goodbyes and hugs

so my ghana experience is coming to an end and i am getting soo sad to leave these children and the home! i am so thankful for the opportunity to come to africa and be a part of these children's lives. i have learned so much about mylelf and about how cushiny/comfy my life is compared to what these children have. i am so humbled and grateful to have met the children and be in their lives for a month.

yesterday we took the kindergartners over to the store to buy them an ice cream! it was so fun! it was during school and we taught them about the ghanian money and then went to the store! they loved eating the ice cream and even sharing with their friends! it surprised me how much they shared with the other children and if any of them wanted a lick from someone else... they would let them!

on saturday we had the wonderful experience of going to the farm with the kids!! haha i say wonderful.. meaning... horrible!! oh my goodness! so we got up at the crack of dawn (5am) .. as always because the children were singing and praying and cleaning. so we sat outside with them and clapped our hands as they sang! and then Joshua (the leader) was like okay... so if you want to eat today, we need to go to the farm and get some firewood to make a fire! so whoever wanted to eat had to come to the farm and help get firewood! so me and meg were all for eating so we tagged along! you walk through the bush (jungle forest) 2 1/2 miles to get there! and then once we were there we waited for 4 hours for all the children to get this HUGE bundle of firewood to put on their heads! and then we walked all the way back to the home and each child had a huge bundle of firewood on their heads!! ohh my gosh they are soo strong! 3 of the girls flip flops are broken and they were trying to walk with broken flip flops and so i gave Gifty my shoes to wear! the least i could do since i wasn't carrying 30 pounds on my head in the heat of the day for 2 1/2 miles!!!

school is also going soo well! i feel like we have finally made progress with the children! Daniel can now call out letters and recognize some, courage is doing soo good with his name and all the children have progressed with addition! it is so rewarding to see them learning and progressing! we also taught them "Hey Diddle Diddle" and the Ghana Pledge which is really cute to hear them say!

its cute because just about every night courage will grab my hand and ask to go on a "walk"! we just walk up the driveway a ways and other kids join us but i think its soo cute.. when he comes up to me and is like... "please please... walk" and points!! its adroable and its nice to get out and walk with the kids!

today we also bought shoes and a futbol (soccer ball) for the children! we are also leaving behind a lot of our clothes that we don't need. so hopefully the children will like them and find some use for them! i would also say that just about every time we walk out of the house and go to town we get a marriage proposal! its so funny.. and megan gets them a ton because she is a hottie.. but we men come up to us a lot and are like... marry me... or ... i want to be your friend... its alittle creepy but we just smile, nod and walk away! (don't worry dad) :)