continued...
Machete swinging: The main attraction of the week? Planting cassava! Farming was the agreed upon economic project for the village: 40 planned acres of cassava, which is a root-like starch that tastes similar to a raw potato. We spent time clearing the designated area of trees, brush, and thorn bushes, then waited for a tractor to come plow the field. I will say that farming in Ghana is much different than in America. Where we would plant in neat, clean little rows, the plowing was much more hap-hazard… stump-dodging and grass-cluttered dirt, complete with large mice and scorpions. Awesome. But we worked in the field a little each day and then finally were ready to plant on Monday morning. While I loved the time with the kids, I honestly felt a little more in my element in the field. Country girl returning to her roots! The Ghanaian men came out to work alongside us and teach us how to plant and chop the cassava sticks. It was one of those "I just got chills" moments as I looked through the lens of my camera and saw Ghanaians and Americans working together in the field on MP's first project. SO very cool. Even cooler than getting to swing a machete! 
Sunday church: I've mentioned in the past about the amazing church services we've gotten to attend. This time around was perhaps the largest one I've been to; two churches on the island combined to worship with the Americans and to hear Osofu Nah-Nah Yaw preach about Heaven. The gratitude of who we would deem "the poorest of poor" is staggering. The people thanked us over and over, but it was our team that received the gift of pure worship that morning. One thing I noticed was during the offering: after someone placed a few coins in the collection box, a few others would subtly take it back out and share with another individual or child who would go up and put it right back in the box. For those who weren't able to give that week, they were still able to take part. "And they shared everything they had…" I wonder what would happen if someone did that during a church service here in America.
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