Dirt, Dough, and Dancing

Today was a good day and a bad day. Today we had to dig a trench. (Digging a trench is not the average person’s perfect Saturday.) Due to the lack of some plumbing supplies and the realization that our soldering iron is broken, today, the only work was digging. While digging one has time to reflect on many things like how easy sand is to dig through and how hard sunbaked clay is to dig through. One can wonder how long the pickaxe head is going to last or wistfully imagine sitting on the beach. One can reflect on the decision to volunteer for digging trench over helping Salah teach the STEM module. (Not sure why I did that … but Salah did a great job.) Apparently, some students learned that shorting out a 9V battery is not a wise decision. In the evening we got to see a talent show run by the students. There was singing, dancing, rapping, and a short play. The singing and rapping was good. I recognized some songs (most I did not). The play was a surprise as what we thought was a skit turned into a 30 minute production. At times, it was hard to understand but we were explained the basic premise. The play was about a student similar to those at Village of Hope overcoming the odds and making something of herself. I most enjoyed the dancing; it combines Ghanaian with western pop culture in an amazing way. The talent show went a little long, and the dance party originally planned for this evening was rescheduled. The dance off between America and Ghana will have to wait until tomorrow (I would bet on Ghana personally).

Messages directly from Billy:

Those going to Moldova – “Good Luck, Don’t Die, Have Fun, Don’t Get Arrested.”

To my Grandmother – “I have been wearing sunscreen and bug spray. I promise to only do one foolish

thing a day”

To Sam Wright – “Sorry about the soldering iron. Not sure what happened.”

Finally, to all those reading this blog thank you for your prayers and support. We could not be doing this without you.