"Gape Aloyi pt 4..."

By now, I have absolutely no idea what time it is.  We have gone through 2 liters of water,a granola bar, and a sleeve of Ritz crackers that Sharon had in the diaper bag.  Lunch must be coming soon! 

We then leave the school area and walk toward a cinderblock structure.  On the way to the cinderbloack stucture we pass by this incredible termite mound.

As we approach the cinderblock structure, we figure it is the chief's residence.  We are all seated at a long table made of planks, covered in a white table cloth.  How they keep their whites so white is beyond me!

Several ladies come around with serving bowls and scoop food onto our plates.  We cannot tell them "no" it would be rather insulting to our host.  We just let them laddle out as they see necessary.  While the ladies are placing food on the plates, two other people come around with wash basins of soapy water and clean water so we may rinse our hands.

Lunch.  On the left are mazie cakes (made out of ground corn) what we guess is spaghetti noodles, and under the noodles in the sause, as we thought...goat...almost the whole goat...nothing is wasted.  The sauce the goat was cooked in was very delicious...a nice balance of unknown spices.  Sometimes unknown is good.

Dessert is green oranges...they are incredibly sweet and juicy and bananas. We find the fruit in Africa is generally amazingly sweet. 

After lunch, we exchange our gifts with the chief.  Captain Tim is presented the hind end of the goat...raw...which Eric graciously placed in the back of his vehicle.  Although I have heard that Eric froze it for when we are able to come over and they would cook it for us....I hope we are on vacation then! ;)

The chief also presents us with bottles of roasted peanuts...yum...

We present him with pens for the school, candy for the kids, some medicine for the dispensary, scrubs, a Mercy Ships shirt and hat.  We all guess it is time to leave...however...one more surprise awaits us.....

"Gape Aloyi pt 3..."

After dancing, dancing, and more dancing...it was time for speeches.  The speeches were given by the chief, in the local language...translated into French and then English.  The chief told us of his plans for his village and how important education is to him.  Now there are about 240 children in the village.  The chief has 5 wives and we never did find out how many children...at least 20-30.  His desire is for every child in the village to be educated.  He believes education is the key to success.  He is a very wise man with great plans.

Then our friend Eric, the French Naval Officer, gave his speech.  He told the chief and the village how he is hoping to help build a school in the village emphasizing in agreement with the chief about how important education is for the children.

Then it was Captain Tim's turn to give a speach.  His emphasis was on what Mercy Ships ministry is and how we do everything because we love and follow Jesus and how we bring hope and healing to the forgotten poor of West Africa.  Then it was time for a tour of the village.

The first stop was the Dispensary/Hospital.

Another NGO (non governmental organization) had previously help the village by starting to build the dispensary.  Unfortunately the NGO ran out of money and was unable to finish the job.  The people of the villiage decided they would complete the much needed clinic building themselves.  The only electricity in the villiage is a small generator attached to the clinic, when they run it they have to decide which room needs light.  One room is dedicated to the operating room, another recovery area, and another for what limited medical supplies they have.

This pictures shows the extent of the medical supplies.  While we were visiting the hospital area, we were told a woman was in labor with twins.  A very tense and exciting time for the village. 

Then we continued onto the school.  Right now the school consists of four hut type shelters. 

With a black board at the far end of the shelter.  We wondered what happens when the rainy season comes.

Then the school children treated us to a treat and sang us several French songs.

We walked around the village a bit, noticing how primative it was.  This was one of the "nicer" huts.

With what little they have, they take great pride in their surroundings.  There was very little garbage like we see in the city area. Like the picture above, attempts were made at landscaping with trees and cactus.

Then it was time for lunch...

"Gape Aloyi Pt 2..."

As we exited the our wonderfully air conditioned vehicles, we are immediately assaulted by the heat of the morning (and it's only around 10 am or so...).  We did not have time to put on bug spray, sun screen or even have time to grab our water bottles, before we were mobbed by the villagers.  The town continued to greet us with dancing and singing, as we were ushered over to where the chief of the village was waiting for us to meet him.

The chief welcomed us to his village while the priest talked and offered some kind of drink in honour of our arrival, which he purposely spilled it on the ground.

After the welcoming ceremony was done, we followed the chief through the village.

As we passed by this hurd of goats...I knew what we were going to have for lunch.

We gathered in a sheltered area where the town all gathered around.  There were many kinds of dances done in celebration of our coming to the village.

Captain Tim, Mike, Eric, and a few of the other Ex pats sat in the front row...while Sharon, the kids and I sat in the second row.

Not too long after we arrived and were seated, the chief took this one ex pat lady, and Captain Tim around to the side of the shelter.  He then came back and presented them to the community-dressed in African outfits.

The fabric that Captain Tim is wearing is only made by virgin men.  It was a very thick and regal looking fabric.

After more dancing, and more dancing, and yet again, more dancing...it was our turn...to dance.  Now, keep in mind the African people are born with a sense of rhythm.  They dance in the womb, dance while on the ma-ma's back, dance even when they first begin to walk...it is in their blood.  So, the only thing to do is swallow your pride...dance and laugh...and they really laugh at our lack of rhythm.  (I just cannot move my body the way they do without hurting myself!!  =)  )

Mike dancing...

Deb and Sharon dancing...

Alisia dancing...(Joshua was spared the experience)

Me telling Alisia how proud I was of her for trying to dance! (One of my most favorite pictures...)

Anyway...after dancing there were...check in tomorrow for part 3...

"Gape Aloyi pt 1..."

Sunday was Mother's Day.  We had an expereinced that we will never forgot...little did we know what this day would hold when our alarm went off at 5:45 am. 

We (Captain Tim, his wife Sharon and son Nathaniel and the Jacobsen family) had been invited by a French Naval Officer, Eric, to visit the village Gape Aloyi about 3 hours out of Lome.   Eric is looking at helping to build a school in the village with other French ex-pats. who live in Lome.  As Mercy Ships Crew, we were curious about the villiage and if there was anything we could do to help.  So, our day began as we loaded our stuff and ourselves into one of the Nissans to head out to meet the rest of the people we were to travel with.  For the first hour, we wound our way in and out of Lome picking up different people. 

We then headed out of town. It does not take long to realize where Lome ends. The building become much more basic in structure.   The further out of town one travels, the more "rustic" the houses become...eventually you notice...no more power poles, no more phone lines...just mud huts with thatched palm roofs and lots of sand.

We crossed over abridge and journey brought us deeper into the heart of Togo. 

 As we continued on our journey, the roads become smaller and more rough. The vegetation was amazingly thick.  After drving for about 2 1/2 hours, we had a rest stop about 30 minutes outside of the village.

I was amazed at this tree and the root system.  We also saw termite mounds.

After our rest stop, we continued on up the road, where we had a motorcycle escort waiting for us to take us into the village. 

Waiting to welcome us was the whole village.  They had handcrafted a sign to honour us-welcoming us into their village.

We were welcomed with dancing, singing, and great shouts of jubilation!  This was just the start of the day...continued tomorrow...

"Academy Science Fair..."

Over the last few week, our Academy students have been busy.  They have been coming up with experiements, hypothesis, testing those hypothesis, producing  the results, analyzing data and drawing conclusions, all for the science fair.  Experiments range from exercise tests, pop can explosions, brain wave activity, mold growth, to how to make ice cream.

This experiment was on "how much liquid a diaper could hold".

This experiment was on which can of pop/soda fizzed the most.

Alisia did her experiment on the whether eating healthy, and exercising would produce better vital signs.

Joshua and his partner Ethan did their experiment on what was the best method to make ice cream.

Everyone had a great time and learned a lot.

"Aissa..."

Today is Thursday...where has the week gone?  They all seem to be blending into one big blur.  But yet there are precious moments that stand out in each day.  Some are extremely obvious others you have to search through the chaos of the day to see...but it is there. 

Today I  went  to A ward to see if it would be okay to set up an activity for one of the crew members.  As I was standing waiting, Ali, turned to Aissa and said "I love you".

Let me tell you about Aissa.  She is a seven year old  "spit-fire".  She is full of energy and with a will that matches that energy level.  Aissa came to us from Cameroon.  She, nor her caregiver, speak any English or any of the local Togolese languages.  A physicians assistant (Sarah) who speaks a bit of their language,  has been caring for Aissa's noma for the last year, accompanied them to the ship. (A noma is a rapidly progressive opportunistic infection.  A noma can be caused by malnutrition or dehydration, poor oral hygiene, poor sanitation, unsafe drinking water, and other things.)  Basically the noma has eaten away at Aissa's cheak.  She has had a skin graft to repair the hole.

This "spit-fire" of a child gave me one of those precious moments that separated today from the others.  Aissa was on Jenn's back (another nurse), she leaned over Jenn's shoulder, into Ali's face and said "I luva you." "I luva you!"  "I luva you!"  This little girl who hardly speaks any english has learned the three most precious words in the language...and "we luva her" too!

"Priceless Pt 2..."

Words cannot express...the only word that comes to mind is "Priceless..."

This wonderful young man is Abel, before surgery...

Abel after surgery...Priceless!!

Meet Farouk before surgery...

Farouk after surgery...Priceless!!

I'd like to introduce Lawson to you...pre-surgery...

Lawson post-surgery...

Priceless!!!