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FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS READ BY THIRD WORLD PEOPLE - BRILLIANT!

This one-minute video is BRILLIANT! - It so encapsulates how most of us in first world countries forget - in our frustration - that the things that irritate us would be part of FANTASY LIVES for people in third world countries.

"First World Problems read by Third World People" is by the non-profit "Water is Life" to ironically focus on the REALLY-CRITICAL issue of clean water. They enlisted Haitian children and adults to read the everyday gripes and minor irritations that first world citizens post on Twitter.

The commercial was produced by ad agency DDB NY to raise awareness of the nonprofit's efforts to provide clean drinking water in countries like India and Haiti. Clean, potable water is scarce in many areas of the world.

The ad agency and a film crew travelled to Haiti to film a variety of locals reading aloud a series of #FirstWorldProblem tweets and providing brief commentary on the Twitter users' "struggles." The Chief Creative Office of DDB NY - Matt Eastwood - says that his company is happy to support an organization like Water is Life.

Here's the link to Water is Life: http://goo.gl/ZegVd

And Water is Life's website is: http://WATERisLIFE.com

Join our community where Everyone Matters!

(Thanks to Lisa Trefzger Clarke for flagging!)

Length: ‎1:13

(This is the address in case it doesn't work for you.)
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One of our sweet daughters-in-law sent us this video which could have been taken in our backyard.  In 10 min or less, we are in exactly the areas depicted in this video.

(Some businesses are more creative than others!!)

This morning we had the most wonderful devotional with guests Elder Quentin Cook from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Elder Clayton from the Seventy.  Upon arriving, we greeted our downstairs neighbors and asked them how they were doing this lovely morning.  Sister Taylor replied, "Oh, no AC, no Internet and the kitchen floor is covered in water, but we are fine!"  That is pretty much what life is like in Africa.

On the whole, the Church takes very good care of it's Senior Missionaries.  We are very happy with our apartment.  It is one recently purchased by the Church, so it has been re-furbished.  Despite ongoing difficulties, it is clean, safe, and way above the living conditions of the Ghanaians.

                                                             (Our home away from home!)

Recently, one of the couples went to visit some of our Jamestown Branch members (they live near the beach) and they were "appalled" at the living conditions of these sweet people.

There seem to be two distinct classes in Africa...the very poor, and the very wealthy.  There is a slowly emerging middle class as the education of the people improves.  They are the small business owners, the office workers, and young professionals.  It is said over and over, but it is true... Education is truly the key.
But it takes money.  The public schools are failing with 50-60 children in each class. Children graduate from the elementary school without being able to read or write.  The private schools are where the teaching is going on, but they are extremely expensive.

Above  is one of our 2 extra bedrooms, so we have room for guests!  We will even clean off the equipment!
We pulled the table in off the balcony to give us a desk to work on at home.  But there are still 4 lovely chairs out there where you can sit and enjoy the evening with the mosquitoes.

One of our missionaries, Sister Haws, observed an interesting fact.  Most of the buildings under construction (and there are hundreds!) are only occupied on the first floor, even though there are floors under construction above them.  She thought that Ghana, itself, is only a first floor country.  They are still laying a foundation for the future, but so far have only accomplished the plan up to the first floor!  25 years ago, the infrastructure didn't even allow that.
Many buildings are never completed because they run out of money, permits or time.  They will stay that way for years!

Living conditions and buildings have a wide range.  This is a huge new office building made of blue glass near the airport, and another building under construction next to it.
This little shop is the style of where the majority of people live.  It is about  a 15x15 metal storage shed type building.  They have the shop in the front and sleep in the rear.  This one is extra nice since it has steps!

Door leading to our balcony and our swimming pool in the complex.  They try to keep it very clean, but the water is still not drinkable, so you have to swim with your mouth closed!

It is so difficult to rent an apartment here.  They are expensive, and you need 3 months rent up front as a deposit.  That is prohibitive for most Ghanaians.

Our living/dining room.  Tile floors, and white walls and ceiling.  White drapes in each room and glass tables.  At least it's a cool feeling!
The kitchen is small, but heh...there's only 2 of us!  The washer is in the kitchen and the dryer on the balcony.  The oven is just the size of one cookie sheet, thank goodness, and it's a small refrigerator/freezer, too.  However, we shop each week, so that is no problem.

This is the master bedroom.  The mattresses are made of thick foam, and surprisingly quite comfortable, after we added an extra one.  This is the hall from the bedroom to the front.  (That's our RIP 60 straps, Jake, and Alpha Wolf Squadron!)

We have two bathrooms and below is my dressing table between two large closets.

This type of apartment is absolutely not affordable by 80-90% of the Ghanaians.  We are extremely fortunate.  Either they live in large tenement apartments like you would see in the slums of the US, or the storage unit sized houses, or thatched houses like seen below.

 

 "Most people still live in the poor shanty towns which have grown up around the edges of the city and near the port. Homes in the shanty towns are crowded and cramped. They are mud built huts made from any materials that their owners can find. They are made of sticks, palm fronds woven into screens, sheets of corrugated iron or plywood, concrete breezeblocks and discarded packing cases from the port. The shanty towns, like James Town, are like mazes with muddy lanes where goats, chickens and dogs scrabble for scraps.

The dusty roads that lead into Central Accra are lined with open-fronted shacks and stands selling everything from cooked food, trousers and haircuts, electrical goods, or cast iron gates. Most have colourful headboards advertising the name of the shop. Women sit at the road side with their babies strapped to their backs and basins of oranges, yams and plantains for sale in front of them. This is how most people who live in the shanty towns make a living. The central Makola market is very big and very busy. Market women sit under huge straw hats, with babies strapped to their backs, behind piles of tomatoes, yams, beans, plantains, peanuts and rice and basins of dried fish or meat. The residential areas are to the north and west of Accra. In the wealthy areas two storey houses, some elegant colonial houses on stilts with wide verandas, are surrounded by tree-filled gardens and bougainvillea covered walls. Many of the middle range houses (mainly occupied by government workers) are corrugated roof concrete bungalows, surrounded by scrubby grass and hedged by trees. On the outskirts of Accra some concrete blocks of flats have been put up to house the expanding population of Accra."

So...if you are lucky enough to live in an apartment building, you have a roof over your head and not much else.  Safety is still an issue as we have had two of our friends ( two young elders and one of our students) robbed this week.  Our apartment is surrounded by a large wall and has a gate with guards that patrol the grounds.  We also live on the second floor, but still have bars on our windows.  We still never leave without locking up.

(Elder JR Reed and his companion at our meeting with Elder Cook.  They are the ones who were robbed.)

We are so impressed with the Ghanaian people...even with their reduced circumstances, they try to keep their clothes clean, their shoes polished, and their cars washed.

We still find the homeless everywhere, but for the majority of the Ghanaian people, we think there is hope.  The Brethren of the Church say that Ghana is an Oasis and Beacon of hope in all of Africa.  We are beginning to believe that too.