Christmas in Akatsi

Landon and I have had a very good but very different Christmas this year. It was difficult to be so far from our families, but we were glad to be here to share a wonderful Christmas with the girls. Here are a few pictures of the day:

I brought beanie babies from home to give each of them-
They LOVED them!

They carried their "babies" everywhere.

They slept with them.

They ate with them.

They named them all Baby Jesus. :)
They're adorable.

A special thanks to the Stengel family for helping to
provide these lovely Christmas dresses!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us!

It's beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS!

Well, Christmas in Ghana that is. It is in the 90's today and the sun is hot hot hot!  In the mornings and evenings we've been enjoying the Harmattan winds from the Sahara Desert which bring a bit of relief from the heat. The temperature has been as low as 75-a very welcome change! The Ghanaians, however, are all bundling up and saying that they are "suffering" from the cold weather! We told them that they would not like an American winter... Despite the difference in climate, we've tried to keep a few of our Christmas traditions in Ghana. So far we've watched "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (the cartoon version), made some Molasses crinkle cookies and chocolate cakes (yum!!!), attempted to teach the girls a few Christmas songs, and decorated a tiny tree. The girls are very enthusiastic and have literally screamed with joy at every event! Each time we turn the tree lights on they run around the room yelling "Christmas! Christmas!" It's a little hard on the eardrums, but it's fun to see them so excited :)

Here are a few pictures of the festivities:

This is Landon's personal favorite-can you sense the
excitement? :)

homemade Christmas ornaments

Showing off the finished products!

I know it's blurry-these girls are constantly in motion!

My sister is AWESOME!
She sent this paper nativity set in a sealed envelope in
my suitcase :) Thanks Meg!

Merry Christmas from Ghana!

We love and miss you all :)

The days have flown by since Teddy and Ellie left! They are now safely in Kansas adapting to a huge change in climate and in culture. Meanwhile, Landon and I have been busy working with Social Welfare, traveling to Ho several times to extend our visas, completing projects around the house, and most importantly, spending time with the girls!

The girls are doing very well! They look much healthier and happier than when they first arrived in Akatsi, and they’ve improved in many ways. Davi Mercy has been teaching them how to cook, which is a very important skill for a Ghanaian women to possess. Most girls here prepare meals for their families several times a week before they reach the age of 10! The girls did not know much at first, but they are quickly learning.

Landon and I are in charge of having two English classes for the girls every day. I’ve never seen anyone so excited to learn! They are constantly asking to read bible stories and practice writing letters. Many of them have had very little or no schooling, so we’ve been starting with the basics. They are now able to identify some letters, objects, and speak in (semi) complete English sentences! The other day (big) Sarah said to Landon, “Uncle, you need to water the moringa trees!” We are very pleased at their progress, but they have a lot of catching up to do. Since the schools in Ghana use English, the girls need to learn as much as they can before they begin. Almost all of the girls are bi-lingual. They speak two languages, Ewe and Twi. Now, they are quickly on their way to becoming tri-lingual! We hope to put them into school starting this January, but are waiting to see if the headmaster will accept them.

That's all from here! Enjoy the wonderful snow and cold weather for us :)

Kate and Landon

they love each other :) 

English lesson with Landon!

New church dresses for Richlove, Regina and Sarah.

Just spinning :)

I painted their nails-they LOVED it!

Sarah Vi being adorable.

They made "soldier hats" out of some
cardboard they found lying around.
These girls are so creative!

And then they marched!

Thanks so much for your prayers and support! We love and miss you all! :)

A heart full of gratitude

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows”

-James 1: 17

Each Thanksgiving, my family gathers together to eat fabulous food, laugh until our sides hurt, and most importantly, give thanks to God, from whom all blessings come. This Thanksgiving, I cannot be home with my family. I cannot indulge in the WONDERFUL food my aunts, grandmother and cousins prepare. I cannot enjoy the ridiculous jokes my grandfather tells. Even so, this Thanksgiving, I have a heart FULL of gratitude.

Living in Akatsi, Ghana for the past 3 months has taught me that we truly have SO many things that we take for granted. I have learned to be thankful for running water, electricity, a refrigerator, quality medical care and so so much more. In America we are so fortunate to have our basic needs met on a regular basis. That’s far more than most of the world can say.

Our girls came from a place where life is much harder. They lived in mud huts, slept on the floor, worked long hours, ate and slept little. Now they have three meals a day, running water, new clothes and a “family” that loves them very much. I have never seen anyone so thrilled to have such simple things! The first time these girls saw a sink they giggled endlessly and could have played in the water for hours had we let them! Mama Celestine announced that she purchased new flip-flops for the girls and they shrieked with delight and ran to the courtyard to see their new treasures! They slept on the concrete floor beside their bamboo bunk beds for the first few weeks because it was what they were used to doing.

We are so blessed. I cannot express the extent of my gratitude for everything I’ve been given! I have the privilege of living here at the Yellow House with my wonderful husband and eight beautiful girls! I get to wake up each morning to see eight beautiful smiling faces and spend all day listening to their broken English, bickering (no, they are not perfect), their laughter and energetic singing. There's nowhere else I'd rather be.

Happy Thanksgiving from Ghana!

 (This turned into "happy birthday" five seconds later) 

Love and miss you all!

Eat some turkey for us :)

Kate and Landon

All Eight-Safe and Sound!

Meet our three newest girls! 

From Left to Right, Sarah (8), Regina (7), and Richlove (9)!

The girls minus Gloria

The Great Eight:
Sarah, Dina, Godsway, Richlove, Sarah, Lucky, Regina, and Gloria!

Helping Mama Helen prepare lunch

We're so happy to have all eight girls-safe and sound. Thankyou so much for your prayers and support-this wouldn't have been possible without all of you! More pictures to come :)

Malaria strikes again...

As many of you know, Landon and I have spent some time in the Akatsi hospital this last week. Landon was diagnosed with malaria, and was admitted to stay overnight. He is now almost completely recovered. Thank you to all of you who have been praying-we appreciate it so much!

Landon's response to his positive malaria test?
Laughter. Why? "Vikings always laugh when
they get malaria." Oh Landon...

Unfortunately, our sweet Sarah received the same diagnosis today. She couldn’t keep anything down all morning and she was running a fever of 103.1! She really had me worried! I gave her a dose of Tylenol and we headed to the hospital.

Sarah (pre-malaria)

I soon discovered that there’s no triage here. If you have a dangerously high fever and are behind fifteen elderly men with sore throats, you won’t be seen until they are. We waited for three hours until we saw a doctor (I was SO thankful for that dose of Tylenol!) and finally, she was admitted. They drew some labs and sure enough, malaria it was! Sarah got an IV (which she handled like a champ!) and slept the day away. 

Teddy, Ellie, and Mercy are currently in Yeji to bring the remaining three girls home! This means that Landon and Helen and I are here at the house with the girls. Helen is fabulous, but doesn’t speak English. Needless to say, we’ve had a pretty crazy day! While I was at the hospital with Sarah, Landon was busy playing hours of hide and seek, teaching English lessons and rounding up all the live crabs that had gotten loose in the kitchen!

Between Landon and Sarah, I’ve had more than my fill of the hospital (It’s usually not a good thing when the nurses know you by name)! It’s definitely not the most pleasant place to pass the time, however, I did learn some valuable lessons during my time there.

When Landon and I first got to our room, the aide came in (she said her name was Florence Nightingale) and said a beautiful prayer about the fine line between life and death, and how we can trust the Lord to take us only when He is ready. She prayed for protection over Landon and for a rapid recovery. It brought tears to my eyes! I realized that we have such an attitude of entitlement sometimes. We think we deserve to live a full, healthy life just because we have always had access to high-quality medical care. These nurses have a sober perspective of life and death because death is so real to them! If you’re in the hospital and your condition is declining, it just might be your time to go.  As scary as this is, it has some good truth to it. We were created and are sustained by God, the maker of heaven and earth. Every breath we take is a gift. We are not guaranteed another minute on this earth, let alone another day. So let us be grateful for each breath we are given (and for the fabulous medical care we get in the States)!

Sarah and I are now back at the Yellow House, and very much enjoying the change in scenery. We were welcomed back with shouts of “Sarah!, Auntie!” and many hugs.  It’s good to be back. We will soon have three more girls to add to the family! We’ll be sure to introduce them to you as soon as we can :) 

Thank you all so much for your love and prayers!

We love and miss you!

Kate and Landon

the patient and I

One of the two very crowded waiting rooms
on a Monday morning

A shot of our beautiful girls with their new tailored dresses!
Africans love their colors :)

Have a lovely week! :)

The Rescue: Part two (with pictures!)

Alright, thank you all for bearing with us as we figured out a few technicalities. We have made this a private blog and now have permission to share pictures, videos, and stories. Please encourage anyone who would like to see this blog and is "not invited" to email me at kateloftin23@gmail.com. :)

And now, without further adieu, here are some pictures of our girls!

This picture is one of my favorites. This was the first community we visited and the first of the five girls we were able to meet. It was very surreal. Here, Bernard is asking Godsway if she would like to leave the lake and come home with us. Much to our delight, she accepted! :)

The next day we woke up very early to drive to the lake and meet the girls. Unfortunately, our driver didn't know where he was going...he turned around numerous times and asked many people along the side of the road for directions. We had very strict time restraints that day, as we had a plane to catch, and were getting a little nervous about meeting the girls at all! Thankfully, we found a man on a bike who was willing to lead us to the lake-side. He rode down many narrow walking paths, and we followed in our tro-tro! Joseph (the volunteer) brought the girls to the roadside to meet us :)

Here they are! From left to right we have: Godsway, Dina, Lucky, and Sarah. Gloria was clinging to Ellie, she was pretty shy at first. 

They're each holding a small plastic bag containing all of their possessions, which was not much. 

Gloria and Sarah-they were exausted!

Lucky and Gloria

It's amazing how quickly these girls bonded! They had never met before, but acted like they had been friends their whole lives!

Sarah

Lucky :) wearing Landon's sunglasses

Gloria

the scenery was beautiful!

They were so excited to see the airplanes go by! They stood and watched the entire time we waited for our flight!

Lucky and Godsway

Dina and Sarah

They were so animated on the plane ride! They squealed and giggled with every bump! We were just glad our neighbors thought it endearing :)

After a LONG 13 hour travel day, we finally arrived in Akatsi! Helen and Celestine prepared a delicious feast for everyone.

We had Ak Ple with okra stew
(They eat it with their fingers! We, opted for spoons)

After dinner, the girls washed dishes, bathed, and got ready for bed! As tired as they were, they were up giggling late into the night.

Lucky

Gloria, Lucky, and Sarah

Gloria, Dina, Godsway, Lucky, and Sarah!

All five safe and sound at the Yellow House!

Thank you all SO much for your prayers! We appreciate them very much!