Going up to Bolgatanga took about thirteen hours in the car and we stopped to either use the bathroom, clean vomit or eat. Vivian (Beacon House staff) came along with a child from Beacon House called Jennifer. The journey was long, but I liked seeing the differences from the urban life to more rural and open life.
We arrived at our guest house (an income generating project for Mama Laadi) in the evening and the next day we were off - to see Mama Laadi’s foster home. I got to see all the children and see what she has done to help the children. I met some really cute children.
Later that day, we visited villages and went to see one particular family which Beacon House has been assisting. The children showed us a type of fruit with a hard shell from the Baobab tree. It tasted pretty good. We then went to visit a family that had recently asked Beacon House to care for their baby. The baby was malnourished so we brought her back with us to the guest house and later to Accra.
I think one of the highlights of the trip was that I got to see Kara and Atule -- they are children which stayed at Beacon House before.
After a long day driving around on dirt roads, the guest house-keeper ( Mr. Barry) gave us two live guinea fowls as a Valentines present from a family Beacon House supports. Mr. Barry then slaughtered the fowls and cooked a nice meal, which I refused to eat it, but mum enjoyed!
On Sunday, since the car was having trouble starting, we were dropped off at Mama Laadi’s and we stayed there while the car was getting fixed and had the chance to meet Sada again (ex-Beacon House staff). We left in the afternoon with Sada, Vivian and me pushing the car.
We went to visit Siragu Mother of Mercy baby home because Beacon House gets many requests to take in babies and they are considering putting the babies there. Three Sisters work at the home along with two helpers and there are 20 babies. One Sister explained to us that each baby can stay at the home for a maximum of three year but that the baby had to come with a care-taker because it is assumed that there is always someone in the family that could take care for the baby. She also told us that the youngest care-taker was 10 years old (I thought this was very interesting).
After looking around the baby home, we went to visit another family asking for assistance. This time while mom was talking to the family members, Mama Laadi showed me how the people live in the rural homes.
I loved the trip and would like to go up again and I was happy to see what my mother does and see how we can help people….I myself have come up with ideas :)
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