September, 2011

September 6, 2011

I know, I’m slacking!  But the last couple of weeks have been rather great.  While I wouldn’t call them slow, they have been rather boring, which surprisingly was a nice change! 

Today we finally made it out to the Deseret Hospital.   This has been on our list for a while, but something always gets in the way and we don’t make it.  The Deseret Hospital was built and is owned by a member, Dr. Kissi.  He was one of the first members of the church here in Ghana and has written a book called “Footprints in the Sand” which is the story of the church’s beginning here.  I am about half-way through it and am finding it very fascinating! 

The reason for our visit started about a month ago, when we got a message from a sister in Utah.  Her stake is doing a fund-raiser and they want the money to go to Dr. Kissi and his hospital and they needed a go-between.  We were more than happy to accept!  How fun and what a great opportunity to do some good with the community. 

We had a dot on our map where the hospital was supposed to be, but it was in the middle of a very populated area and none of the streets had names, just many, many roads going every direction.  We did great though, drove right to it!  Thank you Holy Ghost?  The hospital is very, very busy and more of a clinic than a hospital.  They have Dr. Kissi and his wife, Sister Kissi who see patients and then a small lab and pharmacy.  Then in the back part of the hospital they have the child clinic.  They do maternity care and baby check-ups and boy was it busy!  Babies, babies and more babies-  most of them nursing, so lots and lots of breasts!  (The Ghanians are not shy about nursing, not in the least.  One friend jokingly states that he goes to a topless church, which somedays it feels like!)  The babies here are soooo cute!  Just completely adorable.  In the center of this room is a large hanging meat scale.  I figured that that was how they weighed the babies, but I was stumped as to how they actually accomplished it.  So I asked and they were more than happy to demonstrate!  They strip the baby naked, then slip him into this little set-up, kind of like a johny-jump up with a long loop at the top.  Then they hang the loop on the large scale hook and viola!  It was pretty ingenious.  They take what they got and make it work!

It was a pretty great trip, we saw lots and lots of needs.  We just need to know about how much money we are dealing with before we decide where it would be most beneficial. 

September 9, 2011

Things have been rather quiet here (thankfully and knock on wood!)  and Todd and I have developed a new favorite to our routine.  We head off to the office really early to avoid the traffic and we usually are done at the office about 2 to again, avoid the traffic.  So this puts us home about 2-3 in the afternoon, which is the perfect time to go swimming.  We have a pool in our complex and we very much enjoy a little 10-15 dip in the afternoon!  Just enough to cool off and unwind.  We have such a rough life! 

September 14, 2011

We officially have a KFC in Accra!  It just opened this last weekend and we were so excited.  Just a chance for a little taste of home.  So today we got together with some friends and headed over to try it out!  We did a temple session first, and Sister Froerer said she had a hard time staying focused, all she could think about was the chicken!  Todd and I had a few reservations, because most things down here and close, but they are always just a little off.  Would the Cornels chicken be the same?  We arrived and found the big red bucket and it sure looks like a KFC!  And boy did it smell like a KFC!  The menu was a little disappointing-  you have your choice of chicken (original or spicy) and your choice of coleslaw or French-fries.  But it was still very exciting.  And the chicken actually tasted like real KFC chicken!  It was hot and tender and juicy and very, very good!  They apparently import all the chicken, because the chicken here is, well, just a little bit off.  Very tough and chewy.  I missed the biscuits but over-all very much enjoyed having a little taste of home!