Today we said goodbye to a country where we have made many friends and had our hearts changed. It is always hard to say goodbye to people you have become close to. Kelli is coming back in July, but in my case, I am not sure.
I believe that the Lord places certain people and experiences in your life for a reason. I am committed to doing whatever I can to help Africa. I know my sister feels the same.
Before I go, I must update all the readers on a few funny experiences we have had in the last couple of days:
1. Car Gas Leak- We were on our way home from school and all the sudden we hear a big thud and our driver pulls to the side of the road. We immediately start smelling gas and are confused because both the driver and another passenger jumped out the car and started working on it and calling a mechanic. Finally, Kelli and I looked at each other and jumped out of the car. When we got out we realized that there was gas literally pouring out of the car and that they were trying to collect the gas. The car was still running and Kelli and I tried to explain several times to turn it off so that the car did not explode. We even tried to turn the car off ourselves. Finally, they understood and turned off the car and Kelli and I caught a taxi.
2. The never ending “Bus and Van ride.”- Kelli and I needed to catch a bus to Accra to visit the health clinic that Kelli helped start. This required us to take a six hour journey yet again, only this time it had a new flavor. The large bus was filled and so we caught a van. We soon realized that they were trying to put us in the back seat in between people. We were there first and had already reserved the front seat so after at least ten minutes of negotiation, we were able to get the front seats. Then we realized that they were trying to put another person in between us and so we paid a little extra money so that we were able to be comfortable. The second thing that made it exciting was that our suitcases were sent on another bus and were promised that they would be there when we arrived. We kept picturing our bags being forever lost in Ghana. To our surprise, they were there waiting for us when we arrived. The ride in the van was equivalent to a roller coaster that is very bumpy. Every twist and turn was a new adventure.
3. Sister Negotiation: The African market had never had two sisters like us meet them. This is a craft market that is designed for foreigners to come and buy African crafts. All the prices are negotiable and are tripled for people who are not African. Kelli and I decided to go as a team and try to get better prices. Our negotiation leads too many people coming to watch and us going home with three prized items. We were followed out of the market by at least 10 to 20 Africans wanting us to buy crafts. This continued when the car we were riding in died and we had to be pushed out of the market.
4. Kelli’s Film Crew- This group consisted of me with a lot of instruction from Kelli. We are filming shots for Kelli to be on Animal Planet, a show that is a feature on Malaria. We were given specific shots we had to get, and this can be a big challenge with a camera person who has no experience (me). I have climbed on more chairs, found more rocks to set the camera on, and took more footage then I could have imagined. My favorite technique I have found is acting like I am taking footage of my sister while I am filming the scenery behind her. A lot of times people will begin shouting and want you to pay money if they think that you are filming them.
This trip has been an amazing experience and I am so thankful for the opportunity to experience this with my sister. I am sure we will have many more adventures together. We will forever be Sisters Fighting Poverty. We both have different talents and different gifts, but we have the same heart to help people who are in need.
It will be exciting to see where the Lord takes us in the next chapter of our journey. Thanks for reading our blog, we are in New York City right now. I will begin updating a blog when I get back to Oklahoma. It will be, http://www.unveiledthoughtsbyamy.blogspot.com.
Signing off,
Amy Shackelford
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