Day Five - Wednesday, January 23

There is a house just on the other side of the wall from the guest house. As far as I can tell, there is a family of four living there plus one other lady who I think is a relative. The kids go to school at the Home and dad leaves each morning for some sort of work. The ladies work at home all day and generally ignored my existence.

But they also had a rooster.

The power was out when we went to bed the night before and, while the rain had caused the temperature to drop, the room was still sweltering and the fan was not working. I had laid Hugo down in his bed then opened the window right next to my bunk. The breeze was very refreshing and after making sure the fan was switched to the on position in case the power was restored, I drifted off to sleep. (Side note: one time the power was out and I forgot that the light switch was in the on position. In the middle of the night, the power returned and the overhead light woke us up.)

At 1 a.m., Hugo tapped my arm. He frequently woke up in the middle of the night and came looking for me. One of the caretakers at the Home said he often fell asleep in his own bed and woke up in one of the big kids' beds so this was no surprise. I carried him back to his bed.

At 3 a.m., the neighbors' rooster started crowing. Another rooster, about 100 yards away, made a decent effort at keeping up. Since the window was open and the fan was not on to create any white noise, Hugo and I were both awake listening to the bird shout for all he was worth.

I tried for awhile to get him back to sleep and just when he was starting to look sleepy, the thunder started. The last of the rain storm rolled through with lots of commotion. Hugo was not afraid of the thunder but it must have interested him because every time it would boom, he would sit up, say something I didn't understand, and lay his head back down. He was finally back to sleep at four and I climbed back into the bunk.

At 6 a.m., he was tapping on my arm again.

I found that if I moved over and made room for him to climb in with me, then basically ignored him, he would play on or around me and I could snooze for a little longer. I could hear him playing with his ball, flipping the switches on the outlet covers, and talking to inanimate objects.

When we finally got up and around, Jacob told me it was time for morning bath. Morning AND evening bath? I decided right then and there this kid was NOT getting this many baths at home. I mean, sheesh, he practically squeaks.

This time the bather was a lady named Grace who has been Hugo's primary caregiver while he has been at the Home. We met Grace during the last visit and she was very sweet. On the day we had to leave Hugo behind and return home, Grace noticed our emotional departure and made a point to comfort Rebekah. Watching her thoroughly clean Hugo reminded me that Grace appeared in one of the very first pictures we received when we first got his referral. Kelsey had traveled to Ghana just after we got Hugo's file and she took a picture of him at bath time. Sure enough, it was Grace in that picture too. Even then, and especially now in the flesh, it was easy to see that Grace was kind and loving but didn't take any tomfoolery from the kids. Hugo followed her instructions perfectly and already knew when to stand, when to squat, when to turn around, etc. It was fun to watch.

I wanted to get a picture of Grace since she was the closest thing to a mother that Hugo has had while he lived at the Home. I hurried back to the guest house for the camera then found Grace again. She consented to a picture but insisted that I wait until she covered her hair and made herself presentable. She asked a few questions about what I was doing with Hugo. When I explained that I was taking him home in a few days, she smiled but I think she was a little sad.

I stuck around for assembly and saw that Linda was still wearing her necklace. I also saw the director's daughter for the first time on this trip. We met her last time and it was nice to see her again. Hugo and I went back to the house for breakfast then tried to go for a walk. About 100 yards into our attempted walk, Hugo was fast asleep.

We really had nothing to do today except play and that's what we did. Exploring, playing with the ball, scooter fun. I even tried for a long time to get him a little closer to the goat but was ultimately unsuccessful. There was one very exciting moment though.

Jacob was doing some chores outside the house with a friend when suddenly both boys screamed and grabbed for any weapon they could find. Jacob held a stick and his friend was wielding a shovel. I went to see what the target of their sudden concern was and found out that they had seen a snake. Not knowing what kind of snakes reside in Ghana, I picked up Hugo right away. The boys kicked at stones and weeds until the snake was finally flushed out of its hiding place. It was about two feet long, striped the length of its body, and it was fast. The boys tried in vain to kill it but were hindered by the fact that they were terrified of it. It slipped under a stone that covered the drainage pipes from the house. When we moved the stone, the snake was gone and the only place it could be hiding was in the drainage pipes that led to the guest house. I sent Rebekah a text asking about Ghanaian snakes. She responded that there were plenty of life-threatening ones. I decided to shake the sheets before climbing into bed that night.

The only other thing to report for day five is related to the band. Spott's music center donated a bag of instrument repair and maintenance supplies. I took them over to the Home after dinner and started showing some of the kids how to use them. Pretty soon, every instrument was out and dismantled. With the help of about seven band members, I cleaned and did basic maintenance on seven trumpets, four trombones, and two baritones. We got things operating much better but the entire process made something very clear - these kids need new instruments. There are broken braces, stuck slides, missing corks, and tons of dents. A conservative guess is that the instruments' average age is about 40.

If you are reading this and have about $10,000 to spare, contact me. I'd love to work with an interested donor to get new instruments for those kids. It would change their lives. Music is a powerful part of life in Ghana and the children at the Home are in need of some updated things.

I went to bed that night excited about Thursday. That was when Hugo and I would be traveling to see William, our Compassion child.