Beds and braids

Saturday, June 20, 2009 - Ghana Adventure Day 15
More of today's photos in slideshow section 2 - click HERE to view.
(back-dated post completed December 30)

This morning, our main priority was a visit to Auntie E's house - Auntie E is the very sweet foster mother who had taken care of Akos. Sadly, the recent rainstorm that was going on during our drive to Cape Coast resulted in such flooding in her area that her home was filled with sewage-filled floodwater. The mattress, which was on the floor, was soaked and unusable. So, we went in search of a bedframe and mattress for her. ( I had also brought a mosquito net I had purchased before the trip.) As with most things here, the beds are bought along the roadside. With Uncle P's help, as always, we found a foam mattress at a roadside stand that was just right. Right nearby was a furniture shop. The talented craftsman who makes the furniture was very nice, and was hard at work polishing his latest piece. His work is just beautiful - astounding what he can do without benefit of any power tools at all! His workshop was a dingy place, and I had a hard time imagining how he creates such quality furniture in a place like this. Such hard work, and he asks very little for it. Solid wood full-size headboard, footboard, frame sides, and support slats for 95 cedis - that's less than $70! Not a fair price for him at all, I thought, so we added some extra.

Lydia fell in love with an emaciated kitten at the mattress stand, but Akos didn't want much to do with it. Lydia wished we could bring it home with us or at least to the hotel, but we had to accept that we couldn't help it. Obviously, it wouldn't pass customs, and as much as we adore animals, in a place like this where the people don't have enough to eat, trying to feed a pet would be a true hardship. Uncle P asssured Lydia that someone must be helping the kitten at least a little, or he wouldn't be hanging around there, and that the best for him was to leave him there.

Our visit with Auntie E went well. She was moved to tears by the new bed, mattress and netting. We helped get everything set up for her, and felt so thankful that we had been able to help her in this way. We visited with the other foster children in her care - two of whom are Constance and Jonathan, whose adoptive mom we'll meet Sunday. We took photos for the Padillas, for which they were very grateful. I think they are adopting a couple of wonderful children! There is one little boy at Auntie P's who is convinced that Uncle P is going to be his daddy - he sobs whenever Uncle P has to leave - just heartbreaking. None of the kids wanted to see him go - they love him, and he clearly loves them, too.

After we returned to the hotel, it was time for Akos to get her new braids. The price was unimaginably low - it took 6 hours, with very tiny braids, and we were only charged 11 cedis! It looks very nice, but Akos was uncomfortable during the braiding session. She was quiet and hardly said a word, but crying later because the braids hurt so much. I had no idea it was a painful thing at all - I felt so bad for her. We gave her some ibuprofen, which helped a little, but the salon staff had told us that it would be much better in a few days.

By the time the braiding was over, we were all far too exhausted for dinner, and just went straight to bed. Whew - what a long day!