Update on Children at Luckyhill

I think it is time to give an update on some of the children from Luckyhill that I have previously mentioned on my blog. I have had several people ask, so here it goes.

William has recovered remarkably from the burns on his legs. Here is the before and after pictures:

God has a way of working miracles. Because William's story was told, his parents were found. A family in Utah is adopting both William and Patience.

Vida, Steve's favorite, is being adopted by a family in Texas.

Kobe has also found his family. His family lives in Utah and are adopting a girl about Lilly's age as well as Kobe. They are an answer to my prayers. We seriously considered adopting Kobe and didn't understand why our answer from God was no, until we learned that this family's answer was yes. God is good.

I also want to tell you about two incredible boys. I am just going to copy this from another adoptive mother's blog because she tells their story so well and has created an adoption fund in their name for children with special needs. Here is their story.

I have struggled HARD CORE the last two weeks with how to make the biggest impact for the kids at Lucky Hill. Some will be adopted, some won't, some should be, some shouldn't. It's so hard. How do you reconcile those choices? How do you REALLY help? Two little boys inspired me and taught me what life is all about. Abeku and Aninda came to Lucky Hill starving. Abe (pronounced Ah-bay) is at least 7 years old. He is the size of my three year old. His brother Aninda is probably 4-5 years old and is the size of an 18 month old. They lost their parents and, we think, spent a long time caring for each other. Each morning I handed out granola bars to all the kids. It was a routine. I went to these two first. And even though I handed one to each of them every. single. morning, if Abe got it first he would RUN to Aninda and split his granola bar in half, just in case there wasn't going to be enough food that day. After a few days of witnessing this, and hearing their story, I know that Abe saved Aninda while they were on their own. He kept him alive. Can you imagine that responsibility? The responsibility of being 6 years old, watching your parents die, and knowing that your brother will be next if you don't stop it from happening. So you give your own food to do it? Abe is my hero.

The starvation has left lasting effects for these boys that will make Special Education necessary to their long term success. Special Education that can only be found in the U.S. What can we do for these boys? I prayed, brainstormed and finally came up with the idea for Abe's Fund. A no interest loan fund for the adoption of kids like Abe and Aninda, kids who need to come here for medical reasons. The fund will replenish itself as parents pay back what they have borrowed. This encourages people to adopt children with medical needs, because it makes the adoption practically free. But, the fund creates change for EVERY child like Abe and Aninda. Watch this video. If these boys touch your heart the way they did mine, please donate today.

I'm telling their story in hopes that somewhere their family will find them. They were always the first children to greet me as I pulled up in Kingsley's car, reaching their arms up for a hug. They are very loving children and have a soft spot in our hearts.

Feeling So Blessed

We are so humbled and grateful to the many friends and family who helped with the yard sale. We had SO many donations of great stuff and yummy goodies for the bake sale! We had many helping hands in getting ready for the big event. It went better than expected and we had high aims!!!

I should have taken some pictures of the day, but was just too busy to go and get the camera. The sale officially started at 8 AM. At a bit after 9:00, Steve came to me and said, "The clock in the living room really is right! It really is only 9. We started setting up at 6:00 and by 9:00 had sold so many items already. As people realized this was a fundraiser, they went home and brought more things for us to sell, so even though we sold a lot, there was always more to sell.

We are donating some of the proceeds to our favorite orphanage...Luckyhill of course, and the rest will go toward our adoption loan. Thank you again to everyone who made this a big success!!!

...And What Does Daddy Say?

Steve and I were working in the yard today, (technically yesterday, since it is now after midnight). One of our many tasks was checking the sprinkler system to see if any sprinkler heads needed to be replaced and to adjust them as needed. Savannah saw the water come on and asked if she could "go swimming" in the sprinklers. I told her it was too chilly so not today.

A few minutes later, she comes outside with her swimsuit on and asks me to help her fasten the strap in the back. I said, "Savannah, what did Mommy say about swimming today?" She didn't answer, so I added, "Mommy said 'no'".

To this she responded, "And what does daddy say?" That pretty much sums it up at our house. Needless to say, moments later Sierra and Lilly joined her outside with their suits to "swim" in the sprinklers. : )

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Adoption Fundraiser!

We, with the help of our great next-door-neighbors, are organizing a yard sale and bake sale to help pay some of our adoption expenses. The sale will be May 23rd. If you have anything you would like to donate, please drop them by my house anytime before the 23rd or contact me and we can pick them up.

If you want to make some goodies for the bake sale, send me an email or post a comment on the blog, so I can be in touch. Thanks for all the love and support!!!

Final Part of My Trip to Ghana

Sunday, March 15th

We went to church on Sunday. It was Ward Conference. I was impressed at how well-behaved the children were at church. The older children, especially Vida helped with the younger children. I was also impressed that everyone from Luckyhill was on time. It seems I am always running late on Sunday with only 3 kids to get ready...now 4. : )

The church building is located just across the street from the Triple X restaurant, so not too far to walk from the school.


I got a bit emotional listening to all the Ghanaian voices singing together. They were singing "Ere You Left Your Room This Morning, Did You Think to Pray?"


As they were singing the words I kept thinking about how difficult life is in Ghana. I thought about the faith Ghanaians have. I remembered the signs all over Accra of various businesses with names like, "The Lord is My Shepherd Hair Salon" or "Love Thy Neighbor Furniture". Even though life is hard for many of the people of Ghana, so much so, that they choose to give their children to Children's homes and orphanages so they won't go without food and shelter, the people still seem happy. I think it may be because of their tremendous faith in Christ.


Tears came to my eyes and I had to stop singing as they sang the words, "When sore trials came upon you did you think to pray?" I don't even know about sore trials in comparison to what many of these saints have been through. Many of the members of the ward live in the Liberian Refugee Camp. I can't even imagine what life has been like for some of them.

Relief Society meeting was fun. The lesson was on strengthening marriage and family. It was interesting to hear about family life in Ghana and to know that some of the same challenges we face, they also struggle with. An example of this was a discussion they had about being honest with your husband about the income you make and planning or budgeting together how the money should be spent instead of hiding it and spending it as you see fit.

After church, I walked home with some of the children. It was a nice day. I got to speak with Steve several times during the day because he was trying to help reschedule flights for Stephanie and company.



Monday, March 16th

I had an evening flight. I stressed all day about whether I'd make it to the airport on time. Kingsley had to go to the Cape Coast area to pick something up. After experiencing transportation in Ghana, I was worried. An American woman who lives in Ghana and volunteers at Luckyhill had agreed to have me come to her place on Monday. She was going to take me shopping for souvenirs, let Lilly swim in the pool, and then take me to the airport.

Kingsley was trying to be back in order to take me to her house, but when he got back, he was having car troubles (imagine that!). He got a friend who has a tro-tro to meet us. With the extra room, Lilly's mother Ruth decided to come into Accra with us. We had to be at the embassy before 5:00 to pick up Steph's boys' visas so they all came along too.

We didn't make it too far when the stick shift completely fell off the tro-tro. The driver was literally holding it in his hand. So we pulled into a mechanic shop and they agreed to fix it for us right away. We were stopped for about an hour. Now we would be in Accra at the worst part of traffic. I was still very nervous.

We miraculously got to the embassy at about 10 minutes to five. I called Kathy (the American) again to let her know where we were. She said to still come by her place. She lives somewhere between the airport and the embassy. I had called her as we were leaving Luckyhill to let her know we were just leaving and I wouldn't have a lot of time. She had already ordered some items for me, so I told her I would still meet her to pay her and pick up the goods. She has a friend who makes dolls and nativity sets. She had this friend come to her house so I could pick out just what I wanted. Kathy was wonderful. I was so happy to have some items from Ghana to cherish over the years. I want Lilly to have little bits of Ghana in her home here.


We made it to the airport and I said an emotional good-bye to Ruth and Kingsley. I am so thankful for all that Kingsley did to make our adoption possible. He was heaven-sent. I was also very grateful to Abraham who helped me get things done to get a visa in time. Then there is Ruth. There just are not words to express the gratitude I feel for this woman. She is remarkable. She never wavered in her decision to let Lilly be adopted to an American family. She really wants what is best for her and we are honored to be able to provide a home for Lilly. Ruth is a true example of selfless love.


Well, you know the rest of the story. We made it home safe and sound and now stay tuned for some entries on bonding and adjusting!!!!

An Orphan At Luckyhill Needs Your Help

A little boy named William was badly burned a few weeks ago. He is an orphan from Luckyhill. The same orphanage were we adopted Lilly. His sister is Patience who I have mentioned in previous blog entries.

He ran into a field that had been burned and I guess it was still smoldering. Here are some pictures of his feet.
















Kingsley has done what he can for him. He has gone to the hospital and has been treated by a doctor, but this is costly and they are not keeping his feet bandaged the way they should. A pediatric nurse from the States who happens to be adopting a child from Luckyhill is going over to take care of him and to train the staff of Luckyhill how to care for his burn until it is fully healed. She is trying to gather needed supplies or money to cover some of the medical costs for William.

If you are able, please send monetary donations payable to Luckyhill to Lois Martino. A little bit goes a long ways in Ghana.


LUCKYHILL
C/O LOIS MARTINO
3220 East Horse Thief Dr.
Heber City, UT84032.

If you would rather donate supplies, please visit Becky's blog fullplatemama.blogspot.com to see what is still needed. You can leave me a comment or email me and I will send you her address.


Thanks for your help. This little boy needs all the love he can get!

Part 2 (Finally) My Trip to Ghana

OK. I am getting a lot of pressure to continue my blog. I've just been so busy with the transition to life as a family of 6. But I have a few minutes, so here we go.

Thursday, March 12th

Another trip into Accra. This time I had the medical reports and an appointment for 1:00. We didn't make it there until 2:00, but they let us in anyway. They took my medical reports and gave me a blue slip to come back in tomorrow for the Visa!!!

We had the craziest taxi ride from Accra to the "Triple X" restaurant. I had just commented earlier that with all the taxis we had used, we had always had good drivers. Not the case this time. The traffic was horrible in Accra. We got stuck in a big traffic jam. There are always people selling their goods to people in cars. They walk right in the roads and weave in and out of the traffic. They carry things on their heads and I was always amazed at this. It is very convenient to buy things this way especially when stuck in traffic. This was usually how I ate breakfast and lunch. I would buy a frozen yogurt...very yummy!!! Anyway, back to the taxi driver. As traffic started moving again, the street vendors were trying to weave out of the way. Our driver hit a girl and didn't even think twice about it. It was just a bump on her hip, but I could tell it hurt her, but she continued to walk out of the way and he didn't apologize or anything. I was in the front seat and I couldn't even watch for most of the trip. He was always on the bumper in front of us.

When we got back to Luckyhill, we sat outside and visited for awhile. I was hoping for a shower, so I excused myself. There was no water, so I decided to wait until morning and went back outside to continue visiting. Celina saw that I had returned and must have figured there was no water. She filled a large bucket and carried it into the house, then came and got me and told me my shower was ready. She is so amazing. She is such a hard worker and very thoughtful. So, I had my bucket shower and it felt good to be clean again.

Friday, the 13th (my lucky number)

Kingsley works so hard. I can't believe the hours this man puts in. He rarely goes to bed until after 11 or 12 and he is up at 4 or 5 going again. He has done so much running around trying to make sure everything works out so that we (myself, Stephanie and Friderick) can all get our children home next week. He has left a lot of the running into Accra for us to do, so he could go the opposite direction to collect other needed documents. He also is trying to coordinate the volunteer work and construction at Luckyhill. I am equally impressed with his wife Gloria. She has 4 children plus another 20 or so that she is caring for in her home. She also works nonstop cooking, cleaning and doing laundry. They are amazing.

We went to the embassy again today. I got Lilly's Visa!!! I was so happy. The other good news was that Stephanie's boys would have their visas by Monday or Tuesday. HOORAY!!!

We got back to Luckyhill early. Kingsley really wanted to play soccer with us. We got the chance. Fridays at the school is more of a recreational day. So all the children were outside playing volleyball, soccer, and other games. I didn't really want to play soccer at first, but Kingsley talked me into it. I'm glad he did. It was fun, but way too hot and humid to be running around!!! I think I drank a gallon of water afterwards. Here's a video clip of me playing....not so well. Steve likes the part where I try to kick the ball and miss! : )

Stephanie, Friderick and I were hoping to make it to Cape Coast. Kingsley was going to drive us there, but something else came up that he had to attend to, so he arranged a taxi for us. We stayed in a nice resort called Moree Beach House. It was right on the beach and had a restaurant and nice rooms. We did get ripped off by the taxi driver who told us that Kingsley had arranged for us to pay 80 Ghana cedis for the trip...(about $57). We couldn't get through to Kingsley to verify this, so asked the resort manager how much it should cost. He said it is 80 cedis from Cape Coast to Accra. Luckyhill is right in between. We were only able to get the price down to 70 cedis.

We ate dinner then went to our rooms. We had a beach house that had 2 bedrooms and shared a bathroom. It cost 60 cedis for the night ($43). It was so nice to have a shower. It was so nice that I took 2 showers : ) I had to make up for all the missed ones.

Lilly is standing outside our rooms. Ours was the first beach house. This was the ocean view from our front door.

Saturday March 14th

The resort manager arranged for a taxi to meet us at 8:00 AM to take us to some of the Cape Coast sites. First we went to Kakum National Forest. It is a rain forest and was beautiful. We went on the canopy walk. You walk on 7 suspension bridges over the trees. I think we were about 200 feet above the ground in some places. Lilly was a bit scared at first and went really slowly, but she got braver and began walking faster.

After the canopy walk, we went to Cape Coast Castle. It was built in the 1500's and is still in great condition. I really enjoyed our tour of the castle. It is a sad part of history as this is where the captured Africans were held until they boarded ships for Europe, America, or the Caribbean during the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade. I am glad they have preserved this as a part of Ghanaian history.

In Everlasting Memory

Of the anguish of our ancestors.

May those who died rest in peace.

May those who return find their roots.

May humanity never again perpetrate

such injustice against humanity.

We, the living, vow to uphold this.

When we finished our tour, the taxi took us back to the resort. We paid him $10 cedis/hour for the time he spent taking us around places. He said he would take us back to Luckyhill for 40 cedis if we needed a ride. (Yep, the first guy was charging us double!)

We ate lunch and then played at the beach. Lilly loved the beach. She had fun letting the waves hit her ankles and collecting sea shells.

After a long, but fun day, we were anxious to get back to Luckyhill. Kingsley was planning on coming for us, but that didn't work out, so we had our driver come back. He was such a nice man. On the ride back to Luckyhill, we were talking about adoption and he asked if I would adopt one of his children. It is sad that people have such a hard life there. This country is beautiful and could be a wonderful tourist attraction. Ghana has gold, oil and diamonds and should be a rich country, but I guess the wealth hasn't been well-managed. People who work hard still live in poverty.

On the way back to Luckyhill, the taxi broke down. Our driver tried to fix it, but a belt broke and it couldn't be fixed. He flagged down another taxi who agreed to tow him back a few miles to a service station. This new taxi driver offered to take us the rest of the way to Luckyhill, but he was charging too much and wouldn't agree to split the 40 cedis with our first driver. We called Kingsley and he came to get us.

When Kingsley arrived, he had brought a German man with him. So there were 5 adults and 2 children squished into his little Hyundai. About 5 miles into the ride, he blew a tire. The spare tire was flat. We flagged down a tro tro. Kingsley put the spare tire in and had them drop him off at a service station and we stayed on the tro tro to Luckyhill. I was so tired and just wanted to get back. When we got to our stop the tro tro driver was trying to charge us 4 times the price it should have been. I had ridden on tro tros enough to know the price. I was not giving in this time and he knew he was asking too much. I stood there and argued with him for a while until the other riders finally told him to give in and accept the price I offered. One victory for the Abrunis (white people).

When we got back to Luckyhill, I went straight to my room, thinking the children were probably all in bed. The next thing I knew Kobi was standing in my room wanting me to pick him up. He was in such a good mood and was so cuddly with me, it cheered me right up. The other thing that cheered me up was running water!!! I got a shower, which was great after spending time on the beach.