was going to throw up. So I went and laid down and like passed out on this wooden bench and just slept there for a bit. Well when I woke up I felt even more nauseous and my head cold was even worse and it was just bad. Finally we finished around 4:30.
        Well we got to Elmina castle after work finished and it was closed but they were willing to take us if we all paid a lot, so we said no thanks and decided just to eat there. Everyone ordered food, except me because I was soo sick at that point. Well we were only with Mercy and apparently Seth had ordered us all jollof to eat. So we get back to the hotel, there was still no Water to shower, Mercy and Doctor Imma left to go back to Accra, and Seth tells us we are all staying. At this point we were all a little grumpy. So Seth tells us that in the past he was at an outreach and left Wednesday night and then the coordinator couldn't get all the patients to surgery Thursday morning, so nobody showed up and Seth got in trouble for it and the clinic had to pay. So it was understandable. That's when we told Seth that there were bed bugs and it was just ridiculous That we didn't have power or water and bed bugs and we were paying so much money. So he decided that we should switch hotels. The guy was drunk when we went to pay him for the two nights so that was disastrous but we finally got it all worked out. Then before we left we sat down and had jollof. A secret zip lock back was being passed around and people were dying at home much food it was. The lady told us it took her over two hours to make too. When we finally finished, we left to another hotel and it looked EXACTLY the same as the first one. So funny. The colors were the same, the signs, everything. Pretty sure it was like a sister hotel. We checked it out and then decided we wanted to go see how much this nice resort was that we had passed. Well it ended up being 400 Cedis a night and they would only allow 2 to a room (if they would allow 4 to a room then we were going to do it) but since we were an odd number, I would need my own room and the one boy in our group would need his own room so it would be so pricey. The hotel was so nice though. There were nice fountains and spiral staircases and guys in tuxes and all this nice looking fancy stuff. Also all these nice cars were in the parking lot, but later we realized they were all rental cars and nobody was actually staying there haha. So we went back to the first new hotel where there was water and by that point it was like 9:45 so we stuck with it. Pretty sure there were bed bugs there too but hey, what can you do.
        Thursday we woke up at 5:15am and left. Seth ended up not having to help at all. We didn't do anythingggg that morning. So everyone was hungry, a little annoyed that we stayed for no reason, and since the car ride was super bumpy we were all pretty nauseous and ready to puke out the window. By the time we got back to Accra, Seth felt bad. He ended up letting us go back to our hotel and stay there until 2pm. Later he bought us all KFC as well haha. While at our hotel we all washed and sprayed everythinggg and just made sure there were no bugs left. I'm not sure if we actually ended up having bed bugs or not but now I kinda feel like were just bugs in the hotels so we were paranoid.
        Anyway, the week was disastrous and there were so many more details of just things that made it even worse but all we can do is laugh about it. It's just so funny being here with all the crazy things that happen to us. We are in Africa, what else can we expect haha. I love it and I love all the crazy and terrible things that happen because hey make for funny memories and help us to be even more grateful for all the little luxuries in America. I can't believe I have been here for a month now!! So crazy! Besides school and my mission, I've never been anywhere for this long. I'm so glad I came on this adventure though! It's so much fun being in Ghana everyday!

Patients sleeping at the eye clinic after their surgeries. 

View from where we worked, that's Elmina castle.

Drive by of the beach! 

Weekend Expedition

This past weekend was quite the adventure!!

The girls after the temple! 

        To start out, our mode of transportation was the trotros! Those are an adventure in themselves. Pretty much a big van pulls up and the guy yells where it is going and you get on. Well there are 13 of us obrunis and only one person knew where to go. So luckily we jump on and the guy takes us to a station where we find someone that was willing to take us all the way to the temple (normally you have to take a couple trotros.) We ended up getting to the temple right on time. It was pretty packed but luckily just enough room left for us. It was the most incredible temple experience I have ever had. I have never felt so much love especially when entering the celestial room. They were so happy to see us and grateful we were there. A big group from Togo visiting too. I guess they come for a few days and all go to the temple as much as possible while there because it is a far trip for them. So We got to go with that group and do a session. I was able to do a Family name for one of the people from
        Togo and it was a girl born in April of 1993! It was a cool experience, and of course the cleanest place you will find in Africa. Also, inside the temple was so colorful and pretty. I've never seen a temple with so much color. Rather than the fabric on the chairs being a dark red, dark blue, or white, they were a colorful African print pattern. The celestial room was beautiful as well.
         After the temple we went to the art market in Accra and it was insane!! I wish I had a picture, but as soon as we walked up, we got attacked like crazy. It was so much fun bartering though and we got pretty good. I'm sure we all still got ripped off a little bit but hey, what can you do. The whole experience was just so hilarious. I thought about the little street markets
        On the way home, 9 of us left together and it was an insane trip home. We knew our destination so we went to the trotro station and asked for achimota. We were led to a trotro that would take us part way. We we got to the next Station, everyone wanted to help us. We told someone achimota and then like 20 people jumped on us yelling "achimota?? Achimota??" And they all wanted us to take their bus thing. Once we got onto one, all the people selling food flocked us, trying to make us buy everything. Luckily, we made it home safely and it wasn't even difficult so we were pretty proud of that.

Walking to help ward members.

        On Saturday night there was a hugeeee storm. It was pretty fun and super crazy, but also a bummer. The power went out everywhere, the wifi was shot, pipes broke, rooms were flooded, it was all a big mess. So Sunday for the third hour of church since not many people were there we all divided up into groups and went out to check on the families who weren't there. It was incredible to see how people actually lived. Rather than just seeing the outside of these communities like we normally do, we walked through allies, over man made bridges that were very unsafe, through mud, over rivers, etc.. It was so cool. Sadly, a lot of people were affected but they were so grateful that we went to check on them and help them. One funny thing that happened was when we were walking around in the little village things there was a little group of boys and they just watched us pass. I saw them stare at the other white people in my group so when I passed them this happened:

Me: "ete sen?" (how are you)
Boys in unison: "eye, na wo nso eh?" (Fine, and you?")
Me: "eye" (fine)
*45 second delay"
Boys in unison: "eyyyy!! Obruni!!! Obruni!!! " (obruni means white person)
And they all busted up laughing and shocked that I spoke to them in Twi. It was great.

Other random things from the week:
I was working visual acuity testing the patients eyes and a man sat down and the conversation was as follows:
Me: ete sen? (How are you?)
Him: eye, na wo nso eh. (good and you?)
Me: eye (good)
Him: you are beautiful, will you marry me?
Me: I'm already getting married in three months in the US.
Him: oh thank God. You are beautiful, you should get married. Lucky man.
Me: awkward laugh and continued with the eye test haha

People hiss at each other to get attention here. Like if you want to buy something you just hiss and flag them over and they come. Well I was walking to get fruit one day with two other girls and we heard someone hissing at us and I said "I think someone is hissing at us" and the other girl said "ya don't turn around" so we kept walking and they didn't stop and they shouted so we finally turned around so they would stop and it was our driver running after us trying to get us to stop. Turns out we needed to be back at the hotel to get picked up and hour earlier because plans changed and he saw us walking when he was driving there haha

Africa has been an adventure. I love it. Stay tuned for the next post about this last week which was insane. It was pretty crazy to say the least!

Have I mentioned that there are goats EVERYWHERE ? (And cute little lambs)

It was a beautiful day for the temple!

Visual acuity 

They are so fun! 

Why I am Here

This balloon was the start of the attack by kids. Tons of kids
came over, the balloon popped, they saw a popped one in my
pocket and didn't understand that it wouldn't work, and then
attached me for it. 

        On Monday we were at an outreach and I almost died getting attacked by kids, but hey, it's all part of the experience right? However, the best part of the day was when there was a small group of boys ages 9-14. They just observed us while we worked and so I went and talked to them. In this area everyone spoke Ga, which we didn't know any of. So I had them teach me different words and phrases. One of the little boys gave me a little bracelet that says "I love you" and then taught me how to say it in Ga. They were so cute and funny. They taught us some games and we taught them American games and we just talked to them about life for a while. Then one of the boys turned to me with a sad look on his face and pointed at the torn up grass that was mostly dirt and we had a conversation that broke my heart a little.

These fun boys were hilarious. I love them and all the
things they taught me. 

Him: does America look like this?
Me: what do you mean?
Him: I heard it's nice there. Does it look like this?
Me: America is nice, but guess what? Ghana is more beautiful. There are so many pretty green trees here. I love Ghana. Ghana is so pretty.
Him: *his faced changed and he began to glow and he got really excited and said "Wow! Ghana is more pretty than like I hear America is!?"

        We are so blessed to live in a land that is taken care of much More than many parts of the world. We have so many benefits and blessings that we are so unaware of.

         This little girl named Ivanna came to sit with me while I worked. She just watched me silently. We played with a ball for a little bit and she sat on my lap for a while too. She was there like an hour or two with me. Well she kept wanting glasses but we couldn't give them to her. I remembered I had my sunglasses with me so I pulled them out for her to wear. Well when it was time to leave I went to take the glasses back and she cried and didn't want to give them back. So off she went with my glasses. Her family probably needed them more than me anyway and she looked way cuter in them so it's all good. I will just need to buy some new ones when I get home haha
        Also, I think the camera scared her haha but she was still so cute and was not shy to come play at all!

        On Tuesday I went to the Crystal Eye Clinic to watch surgeries with just two other girls from my group. It was a loooooong day. It was rough, but in the little moments that I experienced, I felt Heavenly Father help me know why I was there. In the taxi on the way to the clinic an EFY song came on the gospel station that was playing and so it really set the mood and helped me remember that God has made this all possible and that the body is exactly how it is because God made it that way. Well once we got to the clinic and were shown around and what not, we were asked to wait in the waiting room with the patients until they brought us lunch. So we started talking to those who were there. There were two little 9 yer old girls there with their moms. Their names are Hanna and Emmanuella(Emma for short). We played with them and colored with them. We gave them candy and just helped them feel really comfortable around us. Well we went and ate and I didn't think anything of it.

        Later on after examining some surgeries, Hanna came in. Because of how the medicine was affecting her, she fought the anesthesia so much that three people had to hold her down. (The young kids receive the anesthesia but adults rarely do). It was so sad. After her surgery was finished, in walked little Emma. Now she looks like she is 6 and is so adorable. She laid on the bed and when she looked over and saw us standing right next to her bed, she smiled for a second and waved at us and we waved back. I feel like she really needed to see a familiar face in there because she was scared. Since everyone has a mask and scrubs on, it's hard to tell who is who, but seeing white people was different so she knew it was us. Well Emma had surgery on both eyes. So she didn't get to see us after that. But we sent both girls home with candy and balls to play with once they recovered. We got to say goodbye to their families before we left as well. It was a neat experience for me to have that made me so sad for those little girls, but also so grateful for the ability for them to receive treatment. I'm grateful that this program (unite for sight) was able to pay for her surgery so that she can see again and so that the rest of her life won't be as hard. Thanks to the donations from many of you, people like Emma and Hanna are going to be able to do normal things now because their eyes were treated on successfully and price didn't stop them.
        I love seeing so many miracles everyday. Watching the eye surgeries and learning how incredible the eye is is definitely sometime I will never forget. Even when days are long and hot and it would be easier to be at home, I know that I need to be here right now and that this is an experience I have dream of for so long and now it has come true. I love the feelings that come everyday as we help others have hope again.

  

This is Hannas eye before surgery. It's hard to see but her eye has a solid white spot on her lens.

Everything we eat, we eat with our hands. This is rice ball with beef and peanut soup (superrr spicy) 

His eye is completely fogged up. 

That's the old lens at the top. The yellow-orange thing they took out. 

These school kids wanted to play all day! They attacked me a few times but for the most part were fun and adorable. 

The Ghana Adventures continue!

"She is called Princess. She is 3 years"

        Friday was the last day with the St. Thomas eye clinic for me for a little while. The past two weeks we stayed in the same groups but from here on out it will change week to week. The first week went by SO slow but now time is flying and I am loving everyday more and more. It's been quite the adventure. Everyone has been sick to some degree. For me, if I take my malaria pills and don't eat something right away, then I throw up. After it happening a couple times, I learned. Luckily I didn't stay home because I realize the problem and so now it's almost normal for me to throw my pills up sometimes haha sorry for the details! It's just part of the experience because it doesn't phase me anymore. Friday I felt sick in the morning but went anyway and am so glad I did because I made so many new friends! I saw one so I walked over to her and then all these kids gathered and just started cheering and yelling "Obruni! Obruni! Obruni!" And then before they knew my name they would call me "Madam Obruni." I love them so I shared some suckers and balloons.

        We all had Saturday off, so John, one of the crystal eye clinic staff members, took us to cape coast for the day! It was quite the party, since all 13 of us easily fit in the car. The whole drive was an adventure because as I have said before, driving here is insane. We drove through rivers, backyards, bushes, on the wrong side of the road for a while to pass traffic, and even got into a line of cops and like a minister or someone well known that they were making way for. That line was going fast so we jumped behind them to pass everyone up.

        We first went to a canopy walk in the Kakum National Park, which was so much fun! It was a little terrifying because even with as safe as they said it was, I didn't always feel very safe haha. It consisted of 7 bridges and was so incredible! Being in a beautiful African rainforest home to elephants was a dream. It didn't end up being hot, but with the thick humidity up there, we were all sweating more than ever so that was gross. It was amazing to see all the beautiful green trees and listen to the birds and animals moving around. While I'm the rainforest, we got to try a cocoa bean, like the fruit part of it, and that was yummy. Overall, the canopy walk was quite the adventure and I am so glad John took us there.
        Afterwards we went to the Cape Coast Slave Trade Castle again and went on the tour. As the tour guide took us around, you could feel the mood change from place to place. It was so sad to hear about the terrible conditions the slaves went through there. But it was definitely a spiritual experience and a chance to learn even more about the Atonement.
        On the way home, there was so much traffic and it was so hectic, I saw my life flash before my eyes multiple times and literally screamed out loud hahaha but hey, I'm still alive so it's okay!
        Today at church, the area seventy general authority came and spoke in sacrament and it was the best talk. He spirit was so strong as he told the congregation how much President Monson loves the people in Africa. The general authority said that it took 30 years to make 60 stakes but from there it took 2 years to make 100 stakes in the West Africa area. The missionary work of the people here is such an example to me.

There are about 35 primary kids!

        Later, the primary came into relief society to give a presentation for Mother's Day since there wasn't time last week or something. Let me tell you, it was the cutest thing in the entire world. They sang the same songs we sing in America, but with super cute heavy accents and so loud and cheerily. At the end, they gave all the women pens! That's right, not chocolate. A pen. They said they had a small budget but they wanted to give us all something that would last. My heart melted and I was filled with so much gratitude. Never again do I want to hear any woman complain about not getting chocolate on Mother's Day, or only getting one chocolate.
        I love Africa so much. Everyday I still am in awe that I am here, living amongst so many wonderful people, having the adventure of my life. We are in tears laughing at the funny things that happen everyday, and I know that this is definitely a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget. I love my Ghana adventures.

I can't get over how pretty it is here.

The cocoa bean fruit we ate! 

Two weeks with the Best!

Skirt day! Planned by Mercy.

        We just finished the first two weeks! I spent both weeks with the St. Thomas Eye Clinic and it was incredible! Thursday we went to the clinic and watched surgeries again which was incredible. The surgeries this time were a lot more intense. I was able to see some incredible transformations though. It's amazing to see someone come in and their eye be completely white or destroyed and then to leave surgery with an eye that looks completely normal. One lady came in and Doctor Raymond looked at her eye and then turned off the light, turned away, and prayed for like 5 minutes. He would pray, look at her eye more, and then continue praying. During the surgery, he hummed a gospel song. The surgery turned out great! I love the faith of everyone here. It definitely brought the spirit into the room and I am grateful I was able to experience that moment.

Dr. Raymond praying

        We were also able to get to know the staff that we worked with everyday pretty well. They are like family now. After spending time with them, I decided to write a little bit about them so you can know who we spend our time with!

*take pic and show her*
"That picture is nice. I like it"

Meet the lovely Mercy!
        She is hilarious. She is super sassy and fierce but also so loving. She told us what days to wear skirts so that she can match with all of us. She loves shoes. She buys new shoes just about everyday. She must be really good at talking prices down when it comes to her shoes, or else she will soon be broke. At the visual acuity testing station, she gets things done. She knows what she needs to do and powers through it. However, you can often find her napping in the room where the doctor works, away from everyone else. When she is awake and not working visual acuity then she is chatting with the doctor or with Seth, which slows things down a lot, but she is hilarious and super nice. She buys us things while on the road, such as donuts or sweet bread, sugar cane, tiger nuts, and other fun stuff. Often times we can find her jammin' to her music or singing. She made us lunch a few times and is a really good cook. She talks about her daughter a lot, and is a mom of two. She claims that she makes the best fried chicken and said she will make it for us sometime. She loves us all and is super fun. We love Mercy.

He loved learning about sunscreen.

Meet Immanuel! (Doctor Imma)
        He is the optometrist for the St. Thomas Eye Clinic. His "best food" is rice but he talks about Fufu more than anything, and talks to just about every patient about it. He tries to eat all our snacks, and usually succeeds unless we remember to hide them from him haha. Yesterday he ate all my beef jerky, all my trail mix, took three balls for his kids, and ate a sucker haha. We love him though, he is very giving as well and always wants us to try new things and see new places. His favorite phrase has to be "are you sure?" because he asks that about everything. He loves candy, which he calls toffee, just as everyone does here. When he sees us looking for something he asks "are you searching for toffee?" He is definitely laid back and loves to chat. Most of the time we are backed up because he is in the room chatting with patients about who knows what, or talking to someone else completely while the patient he is with just waits patiently. He is always trying to learn what we do. Sometimes we keep our backpacks in the room he does examinations in white one of us sits in with him to watch. Whenever I go in there to get something, without fail he asks what it is before I leave. Yesterday I went to get sunscreen, when I was leaving he asked what it was. He had never heard of it or seen it before so we tried to explain how it protects us from the sun and without it our skin turns red and hurts. He looked at the bottle, read it, smelt it, and then said "we don't need this. We are ball black." Now when he sees us put sunscreen on, he laughs at our white skin. At the end of everyday he tells us that we are going to go to cape coast after work. He also tells us jokingly each night to be ready at 5am for work the next day, when really it's at 7 or 8. Overall though, We love Immanuel. He always tells us he doesn't want us to leave. He is super nice, cool and knowledgeable at all he does.

This just explains him.

This is Seth!!
        Seth is a St. Thomas Eye Clinic worker. He picks us up and drops us off everyday. He is a crazy driver. Pretty much you can describe our car experiences by thinking of Indiana Jones rides, in real life. Sometimes we go off roading to get to where we need to go. If you aren't paying attention, you will hit your head a thousand times, and get whiplashed. Seth is also super chill. He is silently hilarious. He laughs at us constantly and tries to teach us new words in Twi. He chills so hard while distributing medications with us. You can find him laid back in his chair with his hand out, waiting for us to put the stuff into his hands. He won't reach for it and it's hilarious haha. He often buys us things such as corn, pineapple, water, or other things to try off the streets. When we get confused he laughs at us. When we ask him for change, he stares at us. He takes phone calls even when he is helping a patient. One time I gave him a ball to give to his little girl and he didn't realize I was giving it to him to keep so he said "wow! Can I own this for my daughter?" He is super awesome and helpful. We love Seth!

Pretty much they are all great and I am so grateful I have been able to get to know them!!

So Worth the Sacrifice

It was a little sunny for their eyes, but these kids are adorable

        Last night my group decided to have FHE. We talked about Mosiah 18:27-29 and how we need to impart more abundantly and serve others. As we are here helping with eye care, we see so many other problems and it's easy to think that this isn't the biggest problem Ghana has. We could help in so many other ways. Often times, people are not very grateful for the service we provide for them either. I guess we assumed everyone would be so cheerful and happy about receiving medication, or glasses to see, but sadly they aren't. However, then we meet people who need our help so much. A few days ago, a young mother of the age of 24 came in. She had a newborn baby and a 2 year old baby. She was almost completely blind in one eye and her other eye had terrible vision. She could only see things close up and received the results of "counting fingers at 1 meter" on her visual acuity eye test. On Thursday, she will get surgery on one eye that will help her see. At this moment in her life, she needs vision most. She cannot help her young children if she cannot see. Sight is a huge challenge for her. Helping people like her makes this all come to life. It's so worth the sacrifice to be here. I feel so blessed to be here making so many new friends. Marlin K. Jensen once said "The quality of our daily relationships with others is the best indication of what we think about Christ." With each patient I help, I am reminded of the importance to love each of them as Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love them.

        Just a short explanation on a couple people we have helped.
-one little girl was 2 years old, because she is getting the medication she needs now, she will have her vision restored. If she would have waited, then she would have ended up completely blind in few years.
-One man was 97! He is going in for surgery on Thursday.
-A young mother I helped today brought in her two daughters ages 3 (Mirriam) and 5 (Erica). All three of them received eye medications, and the mom got glasses. While she was gone getting the money, we played with the ball and then ate suckers. {picture on left}
-one man was brought in by his grandsons. He had late stages of glaucoma in both eyes. He was just about completely blind. Sadly, not much can be done for him because it is too late. But we were able to help all his family members so that they don't get to that point.
        Anyway, below are some pictures of the place we went to today! We went to Agona Abodom. It was in a super cool church and outside there were a million children. My heart melted seeing all of them. They are so cute. I just want to bring them all home with me.
        Oh ya, and did I mention, we went to a place called Zoo Zoos and they had all this African food, but they also had hamburgers and fries!! It's sad when you eat a hamburger and are happy at how "healthy" it is because it's not straight rice and bread but has some veggies on it. Happiness in a meal. Only 10 Cedis. Which is Less than 3 dollars. And we were all so full.

Heaven on a plate.

Seth explaining to the people how the outreach works

Doesn't it look like a party? 

I love these cute kids.

 

Saying goodbye

A Familiar Place

I don't love this picture but We bought African skirts for $6

        Today marks one week since I have been in Ghana! And today, we got to go to church! After a long hot week of craziness and new things, it was nice to be able to go somewhere familiar, and to feel the spirit so strongly. The first 45 minutes were kind of awful. The power was out and the chapel was pretty full, so it was beyond hot. People were literally dripping sweat. I could feel sweat roll down my back. Disgusting, I know. As I sat there I just prayed to have a spiritual experience while there but because of the heat, my eyes felt heavy and I was exhausted and just about asleep. Luckily, during the third speaker, the power came on and the fans started up (no air condition here) and you just hear everyone from our group whisper "yes!!" Haha the fans were helpful. The power stayed on for just about the rest of the time minus a few minutes here and there so that was awesome.

        Anyway, this ward is using a new "Come, Follow Me" teaching program for church and it is super cool. I guess only a few stakes in the world are doing it right now. It connects all classes on Sunday with personal study and family home evening and provides questions to ponder and things like that. Well anyway the lesson in relief society was on standing as a witness of the truth by living the gospel of Jesus Christ and it was just so incredible to hear the testimonies from the women here. Their faith is so strong and they desire to build up the kingdom of God so badly. It was such a blessing to be able to take a break from the world and feel at home for a little bit. They gave us a book, so tomorrow we are having our own FHE and going to do our part to participate in the discussion better next week.

        I love this gospel so much. I am grateful for the peace it brings and direction it provides. I know this gospel is true. I love how everywhere in the world, church is the same and we can feel the Spirit wherever we go. I am grateful I was raised with so many luxuries such as air conditioning and power all the time. We are so blessed to live in a country that is so fortunate. I am grateful for my loving parents who have allowed me to come and have this incredible experience, especially my mom on this Mother's Day. Sorry I am gone for another Mother's Day! I love you! Thanks for all you do for me and the support you provide me with especially when I want to do crazy things like go to Africa!

Happy Mother's Day Mom!! I love you!

What an Experience!

        First if all, I don't think I ever told you the names of everyone in my group from BYU or much about what Ghana is like. So it's me, Lily, Megan, Teron, Emily, Sydney, Kara, Cassady, Erin, Buffy, Hayden, Alden, and Darius. The St. Thomas Clinic workers are Seth and Mercy and the optometrist is Emmanuel. As for Ghana, it is hot! So hot! And very busy. Everyone is always selling things. There are tons of little stands all along streets and what not and there are even tons of people walking around in the streets. A lot of the stuff being sold looks like second hand stuff and some of it is super random so I'm not sure how they make money. For example, there are a lot of stands along the streets selling irons but it doesn't seem like anyone uses irons. Also, the traffic is crazy, everyone should get in car accidents but nobody does. It smells pretty weird most of the time but it's fine. Everyone is super nice! I love how everyone is so content with what they have. They don't have a desire for a better life or anything like that because they love how they live and what they have already.

        So now more about the past few days! I attempted washing my clothes by hand for the very first time!! It was quite a disaster hahaha okay let me tell you, when you sweat this much, you need a super powered washing machine to clean those clothes. But nope, just my two hands and a little bit of soap. Well there was nowhere to hang up my clothes line so I decided to just hang them over the pole in the shower. I just had my socks left in the bucket to wash and one more pair of pants when all of the sudden the pole broke and all my clothes fell onto the dirty floor. Nasty. Oh well though, I wasn't about to take another hour and start over haha. At least I know for next time! So ya, that was my washing clothes experience. Better luck next time I guess!
        Wednesday was SO fun! So we went back to Cape Coast which is the same place that they went to on Tuesday which was good because then I didn't miss out on seeing any cool places! We saw like 4 LDS churches on the way too and some sister missionaries. Well we showed up at the clinic which was at a Islamic Mosque but they told us the President of Ghana was coming and so we couldn't do the clinic there anymore. We walked some of the streets exploring with Mercy (the girl local worker that helps St. Thomas clinic). Then our optometrist and other workers said they wanted to take us to the castle there, so we walked over to the castle which held slaves in the past (I don't know all the history because it cost a lot of money to go to the museum part that tells the history and we didn't have time) but it was cool! Then they did some quick shopping with us and since they are Ghanaian then hey could talk down the prices so great. The guy would say a price and then they say "no. Less!" And so he would lower it and then they would say "why not *price*" and he would say okay finee. So that was helpful and I bought a skirt to wear on Sunday :)

        Afterwards we went back to the mosque and the optometrist looked at 5 people that were there that were told to be there. While he was doing that, we got to play with the kids and give them candy and stuff and just chill because he didn't need our help today. The kids were so much fun and so cute! We had a lot of fun with them. The kids kept asking if we were going to go back the next day, which we aren't going back there again so that was so sad.
        After being in the hot sun for far too long, we left, nice and red like a tomato. Yay for my first sunburn here... :/ haha it's all good though, someone brought aloe! We ended up getting home 3 hours sooner than expected which was nice because my sunburn was stinging the whole way home.

        Oh ya, while we were in cape coast, Seth and Emmanuel took us to get fufu from a place they like and it was actually good!! Everyone in my group was hating on it because they already tried it but me and Lily hadn't had a chance yet so we tried it and it was good, we shared one bowl and it wasn't even 1 dollar and we couldn't finish it. It's weird because you eat it with your hands and at first Lily and Teron were using both hands because it was hard to tear apart and Seth looks over and goes "are you using two hands!???" And then he just laughed and taught us how to tear it with one hand. Then when we were going back we met up with Mercy and Emmanuel goes "Obruni was using two hands" and they all started laughing at us haha. They probably thought it was bad because we can't do anything with our left hand here because that is the hand they use for the bathroom.

        We watched eye surgeries on Thursday!! We got all dressed up in probably the biggest scrubs ever and went in two at a time so that was fun. My scrubs were literally 2XL haha but it was SO awesome! It made me want to be an optometrist! Just kidding, but it really was super interesting. They had three patients in there at a time, which I'm sure would not pass in the US. Sanitation was a lot different too. I was in the last group to go, so I waited until 5:30 until I got to start and went until about 7:30 but it was worth the wait. When I entered they asked my name and I said Kiera but the guy said "if I say your name then I will bite my tongue. I can't say it" so then I said "okay call me Kiki" and then all the nurses and the doctor call me Kiki because it's the easiest for them to say, which made them love me because they only could remember my name haha. They kept calling me over "Kiki, come" and then they would tell me something. They even let me put the eye drops in and cover up the eye with gauze, tape and this egg shaped cover thing after the surgery, so that was cool! He mostly did cataract surgeries today, so it was really cool to watch him cut into the eye and take out the bad lens and put in a new one. The last surgery the doctor said was pointless because when he went into the eye he found that the retina was detached or something and so that surgery right then wouldn't work. So sad that he waited until 7:30 pm for a pointless surgery! I felt so bad for him.
        At one point there was a patient laying down but the doctor was doing something in another room and all the nurses were talked to us and they saw my ring and were like "Kiki are you married?" And I said no and told them I was getting married in August and they got all excited and said they want to come. So I told them it was in the US in California and they got super excited and were like "wow!! We will all come Kiki!!" Haha it was cute. One asked if it was near Laguna Beach because that's the only place he has heard of in California. Anyway, I could go on and on about how incredible it was but Just know that I loved it and I am so excited to go back to St. Thomas clinic next week! What an experience it was!