Of course the main attraction of WHH is the kids! They come from various backgrpounds. Some of them are truly orphens with no family whatsoever. Some of them have a relative but there is no place for them in the family life. All of them had little or no hope for a decent education or for a reliable place to lay their heads or be assured of three meals a day. They now have stability in their lives and hope for the future. Here is are group of them after playing football (soccer to us in US) in the little parking area on the road.
They are full of life and very accepting and loving.
While we were there I was Uncle Jerome and Paul was Uncle Paul. During the day Uncle Paul spent a lot of time with Mary since she was too young to go to school. Mary was found abandoned at the age of about 10 months. She is now about 2 1/2 and is thriving. The kids take pretty good care of her. I learned that after I left she began going to Nursery School and loves it. I played peek a boo with her and she loved it giving out a deep throaty laugh.
The other little girl was Joanna who is three. She was extremely shy with Paul and me for the first few days but gradually she came around and became very affectionate. She started school during the second week of my stay there and she blossomed right before our eyes.
Ben helped to keep the little ones clean!
The common room for eating and fun.
The front porch was a scene of much activity. The motorcyle was kept there overnight. The kids used it as a mini soccer field using any size ball they could find and in this picture they were doing piggy back racing.
One Saturday they cut branches from palm trees and using knives stripped away the leaves to get the single strip down the center. These strips were then tied together to make brooms for sweeping. The coconut palm leaves were used for outdoor brooms and the oil palm leaves were used for the softer inside brooms.
When the water was shut off the kids had to bring water up the hill from this rather stagnet pool. Serious steps are being taken to ensure a steady and safe water supply.
Near the pool is a small farm that had a few cocoa trees on. The beans from this tree used for making chocolate are a very important part of Ghana's export trade.
The kids practiced hard for the dancing celebrations at the closing ceremony of the science workshops. They had to learn the steps and body movements. It was amazing how quickly they picked it up.
And they looked great when they performed at the ceremony.
They loved their Uncle Paul. This is the scene when he returned after touring around the coutry for a week.
My special friend at WHH was Olivia. She sort of adopted me on the first day and was always solicitous about my health and welfare. She was a very nice little girl.
But it wasn't all serious work or playing with the kids. Paul and I managed a few trips to the beach. (That's a cold bottle of Star beer in the foreground!)
Paul is good swimmer and enjoyed going out in the surf. The waves are strong and one has to be careful.
Paul went up to Mole National Park and saw elephants, antelopes, wart hogs, monkeys and baboons. My wildlife experience was a few of these lizards!
Being a rank amatuer at this bloging bit, so I am going to have to close this one and start another because my"album" for chosing pictures is filled up and I can't import any more on this entry!!
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