Ventures with Visitors

It's been such a long time that I've written and so much has happened since then that I hardly know where to begin! So, I guess I'll just begin with letting you know that I am currently feeling overwhelmingly blessed and loved by so many people across the world. It's been so amazing and so humbling to see people come together to bless the kids (and me!) here at Haven of Hope. I'm so blessed to have two communities (both in Waupun & Hong Kong) that are SO supportive and willing to help and show their love.

It's been a couple of weeks full of visitors, which is always full of fun and adventures. Jenn came from Hong Kong, and it was just great to reconnect with her and share stories and adventures together. Some of the highlights were:

- We spent a few days near the coast and had the opportunity to go to a village called Asanfo where we got lessons on how to dye batik fabric. It was so cool to learn how the fabric is made (basically by dipping stamps in wax and then onto the material), but it was also neat to spend the day in the village and see how everyday life there is-- women preparing fufu, all the children sticking around to eat it, kids going to and from school, and lots of hanging out with the kids who are beautiful!

-cooking mashed potatoes and glazed carrots in the village for my friends who taught me how to make the akple (which I mentioned in the previous blog)...plus about 50 of her friends and neighbors! :) I'd say it was a hit!

(Happy, Jenn, me, and Rose getting the fire ready to cook the mashed potatoes. The village women do all their cooking on these little fires outside.)

- The kids were so excited to receive their soccer jerseys and I couldn't thank the ICS family enough for your generosity in so many ways! :)

Then, last week Lisa Grosz came with her mom and daughter and it was so great to have more enthusiastic visitors and people to love on the kids. They helped the kids to paint beautiful murals in both the girls' and boys' dorms, which was lots of fun for the kids. Then, one day we took the students who are pen pals to Lisa's students in Waupun to the pool in Accra...what a fun day that was! It was the first time that many of the kids have ever been to a pool and I think they would've stayed all day if we let them. :) (picture at the top)

It was a sad day to say goodbye, because I love having people visit. However, I wasn't alone for long...it was to the airport in the morning to drop them off and back later that night to pick up Tawnee (my new roommate), who will be serving at Haven of Hope for the next year, and her mom (just here for a few days). It's been a great day getting to know them and I'm so excited to have some more permanent "company"! :)