http://www.ceri.zoomshare.com/2.shtml Ceri and Margaret Bowen's Trips to visit our Compassion UK sponsored children.: Blog Tue, 07 Aug 2007 11:59:32 -0500 http://www.ceri.zoomshare.com/2.shtml/0dd9b62505b180e7d5064170c1d1c58a_46b8a203.writeback Tue, 07 Aug 2007 11:46:59 -0500 Hi Margaret writing from Accra, having just arrived by plane from Ouagadougou, a journey of just one hour and 50 minutes as opposed to 21 hours on the overnight bus! All the staff at the hotel were extremely pleased to see us again and welcomed us as long lost friends - aww! nice. This is just a short blog to let you know that all is well and we are now looking forward to English fish and chips - ha ha. But, if you happen to see two coke bottles with legs walking around Nailsea, then it's sure to be us - when the staff see us coming they automatically go for the bottle opener. In fact, when we were in Ouagadougou and said we were staying for one more night, they took one more bottle of coke out of the fridge for us. They understood the word 'one'! The staff at the Ouagadougou hotel were very sad to see us leave. Everywhere we have travelled the people have thought that I was Ceri's sister !!! :-) It makes me feel good but not sure how it makes Ceri feel. In fact quite a number of people have cheered and shouted "No, that can't be right". And when I told them that I am also a grandmother, well, can you imagine the cheers and the jumping up and down - really incredible behaviour but lovely. Such friendly, helpful and happy people everywhere. OK everyone, that's all from Africa. This has been an overwhelming journey and a great privilege to have met so many wonderful people. Our usual love and best wishes to you all. x http://www.ceri.zoomshare.com/2.shtml/57bfe7dafa229803ea7b04f88f03e183_46b700d7.writeback Mon, 06 Aug 2007 06:07:03 -0500 Hi! Ceri writing. Saturday night there was a big thunderstorm. The torrential rain continued throughout Sunday morning. We didn't get to church because of the rain. The Compassion worker who was going to take us couldn't get a car to our hotel. In the rains only the main (tarmac) roads are passable - and there aren't many of them - most of the roads are dirt roads and all the potholes fill with water making the roads inpassable. The rain stopped around lunch time and the Compassion worker then got a car to our hotel to take us to Grace's house to collect her to take her to the park - Faso park - a park with rides. She brought a friend along too. We spent two hours with Grace at the park - she thouroughly enjoyed herself as I don't think she's ever been out of her small community, before returning to the family home to say goodbye. Hi! Ceri writing. Saturday night there was a big thunderstorm. The torrential rain continued throughout Sunday morning. We didn't get to church because of the rain. The Compassion worker who was going to take us couldn't get a car to our hotel. In the rains only the main (tarmac) roads are passable - and there aren't many of them - most of the roads are dirt roads and all the potholes fill with water making the roads inpassable. The rain stopped around lunch time and the Compassion worker then got a car to our hotel to take us to Grace's house to collect her to take her to the park - Faso park - a park with rides. She brought a friend along too. We spent two hours with Grace at the park before returning to the family home to say goodbye. Granny Margaret now chatting ... The Compassion worker was to collect us at 9am - we waited and along came 10am, then 11am, then 12 noon. The hotel staff were so amused that we were waiting so long, then at 12.45pm hooray hooray, The Compassion worker arrived with apologies for being so late. Well my problem pain in the UK was not made any easier after hauling myself up into the Compassion truck - up until this point it had not been too bad. Getting out of the truck was somewhat easier - if you can call sliding off the seat onto the dirt track lady like and elegant, then think again!!! Tomorrow, Tuesday at 1pm we fly back to Accra for one more night in this part of the world, then on Wednesday at 10.20pm we fly back to the UK to arrive at Heathrow early Thursday morning. We hope to be able to add one more blog before we leave for home. Thank you so much for your prayers whilst we have been on our amazing journey. Ceri is already asking 'where next?' So all I can say is WATCH THIS SPACE - Granny could be globetrotting once again. All our love and many thanks from us both. x http://www.ceri.zoomshare.com/2.shtml/94b8e1b3738216fb9f6ecd702d85b80d_46b49748.writeback Sat, 04 Aug 2007 10:12:08 -0500 Hi everyone, this is globe trotting granny Margaret starting off today with guess what? Well, as most of you now know that wherever Ceri and I go we have to ask for some form of help in our room, and this time we first had to have help because we could not get the air conditioning to work in our room. So a member of hotel staff came along and lo and behold all he did was switch it on and it worked as if by magic. Well how were we supposed to know that the switch was behind the curtain. Then we asked for help because we could not get into our bathroom. The reason for this was because the door handle had fallen off the day before so we put it on the shelf in the bathroom, for safe keeping. Therefore we could get out of the bathroom but could not get in. Anyway the kind person tried to open the door with a kitchen knife but that did not work so he went away and came back with another door handle he had taken from another bathroom, and all is now well again. As Ceri has told you before, she cannot take me anywhere, but it all adds to the excitement. Now over to Ceri for the sensible bits ... Of course, getting the member of staff at reception to understand that the bathroom door was stuck closed was a challenge in itself. He thought I was trying to tell him that there was no water coming out of the taps - as this was also the case, so I had to mime trying to open a stuck door!! He decided to just come to our room to find out what the problem was. I didn't mention to him about the sink that had fallen apart a few hours earlier. I thought let's sort out one problem at a time! And anyway, the pipes that had come apart I had managed to screw back together again... It was then time for something to eat, and yes, it WAS Moo meat on the menu, much to the amusement of the waiter, having listened to us going through a whole selection of possibilities including baaa, cluck cluck and finally moo. He went away laughing. Mum adds ... we just cannot wait for oink oink meat to be displayed on the menu - don't you just wish you were here with us ??? Back to Ceri. Breakfast is equally challenging. It's a buffet, but this creates it's own problems. I needed some butter to spread on my bread, but the only thing I could see that looked a bit like butter came in what looked like candle holders, and I really didn't want to embarrass myself and amuse the staff further by spreading candle wax on my bread, so opted to use just cheese instead... Okay, now for our visit to see Grace, my sponsored child in Ouagadougou. She is six years old and I've sponsored her since the project opened almost two years ago. We were collected from our hotel and taken to the project. There we met the project director who showed us Grace's folder. She is doing VERY well at school - coming second in class out of 143 children. Yesterday I wrote that I had not seen any children in Ouagadougou going to school. The Compassion worker told me that most children here do not go to school. The rate of enrollment is about 30%. He said that this was because of poverty, but also because there was a lack of schools in the community. When children are registered into a Compassion project, education is seen as very important. In areas of the city where there are no schools, rooms in the church are used and teachers are brought in to teach the children. No schools - can you imagine, and that in the capital city. The project director showed us flowers planted by the children, and parents are coming in to improve the environment by planting trees too, because they are so impressed at what is being done for their children through the local church supported by Compassion. The chldren at this project do attend a school - on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturday mornings. They attend the project on Thursdays. They have breakfast and lunch here and participate in lots of activities. Now it was time to visit Grace in her home. She lives in a suburb of the city in a single room house with her mother, sister Jisca aged 2 and a half, grandmother and grandfather. The family are Christian. It is so hot here in Burkina Faso that the family sleep outdoors on mats at night because even in the house it is too hot. The temperature here can get up to 45 degrees. That's why we try not to go out between noon and 4:30pm. Climate change is having an impact here too. The Compassion worker told us that 10 years ago it used to rain every day in August. Now it doesn't - the rains are coming later or not at all, and this is a problem where 90% of the population are farmers. Grace was there to welcome us. She was shorter than I expected. In the photo's I'd received of her she had short hair, but today for this visit her mother had put extensions in her hair for her. She only spoke the local language and some French so all the converstion was translated. She was confident though and happy to sit on me when Jisca wasn't! Her parents were very thanful for what the local church with the support of Compassion was doing. They were especially happy that Grace was learning more about Jesus. They said she likes to sing and to recite memory verses. And of course, she is doing well at school. They'd also noticed a big improvement in her social skills - getting along with other children, and a number of times since the project opened she had got sick but received medical treatment through the project. Malaria is a problem here and all the families also receive mosquito nets and the sprays to impregnate them with. A lot of good things are going on here. We were going to visit a park with Grace, but it was closed today so the Compassion staff are going to take us there with Grace and one of her friends tomorrow. The Compassion worker will also take us to Church tomorrow morning. So then, after the grandfather prayed, it was time to say goodbye - but only for a short time. We will meet again tomorrow. Another day to look forward to. Definately worth coming all the way to Burkina Faso. Pat - I have left the gifts for your sponsored child in Ouagadougou with the Compassion worker who will take them to the Compassion Burkina Faso office on Tuesday for collection by the Compassion staff at his project :) As usual, lots of love from us both. x http://www.ceri.zoomshare.com/2.shtml/fec8a87d4a34db737e7647e6c11865c7_46b3566f.writeback Fri, 03 Aug 2007 11:23:12 -0500 Hi! Hello from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. We arrived here on the overnight bus from Kumasi - a 21 hour journey. What a journey! We left at 4pm and it took us 3 hours to get out of Kumasi and 45 minutes was getting round a roundabout. It soon got dark. It's amazing how bright the moon is when there is little light coming from electricity. It's taken almost half an hour to type this paragraph. All the letters and symbols are in different places on the keyboard...There were hundreds of people along the roadside selling fruit and vegetables - stacked beautifully on the trays on their heads. The roads were a lot bumpier than I had expected and we had gospel music playing all night. At Bologtagna in Northern Ghana, the bus stopped and all our luggage was taken off the bus for no apparent reason and we had to wait 2 hours for another bus to come for us to continue our journey. We reached the Ghana/Burkina Faso border at about 8am. Crossing the border took about 2 hours, including having our passports checked, visas stamped, and suitcases emptied at customs...Then we were in Burkina Faso. On we journeyed past rural landscape dotted with mud huts. We arrived in Ouagadougou in the afternoon. Mum will tell you about our arrival here! Margaret chatting ... Well, we were not prepared for what we saw when we arrived - words fail us. Ceri says this is the worst place she has ever been and wanted to stay on the bus heading back to Accra, Ghana! If I tell you that it has taken me 15 frustrating minutes just to write this much you will have to believe it because this keyboard is not a querty keyboard and not only that but the keys are so hard to press that I now have sore fingers. Thank the Lord I am not preparing Powerpoint on this machine. My mobile is not working either due to no signal here. Having shared a room with a rat in Cambodia a few years ago, we now share our room with several lizards. But hey it must be better than lying on the beach somewhere else - but maybe you will not agree. Lots more to tell but fingers now given up, short of actually jumping on the keys to get any pressure. Back to Ceri ... Well, what is it like here? It is unlike any other African city I have visited. The poverty gets worse the further north you travel - from the coast of Ghana to here. Here it is so hot. We do not go out from midday to 4pm. When it rains (it's the rainy season here), the dirt roads flood and there are big potholes filled with muddy water everywhere. People are sat at the roadside amidst the rubbish and open sewers selling their fruit and vegetables, all day long in the heat. Some with young children / babies. Older children (aged 5+ perhaps)selling fruit too. Haven't seen any children going to school yet. We are now covered in mosquiti bites. Let's see what tomorrow brings. We will visit Mercy, my sponsored child here. Margaret here ... Just something to make you smile - at dinner last night we asked what the meat was on our plate and the lady said it was 'baaaa meat' which we could only hope we interpreted correctly as lamb. I thought it was funny anyway. Well I would wouldn't I. Ceri adds ... French is the language spoken here, and our attempts at making ourselves understood are at least keeping the locals amused! Okay, that's all for today. As usual, lots of love from us to you all back in the UK. http://www.ceri.zoomshare.com/2.shtml/708c3b4630e095e0451ae2478f158b3c_46af5e2e.writeback Tue, 31 Jul 2007 11:07:10 -0500 Ceri writing...Well, here we are in Kumasi in the Ashante region of Ghana - famous for its Kente cloth. We arrived here on the bus from Cape Coast. So far, the bus company is living up to its motto of 'We will get you there alive!' Mum adds 'Praise the Lord'. The bus driver prayed before we departed and we had gospel music playing throughout the four hour journey. Today we took a taxi to Bonwire - a village about 20km from Kumasi where Kente cloth is woven. We watched the weavers at work. The cloth is woven in strips (about 10cm wide) and the strips are then sewn together. We saw a little boy, aged 2 and a half, trying to copy his father - sewing together the strips of cloth. On the way to / from Bonwire we passed through more rural areas - where cassava, plantain and yams are grown. It's amazing what people here carry on their heads - buckets of water, firewood, vegetables to sell in the villages, and in the towns items e.g. bread in glass boxes and even sewing machines. I've been practicing in the hotel room to walk with items on my head. So far I can carry two pillows without them falling off. I'm hoping that by the end of my time in Ghana, I will be able to carry my suitcase on my head, thus leaving my hands free to hand in my passport at the airport! Tomorrow we're off to Ougadougou (Burkina Faso) on the overnight bus, (16 hours). Let's hope the bus company continues to live up to its motto! In Ouagadougou we will meet Grace, my sponsored child. The Compassion staff in Ghana were SO keen to arrange the visit to Comfort, my sponsored child of two weeks, in Ghana. Sometimes people in the UK wonder 'Do the sponsored children really exist? Here, the Ghanain Compassion staff told us some of the children ask 'Does my sponsor really exist? Can there really be someone so far away who cares about me?' The Compassion staff told us that one mother even testified in church, after a visit, that the sponsors really do exist! Margaret chatting now ... A chicken has just walked into the Internet Cafe - then walked out again - there was no free computer for him/her!!! What Ceri did not mention in her chat to you was that today is her birthday - I don't think she has celebrated her birthday in the UK for many years. In the complex of our hotel, which is on the fourth floor of an office building, there are many offices, one of which is the Ghana Bible Society. Last night it was closed so we went along to it this morning only to find, peering through the dark window, that it was actually closed. Shame. We have just eaten at Vic Baboo cafe. Well, to look at it from the outside you would think that it had been derelict for many years - so we went in - me very reluctantly as you may guess (this place is recommended in our travel guide), and surprise, surprise, the food was really good. Just goes to show that you cannot judge a book by its cover. Well, as Ceri said, tomorrow we will be travelling overnight on a bus. This bus will be leaving at 5.00 pm - so probably no sleep for us, even though I am hoping there will be a little room for us to change into our jym-jams. What a joke !! HA HA HA. During this journey we will be crossing the border, so even if we manage to have a snooze we will be woken up to produce our passports to the officials and have our visas stamped. All for now friends. Many thanks for your comments, they make us feel you are travelling with us on this journey. Hey, guess what? There are now three chickens queuing up just outside the door, along with three goats - honest. We had better finish now to at least give them a sporting chance of using this computer!!!! (Blame it on the heat). Lots of love. Ceri and Margaret x http://www.ceri.zoomshare.com/2.shtml/0078e13aa2aa3cc06b99aeaece0ff032_46ac9dee.writeback Sun, 29 Jul 2007 09:02:22 -0500 Margaret writing. Brain's gone blank a minute! Some say that is nothing unusual ... Yesterday we arrived back at our hotel after a long day visiting the castle and town - this is of course a town without an M&S, Boots, Smiths, etc., surprise surprise - only to find that we needed to exchange some money into local currency. So, in the heat again we walked and walked very slowly now to find somewhere to exchange our money. But, the only three places to do this were closed until Monday. On our slow walk back to the hotel, we met chickens, goats and pigs walking along the track with us - had to move into a trot (excuse the pun), when the pigs made their way toward us. This morning we took a taxi to Elmina and its Castle. We had a guided tour of this ancient castle. We were guided to the various dungeons where the slaves were put before they were put onto boats. At one point the guide put us all into one cell and closed the door. This was to give us an idea as to what it would have been like for the slaves. Not nice and a rather frightening experience. After the tour we went on a walkabout in the very busy town to get the feel and atmosphere of the area. We took lots of photos again, but there are also places we did not take photos because the poverty is so bad. Of all the places I have been with Ceri, this is probably the most unbelievable area I have visited in terms of poverty, open sewers everywhere, and with the stench along with the heat, you maybe can imagine what it is like for the locals to be living here. Yet, amidst all this, the people are so friendly and helpful. Ceri says she would like to live here!!! Over to Ceri to tell you some more ... Well, tomorrow we're off to Kumasi - 3 to 4 hours on the bus from cape Coast. Will try to write more on Tuesday. Love from Ceri and mum. x http://www.ceri.zoomshare.com/2.shtml/7acf5e2576aba91a81f016e43d16fe41_46ab516c.writeback Sat, 28 Jul 2007 09:23:40 -0500 Hi! Ceri writing some more. Mum says to tell you that she has melted in the heat. It's very hot. We have come into the internet cafe to cool down! On Thursday we took a bus from Accra to Cape town (3 hours). Margaret writing now... When we arrived at our hotel there was no electricity. Not a lot of water either. Just a few drops of cold water came out of the tap so we shared them :-) Ceri writing again. We took a walk from our hotel to Cape Coast Castle. The walk to the castle was an experience - a walk that most tourists (who are dropped off at the castle) don't experience. Everyone greeted us with greetings such as 'oh - you are white! Welcome to Ghana! The poverty was extreme. But the people so welcoming. Saturday morning we had a tour of Cape Coast castle. This was a British castle. It is where Ghanains were held after capture before being put onto slave ships headed for the Americas and the Caribbean...Saw 'the door of no return' through which the slaves were taken...Cannot yet put into words this experience. On the beach outside the castle were thousands of fishermen/fishing boats. Will add some photos to our blog when we return to the UK. Tomorrow we're off to Elmina. Margaret writing now. Just to say that Ceri is looking after me when I have to climb the many high steps (acting as a human handrail), also saving me on many an occasion from falling into the open sewers - not a joke, they are everywhere. In the morning, Sunday, we hope to attend the Methodist Church in Cape Coast, where 2,000 people are expected to attend. And, no, I will not be at the front !!! This service is from 7.00 am - 9.00 am. Thank you to friends who have sent us comments. We look forward to them. For now, lots of love from Ceri and mum x http://www.ceri.zoomshare.com/2.shtml/44fa88e75471fc8d35cef1ead57c8525_46ab4bfe.writeback Sat, 28 Jul 2007 09:00:30 -0500 Hi! Ceri writing again. We couldn't add to our blog yesterday because there was no electricity in the town. Forgot to add on Thursday that when we visited the Compassion Ghana office on Wednesday we saw a photo on the wall of Emmanuel - the first sponsored child in Ghana. Compassion started working in Ghana in 2005. What a wonderful way for the work of Compassion to start in Ghana - Emmanuel - God is with us. On Wednesday, George from Compassion Ghana arranged for us to visit Comfort - my second sponsored child in Ghana. I've only sponsored her for two weeks! She is 5 years old and lives in a rural area to the south of Accra. Comfort only found out that she was sponsored on Tuesday, and then learnt that her sponsor was in Ghana and was coming to visit her. The trip from Accra to the village where Comfort lives took almost two hours. As we got close to the village we travelled along red mud 'roads' into the village of houses made out of mud with metal roofs. Goats and chickens everywhere! First we went into the Compassion office at the project, where we met three of the Compassion workers - the project director, the accountant and the social worker. This was the first time they had conducted a sponsor visit - the project only opened in February. Our visit was sponsor visit number 17. In the two years since Compassion started work in Ghana, only 16 sponsors had visited their children in this country. We were shown Comfort's folder with information about Comfort and her family. She lives with her grandmother. The Compassion workers were enthusiastic about the new partnership between their church and Compassion. At the Compassion Ghana country office we were told that churches that partnered with Compassion were now spending a much higher proportion of their income on children's work. The Compassion worker's took us to visit Comfort's school. She was in the nursey class. The headteacher of the school accompanied us. Through Compassion, Comfort is provided with school fees, uniform and books. Comfort was introduced to us. She was very quiet - I think a liitle overwhelmed at having me visit her. Then it was off to Comfort's home where we met her grandmother. Whilst we were there it started to rain - a lot! Comfort's grandmother quickly got some bowls on the floor of the single roomed home to catch the water that was leaking through the roof. I think I will have to send a small family gift to get that roof mended! We shared the gifts we'd brought with Comfort. Like Mercy whom we visited on Wednesday, Comfort loved the teddy bear! After spending time with Comfort and her family it was time to say goodbye. It was the end of another wonderful day. Just wish I could sponsor even more children in Ghana! We are so thankful to all the staff at Compassion Ghana and pray that God will continue to bless the work of Compassion In Ghana. http://www.ceri.zoomshare.com/2.shtml/5b634a89c10dc765199c83870cec49f5_46a8c13e.writeback Thu, 26 Jul 2007 10:43:58 -0500 Ceri here.. Yesterday we visited Mercy, my sponsored child in Ghana. I've sponsored her for about a year now. Mercy is 8 years old and lives with her mother, brother and four sisters. She lives in Tema, about 20km north of Accra. We were collected from our hotel at 9.00am and taken to the Compassion Ghana Country office to join the morning devotions. Then it was off to visit Mercy. First we went to the project. There we met the project workers and learnt more about the activities that the children take part in - spiritual (prayer and bible study), educational, social activities and health education. We were also shown Mercy's folder which contained copies of all the letters she'd written to me / received from me. Also school reports and medical check-ups. Then we went to meet Mercy. She was in school. The teacher and class welcomed us and then sang for us. Mercy then left school with us and we went to her home. There we met her mother. She gave us a big hug! Mercy was very quiet, but confident. She kept taking hold of our hands throughout the visit. She showed us all the letters and photos I'd sent her - she keeps them all in a folder. We gave Mercy some gifts, including a teddy bear which she cuddled and wouldn't let go of, a skipping rope and some school supplies - she took every pencil out of the pencil case to look at! Her favourite colour is pink. After visiting Mercy's home we went out for lunch with Mercy and the Compassion staff. Then it was time to say goodbye. The end of a wonderful day. Now - something mum didn't know about - two weeks ago I sponsored another child in Ghana. Her name is Comfort and she is 5 years old. I'd brought some gifts to leave at the country office for her, but the Compassion Ghana staff said they'd arrange for me to visit Comfort the following day. So, today we visited Comfort. But more about that tomorrow... Lots of love from Ceri and mum http://www.ceri.zoomshare.com/2.shtml/b98835c255372e069ed69280203f7946_46a77d81.writeback Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:42:41 -0500 Hi Friends back in the UK. This is Margaret chatting to you - then it will be over to Ceri, with the sensible news. We arrived in Ghana on the evening of Tuesday 24th July. The plane from Heathrow was one hour late leaving due to a problem with some baggage. We were met at Accra Airport by a driver and courtesy car. Well, here comes the first hillarious moment, and we,ve only been out of the airport for ten minutes. The driver put one suitcase in the car boot, the other case inside the car - Ceri got in, then I was asked to get in, BUT, GUESS WHAT ???? I got into the front seat of the car, put my hand luggage on the floor between my feet (thinking to myself this is a bit of a squeeze), I then shut the car door and was immediately asked by the driver to change seats, BECAUSE I WAS IN THE DRIVING SEAT !!!!! Never did I at any time seem to worry about the fact that there was a steering wheel in my way. Ha ha. Hi! This is Ceri writing now. Can't take mum anywhere! Today was a wonderful day. We visited Mercy, my sponsored child in Ghana. Tell you more tomorrow - the internet cafe is closing now...lots of love from Ceri and mum xx