Made It to Tefle!

I arrived here in Tefle sometime this afternoon. Everyone was so excited that I was back! Many believed I would not come. One woman, a mother of five was rolling around on the floor in my house, yelling her excitement in the Ewe language-a bit much but I laughed along, grateful that my presence was special to these people.

In their excitement and happiness they stood around and watched everything I did with cute grins on their faces, the youngest was two years old and the oldest was 40. They also helped me fetch water and stuck around to talk (with whatever English they could) with me as I washed all of my dishes and placed them in my house/room.

I shared some strawberry marshmallows with all who were present and they were definitely a hit. Figured those should be the first thing to go as they'd likely melt in the heat. Although the heat really hasn't been that bad. The highs have been in the 90s and the lows in the 70s. Sounds hot but I think I only broke a sweat one day. It's definitely a different 90 and 70 than what South Texas is used to.

The house I'm staying in is not the same one that I stayed in last year. I had hoped to have the same house because it was adjacent to my friends and they could listen and look out for me and because the windows had screens on them. I am now in a bigger room that actually has a couch, a desk, a bench, and plenty of other furniture in it, however there are no screens on the windows, keeping out mosquitoes and other pests. One thing that totally warmed my heart was seeing how my neighbor, Teresa, had sewn curtains for me for two windows and a door. She also swept and scrubbed the floor for me and did all of this before I even arrived. She is one special lady.

I look around and I see that God is so good. Yes there is pain in this world. Yes there is injustice. Yes there are so many questions...but in it all, God's goodness reigns, if we will only open our eyes to see!

Tomorrow I will spend the morning washing clothes (yes, by hand; no, not with a washboard) and in the afternoon I will go to the market, greet my friends there and then purchase some food items and household items.

Wednesday I am hoping to pop in at the school. One major difficulty I've seen with many here is the ability to recognize patterns. That doesn't sound like anything major until we realize that this is a part of learning almost every academic area. Reading is my primary focus and people will have a hard time reading if they cannot recognize patterns in words and sounds. I am hoping to share some fun games that encourage those involved to recognize and remember patterns. It is mid-term exam week so we will see what will take place!

Every year I forget how exhausting the trip to Ghana is and how long it takes me to recuperate. Hopefully within the next few days I'll be back up to speed!

As we drove into the Tefle area, I had that feeling of "Oh it's good to be home!"

The only sad thing, which I expected, is my son Kwesi did not remember how tight we were. In fact, he was scared of me the first four or five hours I was here. I think he's coming around though! ;)

Looking forward to discipleship opportunities. Still need to make it out to Avagoeme but that may happen after the holidays. Prayers are needed and appreciated!

Love,

Sandra