Our big adventure in Kumasi…

This week has been quite the adventure already!!

Hollie managed to get stranded down at the boat jetty in pouring rain with some fishermen, who then gave her some of their catch which lived in a bowl in our sink for a couple of hours because it was so fresh and she didnt want to kill it. but in the end she had no problem frying it up!!


On Tuesday, Andrew and I were heading off for Kumasi to do some shopping and sort out a few things…at the last minute Hollie and Rebecca decided to come along…later I was very glad to have their company!!

The first thing we did on arriving in Kumasi was to go to the little air field. Andrew had to confirm tickets to Accra and I had to buy a ticket to Accra. I figured this was the easiest way to get down to meet the team as I didn’t really fancy the thought of using STC (the bus link service!) So I’m sure that will be an interesting experience…a short trip in a small plane....i have to say im looking forward to it.

Hollie, Rebecca and I were stopped off at a local hotel-the Golden Tulip for a bit of a treat to relax by the pool and have a nice lunch. This was interrupted by a spatter of raindrops but that was fine we could cope with that, just to relax was nice. Andrew then came back to join us bringing some interesting news. Having been in contact with those back at the lake it turned out that there had been torrential rain there all afternoon and we were being strongly advised to remain in Kumasi for the night. If the rain is really bad the mud roads from Kumasi to Amakom can become impassable when they get really wet, often with large holes and ditches appearing in the road. So after some consideration and encouragement from those at the lake we decided not to go back and began to think about were we could stay for the night.
By this stage there was also torrential downpour in Kumasi which meant that the few things we still had to do were done inbetween mad dashes from shop to shop or to the car. Theres really no point in trying to stay dry because you've absolutely no mission what so ever. As we would say it wasnt even taking the time to rain!!
Then there was the small issue of where we would stay , but thankfully having lived in Kumasi for a while Andrew knew some places. So we narrowed it down to one hotel called Sir Max where the 3 of us could share a room – it was great. We pretty much went straight to bed when Andrew dropped us off, a proper slumber party…Hollie was so excited about that. And this of course gave Rebecca the chance to practice her massage skills some more…excellent!! A most unexpected evening but here I guess you have to expect the unexpected.

The 3 of us chillin' by the pool!!

This also meant that we had the chance to get some extra errands done in Kumasi this morning. The trip back was fun though…in some places the road was really muddy with some slipping and sliding all over the place with cries of ‘we’re going mudding’ coming from my co-passengers, but you really gotta say well done to who ever invented 4 wheel drive!! :)

Anyway we made it back safe to the lake thanks to our amazing driver Charles. Who then had to turn round and drive off again as on our way down the mountain we met a group of people carrying a young woman on a stretcher, who looked to be in a lot of pain and discomfort. She had been referred to one of the other hospitals and the boat was not able to cross the lake so the group of what must have been family and friends around here were prepared to carry her as far as they needed to. Possibly the 50 minute walk to Beposo, to find someone willing to drive them to the nearest hospital. The nearest hospitals are either a 1 hour drive or a 1 and half hour drive depending on where she was referred to. That has got to be a sign of great love and commitment. All I could think about was that at home if an ambulance hasn’t arrived at the scene within 5-10 minutes there is a lot of complaining. How many people would be prepared to carry a loved one that distance to get them seen to at hospital?...but when you have no other choice…
There will hopefully be an ambulance at the clinic very soon which will be available to carry any patients that need referred to hospital and that will be such a blessing.

Tonight its early to bed as our day in the ‘big city’ has tired us all out!! And there is a big ‘ping pong’ tournament tomorrow, organised for the village of Atafram. There are a number of young people who have signed up to take part in it. So I would ask you to pray for that…that the young people will come and have great fun and fellowship playing ping pong – that competition wouldn’t be too great but that it would be a great opportunity to witness and share with those young lives.