Home! Our team of 11 made it in yesterday morning from our excursion to Ghana. We had a wonderful trip... a great group of people, lots of laughs, a multitude of sweet African children, and the beginning of Mercy Project's beta economic development project. Many stories and (as always) many pictures to sort and edit. In the meantime, one thing that was really compelling this last week was July 4th. I've never really gotten too excited about the whole patriotic/fireworks/stars and stripes business.
There was this one time... when the Nickson cousins got a little TOO patriotic. We decorated Pop's golf cart and a moped to the hilt, and cruised the streets in the Lorenzo July 4th parade. We were pretty much celebrities. (Note the throngs of people in the third picture...)
Anyway, I sure wasn't concerned about missing the holiday on the trip, but Ghana actually celebrated the anniversary of their independence while we were there with a huge street party, so we got a little celebration time in. 300 Ghanaians dancing in the dirt street is a bit different than sparklers and fireworks! But I think our group members were all struck with the irony of the day in contrast to our work for the week. Independence was proclaimed while 7,000 fished on the lake... while we cleared land and planted for a better future for Ghanaian children... while we sat in a boat next to children who didn't know the meaning of the word.
Hopefully one day soon that will change.
Can't wait to read more about your trip. Always love reading your blog. Thanks for taking the time to so faithfully share your life with these sweet children and bless us as well. Love the pictures. Hadn't seen them in a long time. Will never forget that fourth and how it ended lol
Charissa
Thanks, Charissa; you're always so sweet to keep up. I thought you'd get a kick outta those pics! That fourth was indeed a weekend to remember.