For two weeks in September 2007, I had an extraordinary experience as the photojournalist for a mission trip to Ghana.
Here are some of the 6000+ photos, and verbiage from the emails I sent to family and friends from Ghana. Please note that although I did take most of these photos, it is a collection of mine plus those taken by other members of the team.
Also, please let me know if you have a laptop (with wireless receiver) or good digital camera to donate, or, if you or anyone you know would like to be pen pals with the kids at the school… details below
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Monday, Sept 17, 2007
From Apam Catholic Hospital, Apam, Ghana
Dear Friends and Family,
I’m sorry I haven’t been more prolific in my emails – many excuses – we have been so busy, I am often exhausted/overwhelmed and when I have time to write, I choose instead to meditate and thereby try to hold myself together. Plus there’s the issue that the others on the team are often using this computer, the only one generally accessible, to email friends and family. Anyway – the rest of our team have gone to the local Methodist church service this morning (which may last up to 3 hours!), giving me alone/quiet time to decompress, process and disseminate some information. I can hear a service from here now – as we often do in the evenings – singing, chanting, drumming, speaking – sometimes for hours – there are churches – mostly all flavors of Christian – everywhere. They are enthusiastic worshipers! As a side note, we actually heard them singing Kumbaya the other night!
In general, we are a group of 35, including 4 surgeons, an anesthesiologist, 2 medical doctors, several nurses, a team working at the local Methodist school, a well drilling team and a construction crew. All except the well drilling team are staying in the Catholic hospital compound in the town of Apam (pop approx 20,000) about an hour west of the capital of Ghana, Accra. Ghana is on mid- western coast of Africa, where the coast runs east/west. We are close to the beach on the Ivory Coast, orca whale breeding grounds.
There has been an article about us in the Ghanaian newspaper, as well as a report on the national news. We are treated royally wherever we go, the people are gracious and friendly – ‘Obroni, obroni’ - white person - they call as we walk by on the street, asking us to take their picture, or sometimes just shyly looking or saying hello. Many speak English thankfully, the official language that crosses all of the dialects. It is the language used for teaching in the school. They are celebrating 50 years of independence, the British having left that long ago.
We are lucky to have two Ghanaians on the team – a doctor and a nurse. They are able to explain things to us, and interpret when necessary. The nurse, Monika, even did some dickering for me at the market and has had a local seamstress make custom clothes for those who wanted to order them. A handmade shirt or dress is about $12. Monika says that although the people are poor, they don’t know they are poor, and worry about little more than day to day existence. They seem reasonably happy to me. They are mostly dressed nicely, and keep themselves pretty clean. I noticed signs for many ‘beauty salons’ along the road…
Beyond their personal care, there is trash everywhere in the town, and raw sewage runs in gutters between the houses. Obviously, sanitation is a big issue, one that our team is attempting to address with signage and trash bins, at least at the compound. Many of the diseases would be preventable with proper sanitation. Luckily the compound where we are staying is ‘plumbed’ and trash is picked up regularly.
The compound is surrounded by a cinder block wall with gates that are never closed. There are the usual hospital buildings – three operating rooms, recovery room, wards, clinics, pharmacy, accounting, lab etc. The three couples in the group are staying in a ‘mansion’ down the road but the rest of us are in dormitory style building which originally housed the nuns. Each room has three beds with mosquito nets. We have fans in the ceiling, and floor fans. Mission veterans consider our accommodations here to be quite posh. There is also a pretty much constant ocean breeze, which although it is a warm breeze, is welcome and often refreshing (except when they burn the trash between here and the beach, then it is acrid and putrid).
Plumbing is a huge issue, even here in the compound – of course it’s a blessing to have water at all as there is no well here. The water for our dorm comes from a huge tank on the roof that is refilled from a tanker. We don’t drink it of course (we brought cases and cases of bottled water), but it is ok to use for showers. The cool showers are refreshing after a day in the heat and humidity (although I still cringe when rinsing my back!). Brushing our teeth is a very conscious effort – I’ve taken to holding a bottle of water in my left hand while I brush to avoid automatically rinsing my toothbrush from the faucet. I forgot my system once, used the faucet, and just threw the brush away. Thanks mom for sending extras!!
The food is plentiful and good – there are many things familiar to us – rice, breads, pasta, grilled chicken and meat, some fish. The pineapple is the sweetest I have tasted – like eating a pina colada. They also serve orange slices and watermelon at each meal. We avoid anything uncooked, so our ‘salads’ are mostly steamed cabbage and carrots. They also make wonderful little meat pies that you can pick up and eat. I’m especially enjoying the yam French fries and fried plantains – have to watch the quantities on those things! I can see why many of them, women especially, are so big, eating so many carbs and so much fried food.
I am drinking tankers of bottled water from bottles as well as my camelback that I strap on each morning – it has been a godsend. I’m also taking lots of vitamins and supplements and resting as much as possible. Several in the group have had intestinal issues – but often just taking a Cipro pill at the onset will resolve it. We have all had the necessary shots – yellow fever, typhoid, hepatitis A, tetanus – and have malaria medicine (pills taken weekly). It is a good thing to be with a group of medical people and have access to expertise and medications! I have been so grateful to have Ambien to be able to turn off my churning mind at night to be able to rest deeply. Other than sensory overload – I simply had a meltdown last night! – I am strong and healthy.
The weather is mixed – around 80 degrees in the day, with 80 – 90 percent humidity. Some bright hot sunny days, some overcast. We have had a little drizzle, but no rain to speak of. The nights are not much cooler, the ones that are clear offer an inky black southern hemisphere sky pierced by billions of stars, bisected by a clotted cream Milky Way.
Electricity here on the compound has not been a problem as it is in the town – we have a generator which kicks in when the general supply fails. I’ve only seen the power go out once for a short time while we have been here.
The surgical team has been doing astonishing work. The brothers Tom and Bob Davis were here last year, and are having the opportunity to do second procedures on some extreme cases they started last year, such as burns. Although there are many routine hernia and goiter procedures, there are also several truly bizarre conditions. They are doing an average of over 20 procedures a day – unheard of in 3 operating rooms. They are able to do this largely because the staff here, led by an amazing angel named Sister Mary, did a staggering job of prescreening patients and having them lined up for us. Their OR staff is putting in 12 – 15 hour days. Their efficiency, commitment and hard work are humbling. The OR is surprisingly modern, and thankfully air conditioned.
The construction team has been busy repairing and building things, as well as distributing hospital and school supplies. Five container loads of supplies were sent, as well as a suitcase full brought by each team member (usually the maximum 70 pounder allowed by the airlines).
The school team has been working at the Methodist school which is right next to the hospital complex. They have brought hundreds of books and shelves for a new library, as well as supplies for the teachers and students. There is also a new playground structure. There are over 1000 incredibly beautiful children at the school, all of whom want me to take their picture. I am happy to oblige – it’s a bit of a riot however when I show them the display on the camera. Team members have done storytelling, geography lessons, puppet shows and played with the children using parachutes – hilarious!
The well drilling team is working in another part of Ghana – I think they will be coming back to join us today. We heard yesterday that there was a ceremony yesterday involving many chiefs to install the leader of the well drilling team as a chief. They have been drilling wells for the past couple of years. They drilled their 100th on Sept 11 – that gives me chills. It’s hard to describe the impact of this to so many people. Imagine spending the bulk of every day walking, maybe hours, to get water, which you carry in a bucket holding 10 gallons, on your head, for your every day needs. And you are a child. Imagine now, spending that time in school instead. That’s just a ‘drop’ of insight into the impact.
My job as photographer has been staggering. I could stand in one spot and take 80 amazing shots. I have finally gotten over the ideas that they all have to be astonishing, that I have to capture everything (impossible!!). I am just doing my best to capture the highlights, to tell some of the story. I have taken well over 1000 shots already, as well as some video. I spend part of every day processing the images – deleting, editing, organizing. Luckily, I have access to the office of the medical superintendent, a room that is quiet and blissfully air conditioned. I have a big table where I can spread out my equipment, and am close enough to the wireless internet router that I get a strong signal. Internet comes via a satellite, and is slower than we are used to at home, but faster than dialup.
I, as well as several others, do have good cell phone reception here, although it is a roaming issue that for me, costs about $1.50 per minute, so I’m not making many calls. Some people bought cheap phones here that are used to call the states and the well drilling team which is far from us - I don’t know what those cost. The internet has been great – I can IM and use the ‘phone’ on Skype, although the webcam doesn’t work well with the phone at the same time.
I have decided that the only way to make this experience digestible is to set it up as a website, which I am working on each day. I know if I don’t do it here, it won’t get done, so although it is wrenching to not be out taking photos the whole time, I know that I must do both. It also helps me to decompress from the sensory overload – it is just searing – the sights, sounds, tastes, smells, emotions.
We had such a remarkable day yesterday. After so many long days of hard work, we took a trip to the beach. The majority of us (18) were packed into a jitney bus, the rest in smaller cars for an often harrowing hour long ride. Roads range from two lane paved highway to dirt roads with deep potholes. All areas except the most open road are lined with vendors selling all manner of goods. The vehicles are all European or Japanese (our jitney was a Mercedes), and there is constant beeping and waving between drivers.
The beach resort we went to was filled with vendors and several Europeans. We shared the beach with fishermen and the ubiquitous goats and dogs. It was relatively clean, we gathered some shells and bought clothes, beads, jewelry, masks and bags. The water was warm, but none of our group actually went for a swim.
On the way back from the beach, we stopped at the town Chief’s home for a reception. We were seated in a huge room, and the Chief and Queen Mother greeted us with the traditional glass of water, and, as per custom, our leader stated our purpose for coming to his village. We were served a small buffet snack – grilled chicken, roasted peanuts, rice and tortilla chips – nothing really unusual. The Chief introduced four of his warriors – magnificent men in native garb. The Chief, a large, animated man, spoke of the history of Apam and answered our many questions about his role as chief, local politics, and the area, which played a role in the slave trade. There were several interruptions by cell phones ringing, including the warriors and Chief’s own phones – an interesting juxtaposition.
After the reception at the Chief’s home, we came back to the compound and were entertained by the children from the Catholic school. They drummed, sang, danced, put on short dramatization – it was truly wonderful. Today, as I said, the bulk of the group is at the Methodist church service. They are trying to arrange a trip to the gold mining area this afternoon – we’ll see if that comes together. Several, like me, are just craving some down time – I’m not sure how many takers they will have even if they do arrange it. Our leaders seem indefatigable, as is the staff here.
Please click here to see an album of some of the shots so far… warning – there are some shots from surgery that not for the squeamish…
Album 1
Best,
Rebecca
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Sent October 2, 2007
From home, (near) Portland Oregon
Dear Friends and Family,
I am sooo grateful to be back home in Oregon! This will be my last missive on the trip - thanks for your feedback - I’m glad it has been at least interesting, if not meaningful, to so many who have written back to me. I’m planning to put together a slide show for friends here in Portland in the near future – I’ll keep you posted as to when and where in case you are interested…
I’ve got over 5000 pictures to work with – I only (!) took about 1500 myself – but everybody had some to share. Here is the link to the second album –
Album 2 - Note that not all the pictures are mine… It is my intention to put together a complete website of the whole experience – hopefully to make it digestible for anyone interested, but also to help me decompress – this has been such and intense, visceral experience.
To continue from after my last message, the teams continued their work – the construction team assembled shelving in the hospital and stocked cases of medical/surgical supplies, built a playground structure at the Methodist school (what a mob scene!), installed two laundry washers and dryers (and gave instructions!), put out several trash collection receptacles and signs about the need to use them, studied and advised about sanitation issues with the local staff at the hospital. They also helped the school crew put together a library for the kids – can you imagine a school of over 1000 kids, with no library?! As a side note, I had the chance to visit the town library for this population of over 20,000 – it was about the size of my bedroom.
Many of the projects and supplies (including an invaluable small tractor), along with the shipping costs (FIVE truck container loads full) were funded by grants of over $90,000 from Rotary clubs in PA and the Rotary Foundation. There was also great support from the congregation of Aldersgate Methodist Church in York PA in terms of donations and team members. The third organization involved is called Building Solid Foundations (
www.buildingsolidfoundations.org), started by Grace and Seth Quartey – Ghanaians now living in PA with their 3 children. Grace is a CPA with an MBA, and Seth is a physician. Although raised in fairly affluent conditions themselves (by Ghanaian standards), they were painfully aware of the conditions of their countrymen, and truly started the ball rolling for all that was done by this team. The team itself was a group of remarkable individuals from diverse backgrounds and reasons for being there, supporting and working together as a team indeed.
The medical team saw over 500 patients, and carried out 155 surgeries (unbelievable for that amount of time, with only 2 physicians and 4 surgeons!). Our nurses also conducted classes for their staff, and team members worked in the pharmacy and lab stocking supplies we brought and teaching more modern procedures. It’s a real tribute to the staff there that they have been able to function as well as they have with the systems and resources they have. Consider, for example, that there is ONE doctor (western style that is, trained in Cuba) for the population of over 270,000 that this hospital serves!
Where we have lots of heart disease in the US, they have a lot of infections (such as typhoid and malaria due to bad sanitation), and high blood pressure because of the food being preserved by salting instead of refrigeration. I have to mention their amazing teeth – strong and white as pearls. Our tour guide was over 30 years old and was typical in never having been to a dentist. For dental hygiene, they chew a short stick from the neem tree – a virtual pharmacopoeia of a plant. Turns out, the sticks have fluoride and calcium in them. How did the ancients figure that out?
The well drilling team has punched about 150 holes all over remote areas of Ghana for fresh water wells in the past two years. They have four rigs (the drilling rig, two pickup trucks and water truck) that they commandeer from village to village over what often isn’t much more than a wide trail. They have a fellow from the government with them who has the plan and leads the way with crude maps. They are always quite a sensation when they pull in – they have drilled up to 12 wells in a day!
Imagine the sight – the trucks pull up, the entire village gathers around – they’ve heard that the drillers are coming. The ‘obroni’s’ and 3-4 local guys hop out, the crane raises up from the back of the rig and the bit is driven down into the earth using hydraulic pressure supplied by about 2000 gallons of water from the water truck. They drill a hole about 4 inches across, from 20 – 150 feet deep. The water that floats up is tasted periodically to see if it’s good. When it’s right, they pull out the drill, and put pipe down to the bottom. The bottom two feet of the pipe has slits in the sides to let the fresh water seep in.
Then they hook up the air compressor and drop a hose to the bottom of the pipe to blow out the sandy water resulting from the drilling. It sprays all over, and the onlookers cheer and sing. I saw video of one of the village chiefs trying to do summersaults – it was hilarious. Then the team leaves, with a pipe sticking up about two feet where their new pump (one of those hand pumps like farms had here in the old days – think hand pumping, up/down, spigot on the other end) will be installed by another team from the government in a week or two. It’s an amazing process – so important to their economy and health, to have fresh, clean water right in town. They’ve been walking hours a day perhaps to get foul water from a stream, or maybe they’ve been pulling it from a cistern in a bucket. Ken, the maniacal leader of the well drillers (he never stops to eat until the day is done) was made a mega chief by the local chiefs. At an age where many men at this level of business success are focused on their golf game and spending their money on cruises, Ken chooses to spend his time and a large chunk of his money on bringing fresh water to the people of Ghana. If he reads this, he will hate my making a fuss about him, but his contribution is truly remarkable.
The school team finished unloading supplies and setting up the library for the Methodist school of over 1000 students – staggering tasks under the best of conditions – they did it in sweltering heat. They also taught some classes, such as geography, collected letters from 300 students who would like to be pen pals (any volunteers out there? All ages welcome…), put on puppet shows, blew bubbles, gave out supplies to the teachers and a red cigar-box type box with a pencil or pen for each child. They also did an environmental day – the kids picked up trash and learned about the need to take care of our earth – I was so glad about that lesson. The school responded with a huge celebration, pulling in all the kids, local administrators and dignitaries. There was a parade of students through town, many speeches, a play, songs, dancing, drumming – these folks really know how to say thank you!
A highlight for me was meeting two delightful math/science teachers from the junior high. The one was a real computer aficionado – he had cobbled together ONE pathetic computer from parts that people had given him – it is the ONLY computer in the whole school! The only internet access in the whole village is the wireless that I accessed at the hospital compound – he is praying for an internet café to open so that he doesn’t have to make the hour plus trip into Accra twice a month to check his email! Needless to say, I invited them over to the hospital compound and we played with my equipment – an embarrassment of riches! We set the one fellow up with his first email account (he’s 40 years old!) and he sent his first email to me – I felt like I had given birth! (just realizing that I’m using waay too many exclamation points in my writing, which I am sooo disinclined to do, but honestly, if you know me at all, you know that this is exciting stuff for me… - !)
I was so struck with the things that these two teachers wanted to do – there was such sincerity in their intentions. Their Google practice search was on ‘male involvement for contraception’. They also couldn’t wait to go to the website for the Ghana Ministry of Education to find out what reforms they were supposed to be implementing in their classes – they didn’t even know! It gave me great hope that there are such people working on the transformation of this nation – and I was so humbled to be a miniscule part of it. Of course, it’s my mission now to find at least one laptop for them to be able to stroll over to the hospital and use to log in to the rest of the world. They would also like a digital camera. Anybody out there have a laptop or camera they don’t want any more?
In return for the time I spent with them, they took me and another team member on a private, grand tour of the area – the local ‘resort’, slave castle, fishermen’s village, district admin offices – it was a thrill to experience these things with locals. They also gave me a beautiful hand made leather folio – I was stunned. Consider that they make about $100 per month, this was a true gift. They call me Sister Rebecca – imagine me, blue eyes and all, a soul sister! I was so honored…
Sunday morning, the team went to the local Methodist church for a two and a half hour, rollicking, dancing church service. The congregants were dressed like prom night, and worshipped with passion. The team walk through town to the church was shocking of course, you see everything from children bathing next to the street, white chickens spray painted pink or blue (to keep predators from attacking them), locals straddling the trench between the houses and defecating. The filth and smell are often staggering for us.
They also passed a coffin maker who makes coffins in the shape of the deceased interests or profession – such as soccer balls, fish, microphone, drums – watch for the coffin fish picture…
Another day, the team was a guest for lunch at the home of the Catholic Cardinal of Ghana – a delightful, amazing man – went to Penn State (yes, he talked football with our team). They say that he may be in line to be Pope some day – we can say we knew him when… He entertained the group with quite a bar, and a groaning table of food – including Pringles. It’s amazing what tastes so good when you are far from home.
I had an amazing encounter with Father Augustine, the priest for the hospital. He took me to his counseling room, where his main purpose is testing patients for AIDS, and then tracking and counseling those with the disease. He is the ‘go – to’ man about AIDS for the district, and is passionate about treatment and eradication. To that end, he has made it a personal mission to raise funds for the terribly expensive medications. He took me to the back of the compound where there is an unusual wooden building with a thatched roof (the rest are cinderblock with metal roofs) This construction keeps it humid enough to enable him to grow mushrooms which are then sold to staff and locals to raise funds. I don’t know what variety they are, but they are big and meaty, like portabellas.
He told me that he wants to use the empty part of the building to breed and raise ‘grasscutters’ for sale. Grasscutters are a large rodent considered a real delicacy here. That was an interesting conversation – with his accent and all, I thought he was telling me that he was planning to start a lawn mowing service! I wondered why, in that there are no lawns for heaven’s sake, and who on earth would pay to have someone come and cut the lawns when there’s all these goats wandering all over the place decimating anything green…! Oy.
We were sent off from the hospital compound with a grand ceremony in the same spirit as our arrival – again more speeches, singing, dancing, drumming. The Chief and Queen Mother came, and gave us jewelry as gifts. The hospital staff gave us traditional outfits to take home. There was much hugging and many gratitudes given - both ways…
From the hospital, the part of the team from the Methodist church took a bus 9 hours north, over roads with potholes the size of Volkswagens, to spend the night in the town with the Methodist church that they sponsor. It was a grueling trip – the needs there are even greater than where we were in Apam – but the locals were enthusiastic and welcoming.
The non-Methodists went to a ‘resort’ at the beach in Elmina. We couldn’t actually use the beach there as it was filthy. The hotel was nice, the food delicious (tho still I didn’t see anything particularly unique to Africa). We were so grateful for air conditioning and hot showers.
We had a tour of the slave castle in Elmina – one of 38 the Portuguese, Dutch or British had here at one time. It reminded me of the visceral experience I had at Auschwitz – man’s inhumanity to man never ceases to amaze me. I noted the church in the middle of the compound with dismay. We also shopped here – an intimidating experience! There are rows of stalls, many selling the same masks, shirts, carvings, toys etc – the vendors are all over we ‘obroni’s’ – the bargaining is fierce. I got some amazing things – paintings, a mask, baskets, batik – at embarrassingly low prices. I need to keep in mind that for them, it is a lot – so it’s a win/win.
I did have a scary experience in Elmina – as much as I’d like to say that my bruises (face, leg, arm) are from an exhilarating experience with an elephant or vine swing, in fact, I slipped on the wet bathroom floor and banged myself up on the side of the bathtub. It was a real reminder that we were in a third world country in that there was no ice to be had after the one tray of cubes the hotel staff managed to scrounge up for me. Thank goodness I was with a team with doctors and nurses, and didn’t have to go to the hospital. I’m recovering well, and will be as good as new. A trivial problem compared to Patricia, the 8 year old with the ulcerated bowel caused by her typhoid fever. She surely would have died within 48 hours without the surgery our team provided. I have a whole new perspective on the expression ‘It’s all relative’.
A fun, interesting thing we did was to traverse the top of the rainforest on a series of rope bridges – the highest and longest such bridges in the world (there are only 5 of these anywhere). It was spectacular; however we were disappointed not to see any wildlife larger than ants or butterflies. Frankly, I can see ants in my kitchen at home! I didn’t even see any birds – but it was a great experience nonetheless. I understand that Ghana is better known for its culture and arts (ebony and mahogany carvings, baskets, Kente cloth, batik, paintings) than its wildlife.
We spent the last couple of nights in the capital of Accra, sightseeing and shopping. It’s an exciting year in Ghana, the 50th anniversary of their independence from Britain. They were the first sub-Saharan African nation to become independent, and one of the lucky ones that is relatively stable politically at this time. They often perform peacekeeping functions with the other nations (the Switzerland of Africa if you will) and provide refuge for many escaping torture and war in neighboring countries. As poor as the native Ghanaians are, the refugee areas are truly shocking. The government is trying to encourage African Americans to return to their homeland, and for all to come for tourism and to invest of course.
We had a brief visit to the book store on the campus of the University of Ghana in Accra. The place was swarming with students, and actually felt pretty much like a college campus here in the states (except of course, they are almost all blacks). Tuition is heavily subsidized by the government, and students often stay in Ghana after graduation. That gives me hope for the advancement of the country, as I’m thinking that education is really the best thing for them, more so than hand outs. Part of our team had a fascinating visit with the Dept of Agriculture at the University, touring their research facilities. There is a possibility of some ‘cross pollination’ between the University and some agencies here in the states.
We stepped off the plane after the 10 hour flight from Accra to JFK, and reveled in the fresh, clean air (yes, New York air smelled wonderful!) after 2 weeks of breathing humid air heavy with a smell of the combination of diesel, perspiration, excrement, and the burning of trash. Mission veterans said it was the smell of all third world countries. I never did get used to it in the whole two weeks. Imagine how much I enjoyed the Starbucks/Cinnabon smell of Portland's PDX!
I was so grateful to go into the CLEAN airport, use a toilet that was not only clean but had the plastic disposable covers that migrate around the toilet seat to give you a clean throne with a wave of your hand. I delighted in tossing the used toilet paper into the toilet instead of the trash can next to the toilet like everybody else, and thrilled to the auto flush. I stepped up to the drinking fountain, and had a cool sip of clean water. Last night I had the fresh salad I had been craving - we could only eat cooked things there, and even at that only 5 of the group of 35 escaped without digestive issues (I was one of the lucky 5!). Ah – the things I won’t take for granted any more!
Overall, I am dismayed at the lack of adjectives available in the English language to describe the whole experience, and certainly I haven’t begun to digest it. Offhand I’d say it was exhilarating, frustrating, depressing, inspiring, fascinating, wrenching, enlightening, overwhelming, astonishing, tremendously gratifying on some levels, extremely humbling and troubling on others. I’m agonizing over the disruption to the ancient balance of nature and cultures brought on by the Europeans to begin with, torn about the definition of ‘helping’ now that it’s gone so far. I have a much better understanding of black culture in our country now.
I have no regrets about having gone, it was a truly amazing experience, but I have no desire to ever do this kind of trip again (kind of like my experience with sky diving…). I am unlike others who can’t stop - many on this team will be back again to Apam next year, in addition to serving on missions to India, South America etc. Some have done as many as 50 such missions.
Thank you again to all of my financial sponsors, and to all who were with me in spirit on this amazing adventure. No doubt seeds of goodwill and peace were sown as a result of the team’s efforts and many lives were touched in very meaningful ways, certainly including my own. I am working hard to get back to a balance between amazement at the vulnerability, and the incredible strength of the planet and the inhabitants therein.
My advice to all – be grateful!
Best,
R
Ps – let me know if you have a laptop (with wireless receiver) or good digital camera to donate, or, if you or anyone you know would like to be pen pals with the kids at the school…
