Day Eight - Sunday, September 30

Hugo slept through the night and woke up at 5:20 when Jacob began his morning chores. Jacob has been an absolute delight for us. He is seventeen years old and we learned that he has lived at the orphanage for the past four years. He completed school and has stayed around to work. It is clear that he is highly regarded because he is given an enormous amount of responsibility. We learned that he is leaving soon to attend high school (kind of like a boarding/prep school for university) and is hoping to go on to study economics in college. I'm not sure how realistic his hopes are but I think he is capable of just about anything. How I wish we could bring him here to study.

Breakfast was later than usual so we played outside for awhile. The laundry was still damp from the day before because it is just so humid here. We decided to give it more time. Meanwhile, I heard someone drumming and went to investigate. Behind the rear wall of the compound is a canopy made of wooden poles and pieces of corrugated metal. Under the canopy were several empty chairs and benches and one man playing two drums. They were shaped like congas (I'm sure they have a different name here) and he was playing them with bent sticks. When he saw me watching, he started showing off a bit:

After breakfast the morning was slow and relaxing. The power went out early and would be out for most of the day. Hugo had an early nap and we had one too. When he woke up, he and I sneaked out and let Rebekah sleep for awhile. We played a game of Boardrocks (like basketball except that instead of throwing a ball into a basket, we threw rocks onto a board...hence Boardrocks). Half the fun of the game was in collecting the rocks. I showed him how to carry lots of them at once by folding the bottom edge of his shirt upward and using it as a bag. He had apparently never thought of this before and really loved it. He wanted to put everything in there. We'd gather 30 rocks or so and then pitch them at this old board that was sitting about fifteen feet away. He has a pretty good arm for a little guy and would cheer for himself every time he hit it. He is going to LOVE Henry. The sun was out and blazing but the Laundry was still wet.

The drummer who was practicing earlier was now playing in a full blown church service under the canopy. Many more people had arrived and were singing harmonized a cappella songs with occasional drums and shakers. It was exactly as I had imagined authentic African music to sound like so Hugo and I went to wake up Rebekah so she wouldn't miss it. The pastor arrived in long, white and red robes (amazing to me since the service was outside and it was at least 90 degrees) and the service got very loud. The laundry was still not dry so we went for a walk.

We only made it as far as the orphanage because as we passed by, the director was standing at the front gate and invited us in for church. We joined several dozen kids huddled under a tent while the director's husband taught about giving to others what the Lord has given to us. He gave several examples from the Scriptures and also from his own experiences. He often said, "Praise the Lord!" to which the kids would answer, "Hallelujah!" This would always be immediately followed by him saying, "Amen" and the kids answering the same.

Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Amen! Amen!

Our thoughts exactly.

We sang some songs together and when I raised my hands in worship, some of the kids around me laughed and picked at my armpit hair. Gross. Hugo was riding on Rebekah's back and a few of the kids sitting around us kept slipping him snacks.

One of the most humbling moments of the entire trip was when the teacher would encourage the kids to pray for certain people. He would mention someone specifically and why we should pray for them and then the kids would spend a minute or two praying aloud for that person. The prayers were always for blessing. Then he asked the kids to pray for us. We were floored and didn't really know what to say. Here were these kids asking the Lord to bless us - we who have more in one drawer of our dresser than these kids have had in their whole lives. We were blessed alright.

After church, I got into another music conversation with one of the trumpet players. This time, he showed me his music book and I finally found a way to convince them that I was a music teacher. As it turns out, they don't read traditionally notated music. Rather, they read solfege (pronounced SOL-fej - sorta). If you're not a music person, I apologize because this part might get a little boring. I, however, was completely excited.

To understand solfege, think "Doe a deer, a female deer" from Sound of Music. It is a system of substituting syllables for pitches in a scale. Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do is how you write a major scale and it can be applied to any key (start on La for minor scales). The kids knew how to play the fingerings and trombone slide positions for the keys of concert Eb and F. Using that knowledge, the "music" in their books was written out in solfege and they were really good at singing and understanding it.

I told them that I knew how to use solfege and they challenged me to sing a song (ironically it was The Lion Sleeps Tonight - their request) using the syllables. Do Re Mi Re Mi Fa Mi Re Do Re Mi Re Do Mi Re...they just stared at me for awhile then asked if I could write them more songs. I said I would.

We left the orphanage and finished our walk. Along the way, we saw a sign advertising the church we had seen behind the guest house this morning. Check out the picture and pay close attention to the service times:

Yes, that does say 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Fridays and they used every minute of it.

Hugo had an afternoon nap and I worked on the music for the musicians. I used a standard notebook that all elementary school students use and wrote two-part arrangements of eight different songs, all in solfege. Amazing Grace, Jesus Loves Me, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, Cherokee (my school's fight song), some Christmas songs and a few others. I tried to use the same system that was used in the music books they already had - the dashes indicate longer notes. It was crude but it made sense.

We headed back to the orphanage and there was some sort of dancing class going on. It was fascinating to us but it must have been a regular occurrence because there were several kids sleeping right near where the dance was going on. Some very loud drummers were playing a complex rhythm while boys and girls both learned the dance. The dance instructor seemed to be a little harsh but I think it was all a ruse since the dancers were all smiles even when they were being scolded. We also noticed that the boys had finally gotten the stump out of the ground and had filled in the hole. It had taken them a day and a half to complete a job that a chainsaw could have done in a few minutes. We were proud of them though and complemented them on their hard work.

I caught one of the trumpet guys and showed them the music I had written. They instantly went for their instruments and dragged Rebekah and I into a classroom to help them learn it. Rebekah transferred the music to the chalkboard so everyone could see it and I got to run a band rehearsal! A band rehearsal in Ghana! I didn't see that coming. I wrote in fingerings and slide positions to make sure everyone knew what they were doing. They also made me sing and play for them over and over. It took them awhile but they eventually got it. We were so pleased and they finally started to accept us a friends. They learned Jesus Loves Me and Amazing Grace. It was awesome.

I think it really pleased the orphanage director as well. Part way through the rehearsal she showed up in the classroom to see what was going on. She was carrying a plate of treats she had made and before we could react she had popped one directly into each of our mouths. They were tan and looked like little nuggets of dried mud. Actually, they were a mixture of ground peanuts, ginger, and peppers. They were tasty and extremely spicy. Like melt your face spicy. We didn't want to hurt her feelings by refusing, and we were so pleased that we were making headway in the friendship department, so we ate several more. Yikes! On her way out the door, she pulled Charlotte aside and I heard her say, "Keep them here as long as you can." We stayed until it got dark and no one could see the chalkboard anymore.

We ate dinner back at the house - in the dark because the power was still out from this morning - then return to the orphanage. It was completely dark there so the band rehearsal was over but the boys were still around. Now that they liked us, they didn't want to leave our side. We sat on a set of steps and these teenage boys practically hung all over us. It was like they wanted to cuddle. Did you ever meet a really big dog that thought it could fit on your lap? It was like that. I had one kid snuggled up on either side of me, another hanging on my back, and at least two more sitting right at my feet. Rebekah was similarly adorned with children. We took turns singing songs to each other and it was a really sweet time.

As we were walking back to the house for bed, the power finally came back on and a cheer went up from the whole community. It had been a good day.

And the laundry was finally dry. Most of it anyway.