Mamapong

This morning I woke up and went to pick up a few things in town. I picked up a skirt and shirt I had made and the Kente cloths I ordered from Isaac. Then I waited at the taxi spot for Chelsea & Mike to join me. We went to Mampang today. Of course we first had to take a taxi to Agona, then a tro tro to Mampong. We were dropped off on the road that leads to the Mampang Babies Home. Then we got a taxi to take us to the Babies Home.

I am going to volunteer at the Babies Home a few days this week so I needed to get an orientation and needed to be shown how to get to the Home. I have heard about the Babies Home for years from Chelsea so I was very excited to get there. Once there I went through a brief orientation with a whole bunch of other obruni’s that just showed up. We toured the center and got to play with the babies under 2 but the other children (ages 2-4) were taking their afternoon nap.

There were a few kids around so Chelsea, Mike & I played with them. Later we got to meet the Arch Bishop of Kumasi as he just happened to be stopping by the Babies Home. He was very nice and it was great to meet him. Then I talked to Mable and Margaret about the details of the week and we left the Home. I am very excited to go back tomorrow and to see all the children awake.

A little history about the Babies Home is that the children here are not orphans-only ½ orphans. Their mother’s died giving birth or soon after so they all have other family and most have fathers that are farmers. So the children are placed here to grow and be nourished until they are around the age of 3 or 4 and then their fathers come to get them and take them home. This gives the place a little different feel than a regular orphanage.

After we left the home we headed to Mampang and went to an Internet Café. I was only able to upload a few photos but a few is better than none and I will try to upload more later. We ate a late lunch/dinner and I had another authentic Ghanaian meal: Ground Nut Soup with Rice Balls. It was good. The soup has a sort of peanut taste to it and is a bit spicy but not too much. So far I really like the Ghanaian food I have tried but there is still a lot to discover.