Home again tomorrow.

Deon has come back and we are so pleased to have his company again.  Other than that, I have been playing with Buddy and that's about all.

I have only got news of Buddy; sorry to harp on about him but he is my friend.

When we take him in the vehicle, he either stands with his front legs on my window ledge with his back legs on my lap and me holding his leg and his tail in case he falls out, or he climbs behind Porks and looks out the window over his shoulder.

He has a toy box that is filled with bits of wood, sticks, toilet roll holders, balls, rope, bits of plastic, empty cold drink cans and anything that can be chewed, torn and destroyed.  It is sometimes left on the dining room table when the floors are cleaned and then Buddy will stare at it in the hopes that it will miraculously come down or that we will notice and take it down for him.

Then he has access to any of the toys he chooses.

Buddy goes visiting every day and even brings some dodgy friends home sometimes.  I don't always approve of some of his mates but I can't be too judgemental as there is not much choice here in Bantama. Mmmm, some people's children!

 

 

 

 

This feisty little chap arrived one day and although he was tiny, he had the heart of a lion.  He was so spirited that I could not believe that he was a puppy.  

I gave them a few dog treats to share.

 Then they drank some water.  Buddy has been brought up to be kind, empathetic and generous.

This tiny hound had a wound on his head that was fly infested, so I'll be bringing back some animal wound spray from SA to try and help this little fellow and for Buddy if he ever gets injured.

Buddy was thrilled to play with him, and the little fellow chased Buddy around the house, much to Buddy's delight.   

Buddy sleeps outside in the evenings.  If it starts to rain in the middle of the night, I get up, bring in his blanky and open the veranda gate to let him sleep where its dry. Because he won't have his mother around for the next month or so, he would probably have ended up sleeping in the rain and that would have worried me......so.....
...I asked very nicely and this little Buddy house arrived. 

We put plastic over the roof to keep him even drier, placed a blanket on the floor and he now sleeps very comfortably no matter what the weather.

I added a picture from my calendar to personalise it a little and to make him feel at home.

 

I travel home tomorrow, Tuesday, and all being well, arrive in good old South Africa on Wednesday morning.  I still haven't received my passport which has had to have an extension stamped in it, so I'm hoping that it will be ready tomorrow in Kumasi and I am able to go home.  Porks flies home in early July and then we fly back to Ghana together on the 15th.

Thank you all again for your love, support and encouragement, I honestly couldn't do this without you!

This has been a long stint and its time now.

 

 

Catch Up

There has not been anything interesting happening so there has been nothing new to tell you.  Deon has come, gone, come and gone again.  Hans has been and is coming again next week.  We have had Ian, Arno and the other South African men for supper but you know what they look like by now, so no new photos.  Deon comes back the week after next. 

 

Buddy has become a gentle, obedient dog unless we get visitors, then he behaves like ones young children behave when one wants to show them off to ones guests.  He has the cutest way of greeting us or when letting me know he is happy. When I pick up his bowl and say "Is it supper time, Buds?", he puckers his hairy little lips, flattens his ears back and emits a low "arrrrrrrrrrrr". We still miss and get sad about Gundi but Buds has filled the loneliness and day to day monotony for me.

 

The company houses have got security guards to stop non-company vehicles entering the premises. They have hung a length of rope with plastic packets tied on it to warn one of the road block.  The guards have ingeniously also erected a tent for inclement weather.

We have, on occasion, taken Buddy for a walk in the forest.   He still prefers to walk in the shade as the sun, even at 9 o'clock in the morning, has heated the sand to where he cannot walk comfortably.  He runs along the road, trying to find any little bit of shrubbery or shade where he can cool his paws.

On our way back from tomato shopping the other day, we saw this unusual sign on the back of the truck.  In a land where God is revered, it seemed strange until we drove closer.

Then it made sense.

Buddy thoroughly enjoys going with us on our drives to see how the workers are doing over the weekends when Porks is not officially working. 

 

Last Sunday, while Porks was checking up on the blanking, we came across a small fire with this huge one and a half metre puff adder being smoked.

 

 

 

The workers were on their way home and we asked to see the snake that they had cooked over the coals.

 

Porks and I tentatively had a nibble and it was unexpectedly tasty!  It had the smokiness of the fire, the taste of sweet chicken and the texture of dried biltong . I wonder who has been watching Master Chef?   This is officially the strangest thing I have ever eaten.

 

My little boy still finds strange positions to lie in and yet sleeps very comfortably.  Funny little chap.

I travel back to the much longed for South African Winter in just over two weeks. I am going a little earlier than expected as I have a 40th high school reunion.  I cannot wait to catch up with my special friends and to be with my darling children again. Porks joins me in early July and we fly back to Ghana together in mid-July.  Until then, please take care and Shannie hugs to you all.

Easter

Buddy spends hours outside our gate now interacting with the animals that wander past; goats, sheep, chickens and other confused dogs.  He is desperate to play and his little tail goes nineteen to the dozen trying to communicate his intentions.  The other dogs stand stoically not moving a hair. He goes down on his front legs buttocks in the air and then gallops clumsily around and around them.  They stand dead still heads held high with expressions of exasperation and contempt on their faces.  To his delight some of them eventually relent. 

There was a huge party one Sunday with loud happy music and much dancing under the Mango tree next to our house.  When we asked what the occasion was we were told that the hairdressers have completed their certificates.  Any excuse for a celebration and entertainment in this happy, happy village.

We gave these brightly clothed ladies a lift.  Ghanaian fabric is eye catching and colourful.

This old gentleman looks as if he is scowling but when he smiled his face lit up.  I showed him this photo and he just beamed and his eyes twinkled.  This is the sort of character that artists would love to sketch.

Deon bought some meat for us from Kumasi and it will be quite interesting in the coming years to be reminded about the Cedi prices we paid in 2014.  One Cedi at this time is approximately equal to five Rand.

.

 

We bought a pineapple in Atebubu and placed it on the back of the truck on the way home.  By the time we arrived at the house about thirty minutes later, the metal of the bin had burned the fruit where it had been touching.

 

Arno is a gentle man and loves his pets.  He has raised chickens and ducks and is proud of the way that they have reproduced and grown.  Here is "Genevieva", her name makes me smile every time, and her seven little chicks.

On the way back from Kwame Danso we were wondering what was balancing on top of this heavily loaded bus.

As we got closer it became clear.

Ek dink hy was so bang. Dit maak my hart baie seer.

 

Lots of you were interested in how we were going to celebrate Easter.  We invited Arno, Lucas and Ian around for a happy and fun filled lunch on Easter Sunday. 

Ian had just been in South Africa for a few weeks and he surprised us each with a marshmallow egg!

 

There is a delightful guard, Adamoo, that looks after the "trial" trees on the way to Atebubu.  Every time we drive past he is there and when we hoot to greet him, we are given a hearty double handed wave.  We bought some bananas for him. He smiled at us with glee.

 Duze tengile apula!

Happy Birthday Me

 

I felt so very loved yesterday.  The many wishes by telephone, on face book, whats app, bbm and email made my day very special and close to you all even though we are so far away.

 

 

Hans arrived with some embroidery that I had asked for as well as a present for Buddy.  He came for dinner with Deon and Grant Slattery from Kloof who is here for just over a week to help the company put accountancy programmes in place. 

 

Grant and Me

 

I had asked Kelly to send up another chew bone or two for Buddy.  He has finished the small first one that we had bought.  This kept him quiet while we were having dinner and by the size of it, I'm sure for many hours to come.

 

 

Thank you all for making me feel so special.

Bits n Buds

It has been SO frustrating these past few weeks because of an erratic Internet. It has taken ages to download, or is it upload, photos.  I have felt so disconnected. Sorry for me.

 

Remember we saw all those thousands of bats at sunset in Accra? Well, when we were at Dave's house in Accra I was looking through a book that his sister had produced about her holiday in Ghana and found this information on them.  Read this, its interesting.

 

 

In one of the plantations we found this huge termite mound.  Porks estimates that its about 5 metres tall.

Remember the chewing stick tree that I showed you?  These are "toothbrushes" that Emma is holding.  She bought this bunch for 1 Cedi to give to her friends in her class in South Africa.

 It was Independence Day again on the 6th March.  We had witnessed the marchers and soldiers last year but took the von Beneckes to Kwame Danso to view the show.

During the show, the "Zoomlion" cleaners were working diligently at keeping the parade ground clean and tidy. Impressive.

 The community was not at all interested in Porks and Deon.

 All eyes were on the ladies.

 

 

Wherever we go a crowd forms and surrounds us.  If we move off then the whole circle just follows us again, giving a new meaning to Pied Piper, Haze!  They are not looking at me because I am taking the photograph, I am taking the photograph because they are looking at me!

 

This is Tony's daughter, Cynthia, and her tiny little grandmother.  He estimates her age is between 70 and 80 years but there is no birth certificate to verify her exact age. What a worker!  I noticed that she was squinting when she tried to see us, so I gave her my spare reading glasses, hopefully they are helpful.  

 

It was Piet Moolman's last night and we were invited to Deon and Roz's house for a farewell dinner for him.  We gave him a lift home and Buddy went on the back of the truck with him. 

   

Our local Lotto stall in Kwame Danso.

Water is sold in little plastic packets in every street in every village on every corner.  Some enterprising person has collected these packets and sewn them together to make bags.

Theresa who worked for me last year has had her second child, a little girl called Sarah.   

Men come and go in this place and we are lucky to meet new and interesting people.  We have a new member of our team for 10 weeks.  Lucas Marx, 20 years old, from Germany is a volunteer.  He is here to learn about companies and marketing.  He first went to Cape Town, Gansbaai, for 5 weeks, then to a Ghanaian family in Accra for 2 months.  He is originally from Munich but has been in Canada for three years so speaks with a Canadian/German accent.  He is well mannered, well spoken, helpful and has a lovely sense of humour. I wrote to his mother to compliment her on his upbringing. 

A little pub in Atebubu.  Madiba is an icon in this country and when people ask us from which country we originate and we reply "South Africa", they say "Ohhhhh, Mandela!"

 

 

We bought a loaf of bread in Atebubu with Ghanaian colours!

  

I had the privilege and honour of looking after and Emma while Deon and Roz went to Kumasi.  I couldn't ask for two more wonderful little girls to be my companions.  They are helpful, well mannered, mature, funny and kind.  We spent the first few hours at our house and then went to their house where they were perfect hostesses. Wow! What a wonderful job Deon and Roz have done! (Excuse the dirty window!)

 

On the way to their house on the back of the truck.

There are too many people and too few vehicles, so sometimes Porks has to come home for lunch in THIS! 

 

One Sunday, because we didn't have a vehicle and weren't able to raise anyone on the mobile phones, we decided to walk to the office to  collect a vehicle.  I took water and a bowl for Buddy so that he could drink along the way.  It is over 3 kms on a dirt road and just after we started, we noticed he would dash off into the bush at every opportunity to try and find some shade. 

 

I would then go to the shade and give him water and he would lap it up thirstily.  We would continue to walk and he would run after us either banging into my legs or running into the bush to look for more shade. 

I then gave him some water on the side of the road in the sun and noticed that he couldn't keep his feet still whilst drinking.  We then realised that it wasn't only because he was hot that he was trying to find shade, it was because his paws were burning.  He was acting like humans act when they run barefoot on hot beach sand.  Poor little thing. If he could have said "Ow ow ow!" I'm sure he would have.
The skinny Ghanaian dogs run along the road with their tongues hanging out and don't seem to feel the heat.  Our little chap is so delicate!
                                                                 So I carried him!

Ghanaians don't nurture their dogs let alone feed them. They have to fend for themselves and find scraps. So to see an obruni carrying a dog was just hysterical for the five Bantamanians who rode past us and nearly fell off their bicycles pointing and laughing.  It was probably as amusing to them as when we see goats on the top of taxis or on the back of a motor bike!

 

I put him down and let him walk a bit and he walked right up against my legs, bumping me, either to get into my tiny shadow or to ask me to please pick him up again.  Normally when I carry him he struggles and pushes himself against me to get down but this time he sat still.

 

When we got to the office, I turned on a tap and Buddy bathed gratefully and blissfully in the cool water and the mud.

 

 

I'm sure those eyes are saying "Thanks Mom!"

 

In the afternoons Buddy want to play and gets very energetic as most dogs do and after we have played for a bit and he has fetched his ball, he is panting and hot. He stands and stares into my eyes and I know what he wants.  I say "Do you want to swim, Buddy?" and he runs to the tap outside.  I switch it on and he drinks the warm water. Then, as the water is splashing in his eyes, he wipes his eyes alternatively with his front paws and runs underneath the tap backwards and forwards along the wall trying to cool down.  This little chap is the most spoilt dog in Ghana. 

 

 

 

The local children come past our gate and call "Buddy, Buddy, Buddy" and he goes to them to play.  I have never seen any affection shown to the Ghanaian dogs, so this must be a new experience for these children too.

He is so pampered and spoilt that he even urinates like a girl!

 

 

It was our Kelly's birthday on the 2nd April and I so wanted to get this post out in time to say happy birthday but the Internet has been so erratic these past few weeks and I have only managed to complete this post today. Sorry darling. We love and miss you and Andrew so much!

 

 

Sadly the girls in my camp and on my team have left to go back to South Africa.  Having an oestrogen overload was wonderful and I felt supported and understood.  Sharing female jokes and language was refreshing. No-one else here can speak "Girl".

Being the only foreign female in this remote village is challenging but I am grateful that Roz, Hannah and Emma were here for the 7 weeks.  Hopefully they'll be back for a month in July/August.

 

 These two precious little girls made us cards to say goodbye.  Hannah's card is on the left and Em's  "Buddy" card is on the right. So special, girls, thank you.

 

I asked them the inevitable question..."So, what have you learnt about yourself having lived here?" Hannah answered "That South Africa is much better than I thought," and Emma replied, "I now know that I can survive anywhere."