Azonto, azonto, azontooo

Saturday, Auntie Joe was gone and the whole compound felt quiet.  It was strange. You know the feeling when your parents leave for the weekend and you have the place to yourself? That’s kinda what it felt like. Auntie Joe is ALWAYS around.

Stephanie came over with Belinda in the morning. She usually follows her around for a couple hours on the weekends in the morning since she doesn’t have school. (Stephanie is the bofroot lady’s daughter). I took her by the hand to go buy some bofroot and they had some music playing from their phone (the traditional African song, Azonto, you should google it). The kids are all fantastic at dancing to it! Stephanie showed me how well she could dance to it too, it was super cute.

Auntie Essi, the bofroot lady, said that she wanted to come to literacy classes next session. I encouraged her to come out. She knows some English but it’s pretty broken, so I told her that the new interns would be here on April 30^th and that May 1^st would be the registration for the new classes. She told me she wouldn’t have any use for learning English and that the certificate would only help her to sell bofroot. Then she laughed and said she would come. I really hope she does!

Kujo came over in the afternoon because it was the last time we would see him before we go. It is so sad; we are already having to say goodbyes. He was supposed to come over the evening before, but it got a little dark and he has a motorbike and said and I quote, “I didn’t want to come in the dark. It’s a two-legged one, the thing that I drive, so it would be bad. You could slip on some small small stones and be down.” Kujo, since he is a  teacher, is finishing up a course at a University about 7 hours away and will be gone until May 6^th, which is the day after we leave. It’s too bad.

Kujo will be missed big time! He was so helpful all the time; he always came to the school to help out during classes, he organizes the whole program with Mary from here since she can’t always be here, he took us to Koferidua to renew our Visa’s even though he was supposed to teach that day, and he invited us into his home more than once to visit, eat his wife’s cooking, and to play with the kids in his compound. He was so welcoming and so friendly and we really appreciated everything he did for us! So thank you, Kujo!!! We will miss you.

It’s kind of scary that we had to say goodbye to him already, it just hits us harder that we are so close to going home. It’s scary. Auntie Joe talked to us about that today too and I am for SURE going to cry when I say goodbye to her. She is like my mom and today she told me she would adopt me if I wanted to stay here since she “only had 2 daughters and she needed more.”

At the market there is a girl who sells onions who often likes us to stop by and chat with her. She has pretty decent English, so it’s not too bad to take a few minutes to talk with her. On Saturday she decided that she would come with us when we go to Canada. She has some pretty large boobs and she decided to push them together in her SUPER low-cut shirt saying that the “boys in Canada, they will LOVE me. I will say, HEY Obruni, I love you and then they will see my breasts, just look at my breasts, they will want them.” I couldn’t help but laugh super loud at her and explain to her that she can’t come to Canada and call people by their skin colour, or tell random people that she loves them and expect them to be accepting, OR shove her boobs in people’s faces and expect proposals...although that last one is more likely than the others...

It actually baffles my mind at how huge the women’s boobs are here! I saw a billboard for a lingerie store that advertised having bras up to cupsize K. K!? HOLY CRAP! You would have to pay big bucks and have bra specially made to fit your boobs if you were that big in Canada. YIKES. No wonder their boobs droop so easily!

On Sunday, we didn’t go to church. Auntie Joe was still traveling and she said that we could just stay home and rest. Thank goodness. It has nothing to do with church in general, but some time away from Ghanaian church was welcomed after last weekend when we had to go to 3 services in 4 days.

We have been here for 3 months already and Yaa is JUST learning our names now. There are some...reasons...as to why she hasn’t yet, but she is pretty excited that she can remember them now. Instead of shouting “Obruni” through the window, she now yells, “CARO! PEEECHA!” It’s pretty cute.

Sunday afternoon she had a friend over and I didn’t realize that there was anyone else there. Yaa called me over to the door and I was wearing my bra and little shorts. Petra and I generally don’t wear much more than that around the house since it’s so hot and Belinda doesn’t care, Yaa doesn’t care, and Auntie Joe just laughs at us. At least her friend was a girl and not a random guy. Whoops.

I had class later in the afternoon. Cynthia wasn’t too too late this time, but Anita couldn’t make it at all. Cynthia and I learned SO much. I asked her to speak at graduation to the level 2 literacy women about why they should continue on and take the business class. She came up with the following paragraph that she will read next Wednesday:

“I am Cynthia Ador and in 2011 I started the level II classes and I graduated in November. I am a market woman. I do my own job. I think I have to know more about business and keep practicing my English so that I will be a great business woman in the future. There is no other way that you can achieve your goals than to keep learning and practicing.

Being in the business classes helps me to know more about business, how to keep records, how to care for my customers, and how to know when I am losing money or making a profit.

The business classes have helped me to practice good English. I am urging all women to devote their time and everything to become stars. Thank you.”

SHE WROTE THAT ALL ON HER OWN! I am so proud of her.

We learnt about balance sheets and income statements and how they can be the result of good record keeping. She fully understood the difference between the two and even understood the concept that the balance sheet had to have Assets and Liabilities that balanced. She even learnt how to make her own and memorized the different components of each statement!

She is learning SO much and I am so unbelievably proud of her. I don’t think I can say that enough.

After class, I went with Cynthia to her house. She had invited me and wanted me to see where she lives. She has a small apartment that she and her 3 boys share. They have one bed, a simple mattress on the floor for all of them, in their one room “house.” A little TV in the corner that sits on a stool, their clothes sit in another corner, and her dishes in another. It is tiny, and yet it is just enough for her and her small family.

Cynthia has some news that she said she was okay with me sharing. She is expecting a baby. Actually, she is expecting a baby on MY BIRTHDAY! September 11^th is the due date, she is 4 months along. She showed me the ultrasound picture of her baby that she is going to name, Aseda, whether it’s a boy or a girl, because it means a “blessing from God.”

She has a difficult family situation and she will be going through some tough times in the next few months as people start to find out that she is pregnant. She is asking for your support through prayer so that she may have strength to withstand anything that comes her way. She is excited about this baby, but nervous about what people may say as she is not married right now.

I think we can learn a lot from her. All you can do is pray and rely on God to help you get through the hardest times. Cynthia said this to me, “I know that people will talk, and I know that people will hurt my feelings, but this baby is a blessing from God; it is God’s will. This hard time will only be one chapter in the story of my life and I know that I will get through it and I will have this beautiful son or daughter to remind me that God is good.”

Cynthia is a beautiful woman, and I fully support her. I am so so very proud of her.