Rachel, Rebecca, Kerry and Brent's experiences in 
TAFI ATOME, GHANA AFRICA:

SLIDESHOW PRESENTATION
Scappoose Cinema 7 Theater
Saturday Aug. 18, 2012
9:30am-11:30am

Rebecca wrote:
Today was our last day in Tafi Atome. That was the hardest goodbye I have ever experienced. my heart is aching and I cant stop crying. I will deeply miss my African family. I cant thank the village, compassionate journeys and all my Ghana friends enough for influencing my life in a way that has changed my course in countless aspects. May god bless them, they will forever be in my thoughts and prayers, i cannot wait for my next trip there:) there will be MANY more. We are now in cape coast and will be here till monday. then we will be traveling back to Accra and flying out wednesday. see you all home soon!


Rachel wrote: 


We are at Cape Coast's Hans Cottage... mini Paradise in Ghana's tourism sites. There is a pond with hundreds of birds and many fish. And did I mention crocodiles? yeahhhhh.... had a great chicken dinner with pineapple dessert, but I 

am really going to miss Mary's cooking....I really miss Mary, and Mary and Thywill, and Randsford and ALL of Tafi Atome... including the monkeys. Tomorrow we are going to tour the cape coast slave castles. It will sure be emotional. See you all next week!!!

We made arrangements to have Rachel, Rebecca and Kerry return home one day early--their original flight would have been on the day of the funeral of the Pres. of Ghana-city of Accra would have be inaccessible...flooded with citizens of Ghana who have traveled hours and days from their villages to show their respect. Girls will be flying from Ghana to Amsterdam in the Netherlands! No layover, :( just enough time to make connecting flight to Portland.

I have asked Kerry and my girls if they need anything--they continually say they have everything they need--- They have but one small request-- when I greet them at the airport.....they would love to have ICE in their water. :)
This has been a life changing experience. They have experienced a paradigm shift. Truly seeing life in a new way-an awareness of all we may take for granted. Their tender hearts are aching with the thought of leaving these precious children and returning home. Though they truly are at peace knowing they have helped to make a difference in the lives of so many...and that the village will continue to do well. The concept of helping others to help themselves is far from new. “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.” Though volunteers donate the needed funds, it is the members of the Village that labor all day constructing and building the schools and medical facility etc. and Teaching. They all work very hard. They still maintain their crops and work double time so they can attend school and earn their educations. Volunteers are crucial as this program is aided by them far beyond funding. Volunteers validate another's worth and teach self reliance. This is where Kerry, Rachel and Rebecca and many others, have extended a loving hand and hugs and compassion, and hope. I am grateful, and will forever be grateful to all who supported and encouraged this endeavor.
-Jeanette

HI Mom!!!! Sorry I couldn't let you know a head of time that I would be on the internet. We are shopping in the market of Kpando and stoppped by. (Naomi and I) Naomi is our new very good nurse from from Scottland!! She is amazing! So positive and giggly. We love her. We are shopping for Kerry's suprise birthday party tomorrow. So much has been going on and I wish I had time to type stories after stories!! But this is a short stop. All is well. I have so many new friends and children I want to Adopt. One in particular, his name is Raphael, I call him "charming" and he nick named me "Akpe" Which mean "Thank You" I'll have to tell you our story sometime:) We are going to Hohoe to go to wili Falls again with our friends Michael, Ransford, Naomi and Thywill. Then on Sunday we are traveling to Ho again to go to church. It's been raining a lot!! We are almost done painting the school and maybe the computer center next. We love it here and miss everyone very very very much. love you!

Text from Rachel: "It's been raining a lot here. We are almost finished painting in the Primary school. Things are going very well. My legs are clearing up.
New Pres. declared a week of mourning and having flags flown at half staff-
Things have been back to normal for the most part. But when you hear the mourning music played you all stand in silence."

Ghana's President, John Atta Mills, died of a heart attack.

Girls write in text that: "The entire Village is very quiet...very reverent...New Pres. declared flags to be flown at half staff..this is quite an experience to be here while this is happening. All are mourning."

Please write a letter to Rachel, Rebecca Edwards and Kerry Marshall Knight


c/o Emmanuel Kumadze
PO Box 492
Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary
Tafi Atome, Hohoe District, Volta Region
Ghana, West Africa

They will receive letter if mailed by July 27th. :)

Heard from girls today.  Rachel is recovering well from stings and bites. So thankful.  They are still very happy to be there..  Along with teaching, building, painting, and trips to the market, They have been sharing recipes--they taught new friends how they make a Polynesian Coconut Bread, Our version of Krispy Kreme Donuts, and Pineapple Upside Down Cake.  They are having difficulty mastering the baking with the change in altitude.  Kerry will be celebrating her Birthday this week--that is why girls are trying to perfect the cake. Not sure how they bake it--everything is prepared over a fire. No oven.

Rebecca told us she put her hair in a pony tail and cut it off.  I do not know how short her hair is, but I am guessing she is trying to beat the heat? We do not always understand each other with the phone connections poor as they are ...so not sure why she cut it. ;)

Wish I had more to write.  Thank you to all who are reading this. Will update as soon as we hear anymore!

Jeanette

Along with teaching, Girls helped finish a roof and worked on a farm a few days ago... Rachel was bitten and stung several times. Very scary! First bad news so far...Made me really tear up... She knew to take her Benadryl and Motrin. And she applied a homemade paste. I wanted to reach across the continents and hold her. Then I remembered they are in the Lord's hands and I had to trust in Him. Thank you for your extra prayers today.

Thank you again to all who are reading this... The following letters are from Brent and Kerry Marshall-Knight, who have generously and lovingly traveled to Ghana, Africa w/ Rachel and Rebecca.  Brent returned home yesterday to return to work and continue physical therapy on his hand. (He broke his hand prior to leaving for Africa yet he still escorted all the women to their destination and helped them get settled-making sure all would be safe)--we are so grateful to him.  Kerry will return home w/ Rachel and Rebecca on Aug 11th.  They are so very happy to be living and volunteering in Tafi Atome..they love, love, love the people and are involved in an inspired  program. 

You will read down below about a ceremony they had with the chief of the village upon arrival... (It is tradition to give an expensive alcohol drink to the chief-) After drinking the Gin, one is to then pour the rest into the ground- to give back to the earth--The chief  graciously allowed Rebecca and Rachel to pour the entire glass into the earth and not have to drink. :)--Jeanette

Letter from Brent:

Hi all! I made it home safe and sound.  Hopefully I can get back into the groove of things after spending the last 21 hours or so either at an airport or in a plane.  It’s going to feel weird going back to work Monday after living a life that includes having Gin with the village cheif's and hand feeding monkeys.  We volunteers live like the villagers, often in part of their houses, which explains the latrine, which is basically a nice version of a pit style outhouse, and the bucket showers that Kerry describes below.  But we don't have to haul the water used to fill the cistern we use for our bucket showers, and we don't have to cook, we are lucky and Mary does that for us.

Let me also add to Kerry's notes that the TroTro's that she is talking about below are only made to handle 13 people, including the driver and his assistant, and using all the jump seats.  So to get 19 in it, some people are straddling the regular seat and the jump seat, which can hurt a bit when the van hits the many potholes in the roads!  We only had 16 in it on the way home from the same trip, but I ended up being one of those people straddling the seats!

I am really glad that I went with Kerry, Rachel, and Rebecca to see what they were getting themselves into.  I left feeling really good that they are in a safe place, with many people looking out for them.  There are some students from a private school in France there as well, also as volunteers, and one of the teachers was telling me how nerve-racking it was when they first arrived and he saw his students going to different houses -- essentially being spread out around the village.  But he said the same thing, that it didn't take long before he felt perfectly safe with them anywhere in the village.  And Emanuel makes sure that if he can't go with them when they need to travel, that he finds someone he trusts to stay with them, and calls often to make sure everyone's OK.

I look forward to Kerry's return, as I obviously love her and will miss her deeply, but I know that this will be a trip that will stay with her forever, and it wouldn't surprise me to find her and the girls planning another trip back not long after they return!   - Brent

Letter from Kerry:

If you want to live forever, move to Africa. We've been here almost a  week and it feels like months. Not months like time is passing only slowly and painfully, but like we are part of one big happy family (and officially we are, we had a welcoming ceremony with the chiefs, shared gin with them and are no longer considered tourists, but tribe members).
So quick points to hit and Brent will be able to elaborate when he returns:
 1). The heat truly is legendary. It is warm and wet all the time. For me, all liquid is either sweated out or diarrhea. I've learned to use the latrine and would rather have a runny stool than have to sit there very long, but we've all adjusted really well. Showers are a blessed joy.
 2) The food is amazing. They use palm oil in most everything. We've eaten it every day. We've also eaten snails (enjoyed them) and goat (yuck!)
 3) Transportation is an adventure in itself. Today we took a TroTro public transportation van and I really hoped we would break 20 people but we maxed out at 19. Everyone sits very close and on top of each
 other. I was worried before I came here that the body odor would be bad in crowds, but today all I smelled was Ivory soap from those crowded around me.
 4) The schools...what to say? We had been warned that the teachers might try to leave us alone in the classrooms, even after being told  we we're here to help them, not do their jobs for them, but Brent was
 left alone all day yesterday and half the day before. He hung in there like a trooper even though he doesn't have a teaching background and can only understand about half of what is said to him due to his bad ear and a head cold. My teacher was there the first two days, and I haven't seen him again. I did have a student teacher to help in the classroom. Misery loves company as neither one of us really knew what we were doing. He speaks the language and I just sit and enjoy the students. They are beautiful.
 5) Our new friends...The two Marys who cook. We have been very well taken care of by them and today bought ingredients so the girls could teach them to make coconut bread... Ransford, who is an amazingly
bright young man. We leave him our computer in the evening so he can practice his computer classes. Ransford's grandmother (Felicia) tends the goats, the fire and sings in the evening. We plan to spend
 time just visiting them when we can. Emanuel is the ground coordinator for Compassionate Journeys and he would be a CEO of a large corporation if he had been born in the US. He makes sure our every
 need is met. Today he forgot to make us volunteer passes when we went to visit Wii falls and it was the first mistake he has made. There are different fees for tourists and volunteers, but they let us in for the
volunteer fee anyway. There are too many sweet little children to mention. They are charming and mischievous (like children everywhere). I actually took enjoyment from watching them take advantage of the student teacher. There are other volunteers here from other organizations as well. More about them later.
 6) The animals...there are goats instead of dogs, cats who don't tolerate any attention or contact, and monkeys who eat out of our hands without molesting us. In HoHoe (town where internet cafe is) the
animals all have a halo of flies following them around but in Tafi Atome (where we stay) they don't.
 7). Rachel and Rebecca are rock stars! Literally...they walk through the village like celebrities, Brent and I tag along trying to bask in reflected attention. They are so loving and loved and are enjoying
 every new experience. It is a joy to spend this time with them. Rachel manages to go to sleep in the most unlikely places and Rebecca meets daily with a young girl who has Cerebral Palsy.

So, everything here is going well. I am sad to say goodbye to Brent soon. I love him more than every after sharing this experience with him. We hope things are well at home, but haven't had the time or inclination to be homesick. We really are surrounded by love and acceptance everyday and go to sleep exhausted, briefly cooled by a bucket shower, and wake up ready for the next day. Life is good here. So much so that we may have to drug Rebecca to get her back on the airplane.

Love to all. Keep us in your thought and prayers. We have much
more to tell you upon our return. Check the blog-the girls are updating it via a facebook posting. There should be an update soon.

-Kerry

Hi Mom!! This Is Rachel Becca Kerry and Brent. We are in Hohoe, a village about an hour and a half away from Tafi Atome in an internet cafe called Emmason. We are having trouble logging on to our blog so we are hoping you copy and post this!

Africa is AMAZING!!! We are having a fantastic time. Where to start?? (Becca decided she wants/ is moving here someday haha). We arrived to Accra on Friday last week where Emmanuel met us and picked us up at the airport. He is an incredible person. He is so busy! He is very dedicated and a hard worker. He is the ground coordinator in Tafi Atome for Compassionate Journeys.

We stayed Friday night at Big Milly's backyard in Kokro Bite. The food was great and they had an exciting African Drum and Dancing performance that night. The food was actually more than great, we had fresh caught lobster! We also said goodbye to flushing toilets for awhile there. It was our first time seeing the Atlantic Ocean! Jerry was our first Taxi driver. He acted as our tour guide and showed us the African handshake (shake slide snap). On Saturday we took a van to Tafi Atome (about 4 hours from Accra in the Volta Region). The driving is CRAZY! Yet, we trust it because they seem to be very experienced... dodging motorbikes, people, buses...goats.... everything haha. (oh and today when we went to Hohoe, we got to ride the motorbike for the first time (don’t freakout anybody, but this was helmet and everything else free....mhmm.. three people on a tiny motor bike, speeding down a dirt road full of pot holes, it was awesome, actually quite fun:) the modes of transportation mostly include motor bikes, crammed taxis and tro tros (big vans with at least 20 people packed in...we have learned to rub shoulders with strangers, or almost sit on them...) So back to Saturday, we arrived in Tafi Atome after eating snail and clam kabobs and mini fried fish. We unpacked our luggage into the kitchen where we would be eating now. It started raining ( it’s their raining season) and what we have found is that when it rains, you sit there and wait till it’s done, it can be 5 mins, or an hour, we are learning patience:)

We have fallen in love with Mary! Both of them:) Mary and Mary are our cooks. Mary has a little two year old girl named Joanna who is absolutely adorable and the other Mary has Ericson and Patience. They love their new teddy bears and race car toy. By far the best part of Africa is the people. Every time you walk down the street you will hear a hello and smile from everyone you see, the children yell hi and wave with beautiful huge grins:) it is impossible to not smile back:)

Just to run over our daily schedule, because we are running out of time for what we have payed for internet use here it is:
We will wake up around 5 or 5:30 and sometimes taking an amazing cold shower that is completely refreshing! We like them better in fact haha… then Becca goes to a family’s home where she visits with Bless. ( Becca typing now) Bless is a 12 year old sweet heart who has Cerebral Palsy. I do therapy with her legs and arms to help strengthen her muscles and bones since most of the time she is laying on the ground and gets bed soars. Her legs are not even half the size of my arm. She is very small and weak. She has a loving family, which is quite a blessing.  In many places is Africa they consider it a curse if you have children with disabilities, and will often drown them. Bless is the highlight of my day. Her big bright smile is sunshine! She glows with pureness. I can’t imagine how much pain she is in. In America you would see children in that condition in a wheel chair with pain medication and professional help.  After some exercises, feeding her breakfast and singing songs, I go to the other side of the village where we meet up with Rachel and Kerry and Brent and have breakfast with the other volunteers (Asli, from Turkey, and Sam and Ciena from the US) at 8 or 8:30 we walk to the primary school to begin teaching! (oh thats one thing about Ghana, they have "Ghana time" in other words, 8 could be anywhere from 8 to 9 haha)

(This is Rachel typing again.) We are on a time limit typing so we keep switching and paying . Okay so anyways, speaking of volunteers there is also a group from the International High School of Paris. They are here doing many projects with Compassionate Journeys but mainly helping to build a computer learning center. They have donated 10 computers to the village so that the people can learn computer skills. Two people in the village are going to Computer classes so that when the CLC is finished they can teach others. One of those people is our neighbor Ransford!!!! We love Ransford! He is 22 and incredibly smart!! We have spent many times just talking with him. Yesterday was one of our hottest days so far and he was back from class and not going to the farm that day so we found shade and talked for quite some time. He then showed us his "library." He had a chest of books he has been given. He had a Book of Mormon! He is very interested in Religions and is going to take us to church on Sunday in Hohoe and translate for us. People in Tafi Atome speak Ewe and English. In Accra they speak English and Twi.

At School I (Rachel) help in the 1st grade classes of the KG school. Becca teaches in the 2 grade, Kerry in the 4th and Brent in the 5th. Becca and I teach things as simple at the alphabet since their level of learning is like kindergarten. The kindergarteners are combined with the 1st grade class when there is teaching that does not include books or writing. But any other time they are sent to another room with no teacher to play and wait. I often go in there are try to help them continue to learn at least something. The schools lack organization and structure. The teachers often just leave or simply do not teach when volunteers come.

The children can memorize and repeat anything!!! (Becca typing) Their comprehension and understanding is lacking so we are working on helping them with that aspect so everything they are taught can really be effective. The children are wonderful! They love bubbles! They love the jump ropes we brought, and they love love love love love love foot ball! We played with them after school one afternoon under the shade of a mango tree barefoot. It was a blast! The village has a team, and they had a huge game against the neighboring village. The kids also love doing hand clapping games with us. We usually have at least five children hanging on each arm wanting to hold our hands. We had about 20 kids drawing with chalk with us the other day. They have a neat artist talent. We are hoping to incorporate their art in the mural we are doing (when they are on break from school) on the wall of the computer cafe they are building.  But overall the teaching is an incredible experience. We love it. In my class ( Becca) we are working on addition and subtraction, but not only memorizing it, but understanding how and why it works and how they can apply it.  We are starting basic reading with the sounds of the alphabet and learning more colors. They do really well with flash cards. They have so little here, yet they choose to be so happy. We have so much, so so much to learn from them.

We have a lot more to tell you but we will have to tell you another time we come to Hohoe and have internet access. We pray all is well with our friends and family. Lots of big hugs! All our love and more! Here is a big African hug (shake, slide, and snap! )- Rachel and Rebecca

Thank you to all who are following this blog.  We appreciate you.  Rachel was able to reach me briefly through a phone call, :) however the call was not clear.  I will share all that I was able to understand of our conversation:
They are safe, content, and healthy. They have clean water to drink.  The food is delicious. It is a humbling experience. The people are loving and accepting and grateful.   
Rachel, Rebecca, Kerry and Brent are happily and tirelessly serving and teaching each day in the Tafi Atome Village.  They wake at 5am, teach from 8am-to2pm. Then they are painting murals in the cultural center, and painting the medical facility, and schools that have been recently built. They continue to build on, in both infrastructure, and upon the foundation of love and hope this program offers. 
Brent will return home on Sat., July 14th, and he will be able to tell us much more! He will also have a letter from the girls that we will post for all to read.
I will be eternally grateful to Brent and Kerry and all of you for lovingly supporting this beautiful and worthwhile endeavor.

I talked to Rachel and Rebecca for a few minutes--all is well--their hearts are full of joy and gratitude. They stand in awe at the beauty that surrounds them -
Their guide, Emmanuel, is exceptional and genuinely kind. They are in good hands with the Compassionate Journeys Program.
They are staying the first two days at a hostel to acclimate to their new enviroment. Visit the website of where they are: http://www.bigmilly.com/
They will then travel approx 4 hours to a remote area in the Volta Region- to the Tafi Atome Village. They are privileged to be volunteering as teachers:  http://www.compassionatejourneys.com/Where_Will_I_Teach_.html

Jeanette

My sweet girls asked me to post for them:
Rachel, Rebecca, Kerry and Brent have arrived safely to Accra, Ghana at 5:30am (PST)-which is 12:30pm in Ghana. It was over a 12 hour flight. They will update whenever the have access to internet. Thank you to all for your prayers and support.
Jeanette

Flight to Atlanta Georgia and layover before departing to Accra Ghana

We started our adventure this morning at 2:30am and departed from the Portland Airport at 6:20 am (PST) to fly to Atlanta, Georgia. An early, exciting morning!!! We arrived in Atlanta around 2:30 pm (EST) after a long 5 hour flight. Not nearly as long as our connecting flight will be! We depart to Ghana tonight at 7:30pm (EST). This flight is approx.12 hours. Here are some pictures we have taken so far. It has been great to travel with Kerry and Brent. They are awesome!!! They have great stories and are experienced travelers. We are learning a lot. Hope all is well back in Oregon! We miss everyone already. We will try to post as often as possible.
Love, Rachel and Rebecca

Special Thanks to Kerry Marshall-Knight and Brent Knight

The time is coming close that we will be departing to Ghana. We leave in less than 2 days, July 5th. As we have been looking back on the past year and all of our planning and preparations, our hearts are filled with gratitude and the realization of the constant support we have received from Kerry Marshall-Knight. She has been there since the beginning, always encouraging us to turn our dream into a reality. We would not have reached this point- of going to Ghana- without her. We want to thank her for everything she has done for us, for all of her sacrifice. We want to thank Kerry and her husband Brent Knight for taking us to Africa.  Thank you for watching over us. We love them for believing in us and for being the compassionate and dedicated people they are. This trip is happening because of them. THANK YOU!!!! :)

Ghana's Time Clock

Our Incredible Director Amanda

We are blessed to be working closely with Compassionate Journey's Program Founder and Director Amanda Christmann Larson. Please read about her at this link. http://www.compassionatejourneys.com/About_the_Director.html We are humbled to know we are working with someone so loving and compassionate as her and are so excited to leave for Ghana in 3 weeks!!!! 

Website and Donate ONLINE

Our AWESOME Uncle Blaine made us a website with a donation button for online donations that go straight to our donation account. Thank you much Blaine! and thank you to all those who have been donating and supporting. We appreciate it so much!

Website: www.jumoke.us 

We have also purchased our flights!!! It was a long 4 hour process but it is OFFICIAL!!!!! WOOO HOOO!!!!

SHOTS!!!

Today we went to the Travel and Immunization Clinic of Portland and received all of our immunizations for Africa!! (Bitter Sweet)  We got yellow fever, polio, typhoid, and rabies. We are also going to be taking malaria pills and antibiotics. We were in more pain with the bill, the prices are absolutely outrageous. Our nurse Karen, was very kind and helpful.  Enjoy the pictures!

The New Plan, Budgeting, Work and the Mungers Mural

Hey Everybody!! New news! Time has gone by and many life changes have happened. Sabrina has moved twice since we have started Jumoke and has graduated and has an awesome job in Idaho! Becca is graduating early and I , well most of plans haven't changed too much. The biggest change is Sabrina is no longer going to Africa this summer with us. She and her mom are now planning a service trip to Haiti or South America. She is still following her dream of serving around the world. Becca and I are still going to Ghana Africa this summer, we still are doing Jumoke too! Joining us is our school councilor and friend Kerry Marshall. We are no longer going with Rustic Travel and Volunteer. After much thought, consideration and prayer we have decided not to go with them. Just recently, after hours of research have we found a new program called Compassionate Journeys. It is exactly if not more than what we have been looking for!! I could go on and on about their incredible program, but here is their website so you can see for yourself. http://www.compassionatejourneys.com/About_Us.html We are sooooo excited about the trip! We have been working almost a year for this now. We can't wait to be a part of this program. We are leaving in July and staying for about 5 weeks. MAN! Time is going by fast. After doing some budgeting we realized that although we are over halfway there, we still have a lot to make... SO because our pay checks at work won't cover what we need for the next two months, we are wondering if anyone has any work for me to do to earn some extra money to meet our goal. For airfare and program fees we still need to make about $2,000. We can babysit, paint murals, paint anything, clean your house, garden, organize, teach art lessons, house sit, animal/pet sit, do your hair, make slide shows, go grocery shopping for you and anything else you can think of!!!! I am available from 11 to 3:00 Mon, Wed, and Fri. and noon to how ever late on Tuesdays. Weekends too!  We will have more fundraisers coming up.Thank you for being so supportive! We appreciate it more than we can express. This community is amazing. THANK YOU!!!! :)

-Rachel Edwards


Here are some pictures of a mural we painted at the Mungers home in Isaac's bedroom as work for Jumoke. Thank you for the amazing opportunity and support Munger Family!!!:

Here are some comments from MaryJan Munger: "One of the things I love best about DIY is HIO (hire it out): Rachel and Becca Edwards are transforming a dull baby blue room into a fantastical seascape!"

"Rachel and Becca Edwards -- talented young women. They're earning their way for a Humanitarian trip to Africa this summer."

"Paint magic!"

"I am so impressed with Rachel and Becca's preparation. I'd sent them a picture of what I had in mind. They showed up the first day with a sheet of researched examples of lighthouses and flying seagulls."

" . . . The Edwards sisters will be available once this is done for other paint jobs -- large or small! (Make them an offer, provide the paint and then stand back while the magic happens!)"

"I've wanted to paint lighthouses on the wall in here since Isaac was a baby -- never imagined it would look this good."

We will post finished pictures of it all when we get some:)