"If you aren't in over your head...

We love this quote from TS Elliot, "If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?"

Since coming to Ghana to finish up a 10-year humanitarian (Audiology Master's Degree) program for the Church, we have felt in "over our heads" for the majority of the time.  With only a couple weeks left, we can now look back and see what has been accomplished.

1.  First Ghanaian student to attend a AAA conference in the U.S. (wish there could have been more!) and now our students are starting their own professional organization in Africa.
2.  Completed academic courses (John taught 6 while here) for the first graduating class of 6 Masters degree Audiologists.  The  first ever educated in Ghana.  Formal graduation in Nov. of 2013.
3.  4 more students ready to graduate next year and 7 new students have been invited to join the program this Fall semester.
4.  We have worked on this transition period to allow continuity as LDS Charities withdraws from the program and the KorleBu Teaching Hospital and the University of Ghana work on sustainability.
5.  We have identified off campus supervised sites for  the students to spend their 3rd year in a clinical situation.
6.  Initial clinical equipment that has been donated is in place with more on the way.
7.  We hosted a 2-week humanitarian effort that combined students from Utah State University and our Masters Degree students here working together to serve the people of this country.  Our students were so inspired that they have continued on to another deaf school and have completed another 600 screenings.
8.  We have laid a foundation with our students to write political legislation for a program in Hearing Conservation in Ghana.
9.  We have pioneered Telehealth in Ghana and are in the process of developing a model for Africa.  We have recommended the use of satellite equipment for the new Ministry of Health vans dedicated to  ENT/Audiology in order access the Internet for testing.
10.  Strengthened the new neonatal screening at the KorleBu Hospital
11.  We will participate in a week long celebration at the end of July which will commemorate the 10-year commitment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to this program.

Elder Ribera has worked tirelessly on this project the last 7 months in Ghana (and even before that).  We feel it has been a good use of his experience and knowledge and a great way to wind up a career.  We have grown to love the Ghanaian people and especially "our" students.

Above we are out to dinner with the new President of the Accra West Mission, President & Sister Hill.  They are on the left and Elder and Sister Wall are on the back right (Mission office couple) and Elder and Sister Nielson from Monroe, Utah who are north of us out in the "bush".  That is a tough mission with very intermittent electricity and Internet only at the church house and water delivered daily.  The new mission office is right next door to us.

Above is one of our wood carvers, Richard.  He stopped by the other night after having completed an order for us.  We were showing him how our i-Pad takes photos.

Then we were on our way to our little neighborhood store (Koala) and found two surprises!
 First...they had Cheetos!!  First time we had seen them in 6 months.  Whoohoo!!
Second....someone in Ghana was expressing their personality.  On the last turn, we found a newly painted house.  Wow!

Above is a bulletin board which shows one of the larger health issues in Africa.  In the US, the infant mortality rate is approx. 6.05 babies/1000 live births.  In Ghana, it is 40.9/1000 which is better than it was in the 1960's when it was 130/1000.  The death rate for mothers is 450/100,000, mainly due to poor staffing at outlying hospitals, no access to medicines, poor education, and self-induced abortions.
Unacceptable in our book.

We recently were able to attend the new Superman movie and we were 2 of very few in the theater.  Someone asked us what kind of movies the people in Ghana watch, so I took a photo of a poster for a Ghanaian movie that was showing this week.  Don't you just love the costumes?   Yep...think we'll stick with the US movies for now.  The TV is very much a soap opera format also.

Young boy with Grandma, waiting for Mom to finish shopping.  In her lap she is holding his breakfast. Cereal (similar to oatmeal) in a plastic bag

Only 2 weeks left...we are beginning to...

"...being a worker in Jerusalem"...

Our dear President and Sister John Dickson left last Sunday along with President Curtis who will return to be the new Area President.  The Collins' are also leaving a month early.  Elder Collins has been called to be the new MTC President in South Africa, so they are going home for a short break and then returning.  Elder Sitati will be here for July, then he heads for his new assignment in SLC.  Elder and Sister Taylor leave this week also so she can go home and have gall bladder surgery.  Hopefully they will be able to come back in Aug.  There are many changes here.

This week we found a 4-part film on the Humanitarian efforts of the church in the past.  Our program was included in it, along with an interview with Dr. Emmanuel Kitcher who started this dream with Dr. Ike Ferguson.

We really loved one of the quotes in the film.  Dr. Kitcher said, "It (this program) brings a joy of fulfillment because what brings us joy is to be of service to the suffering.  There's no (greater) joy than helping your own people in your own environment. You know, being a worker in Jerusalem, helping your own people.  That inner joy, nothing can satisfy that.  So it is a joy we are improving upon the lot of our own people."

http://www.byutv.org/watch/51f3557b-aa12-4f5f-bcce-93504e5c7f86/acts-of-god-a-time-of-need

Go to minute 16 in BYU-TV program entitled Acts of God. This episode is A time of need . Check it out to find out more about the humanitarian effort here.  We love being "workers in Jerusalem".

 John flew to Kumasi on Friday.  Almost an hour flight, but up to 5 hours by car to the North.  He went with Kofi Sampong, Dr. Kitcher, and Vice Dean Asare.  They were looking at the hospital in Kumasi and the clinic, pictured below, to see about the possibility of sending our students there after graduation for their third year internship, (or "housemanship" in Ghana).  The program continues to grow little by little, or "small by small" is how it is said here.

We thought this was an interesting fence.  Pieces of metal on their side.  Sharp, rusty and dangerous, but effective.

This little Mom had her hands full.  We often see African women carrying their children like this plus having something on their heads too.

They are a very tough people.

We recently received this photo from the Lions Club in Cape Coast.  They were presenting John with a thank-you gift for bringing the students down and seeing patients.  It was a lovely African shirt.

We had fun on Saturday.  We went to the Silverbird Cinema at the Accra Mall and saw the new Star Trek movie.  It was really good and we were with a very small group of people watching.  By the way, their popcorn is terrible.  Instead of the question being, "Butter or no butter", it is "salt or sugar"?

On Monday, Jessica, Megan and Phil (from World Joy) came back to spend the week in Accra.  They have been busy during the days but it has been so fun to visit with them in the evenings.  They are doing an amazing job up at Abomosu in the schools, training teachers.  They left today to go back up north.

 Jessica, Phil and Megan came with us and Elder and Sister Klein and Elder and Sister Elmer to a chinese restaurant to help celebrate the Klein's wedding anniversary.





Yesterday after a temple session, we came out to a group taking wedding photos on the temple grounds.  The children were adorable!


Guess who showed up at church today?  Katrina and Sierra were on their way home from Cape Coast, so stopped at the temple grounds for church with us.  How delightful to see them!  Even the angel Moroni was happy as evidenced by the glow around him.  Three and 1/2 weeks left!!

Safari...so good!

Well, we are down to only 5 weeks left of our stay.  When we arrived in January, we were shown this lovely building above that will eventually be the home for the Audiology students' classrooms.  We were told we could expect to move in "soon".  First the AC wasn't working (this is a new building), then there were too many mosquitos.  However, lovely landscaping has been planted and it is now the end of June and John is still teaching in the patient reception area of the clinic....oh well.  Guess it's not "soon" yet.  News Flash!!  The students got to take their finals in the new building!  So far...so good!

This last weekend we were absolutely delighted to have a visit from Katrina Tolman and Sierra Burris.  They are volunteering in a very small village on the coast about 3 hours drive from here (near the border with Togo) teaching kindergarten.  They decided to come visit for the weekend and they had the opportunity to do baptisms at the temple and help us out at Primary on Sunday.  The mission does not have any wards or branches yet that far east, so they were glad to be able to attend church here.  They took two copies of the Book of Mormon home with them to the village.  Could be a Branch there soon!

On Saturday, we took the girls down to the "Pit" and they had fun shopping.  This lady was busy stringing beads.
Artwork, wood carvings, and leather were in another shop below.  The man in the photo to the right was busy sanding wood to make drums.

I think the girls had the most fun, however, with the wood carvings and the jewelry.  It was delightful having them here.  They filled our apartment with laughter and we were sad to see them go back to the village on Mon. morning.
Monday evening we attended our farewell dinner at a Chinese restaurant.  The food was very good and we were saying good bye to two members of our Area Presidency along with 4 other senior missionary couples, including us!!  It is a tradition to give each couple who is leaving a banner made of the African Kente cloth.  It has our name, Africa West Mission and the dates served.  We were not here as long as most, but we feel very honored to have one.

On Tuesday, some of the sisters invited Ann to go with them to the village of Ayi Mensah, where there is a new school for small children.  The wives of the Church Employees have taken the school on as a project and have raised the money to build 5 classrooms and fill it with desks, chairs and supplies.A few years ago, the wife of the Director of Temporal Affairs found a woman sitting under this huge tree pictured below and she was teaching a small group of children.  When Sally asked what she was doing and found out there was no school nearby for the children in the area, Sally asked what she could do.  The woman suggested a classroom for the children.  The school is a result of that meeting.

Below are  pictures of the school and of the small village homes and the tree in the background.

After visiting the school, we stopped by the TK bead factory.  I explained in a previous blog the importance of beads in the Ghanaian culture.  They are very valuable and significant especially for special occasions.  Above is a photo of a young man painting the glass beads after the powdered glass was put in molds and then melted in a slow clay oven.  It was fascinating to watch the process.  As soon as they are removed from the oven, a hole is put in the beads, then they are cooled and washed and strung.  You can select colors to make your own necklace and bracelet, or you can buy them already finished.

 This last photo is very special.  All the flowers we have seen in Ghana for the last 6 months have been plastic or silk.  We have not seen a single flower shop, and absolutely no fresh flowers anywhere unless they were attached to a bush or a plant.  But...sweet John searched far and wide and found the only place in all of Ghana that actually sold fresh flowers and brought home a dozen BEAUTIFUL roses to say Happy Anniversary.  I was quite touched.  Happy 45 years!!
So far...so good!

Between the Lines

One of our very talented daughters-in-law, Brandi Lyn, began an interesting project this year called the 1 second video.  Each day she and  her family choose one second of their activities to record.  It has become an amazing glimpse into their lives thus far this year.

Here, if you are not in an apartment building, most people live in walled compounds.  In the poorer parts of Accra and other cities and villages, there are small pathways between the tiny metal "sheds" that serve as homes.  In Ghana, as we travel through the city, we glimpse quick seconds of life literally in these tiny alleyways.  Whether it is a child playing in the gutter, a woman sitting on a concrete step with her head in her hands, food in a cooking pot over an open fire, a man standing outside his door brushing his teeth, people getting ready to leave for church, or a mom carefully making her way home with her little girls, we feel like we are getting the real story of Ghana "between the lines".

We had another landmark week this week.  Two of our students hooked up by tele health with a teacher at the University of Utah.  So...clear across the Atlantic ocean and then most of the US.  How cool is that?  

Since our sons had fun fixing up the old Logan Art Cinema a couple years ago, I found them a new theater to work on.  The Rex.  On Sundays they use it for church.

One of our students had some African clothing made for us.  We match!  It was very sweet of her.

Often when we drive to or from work, we see women spreading out these huge sheets of plastic and then spreading large buckets of this white "grain looking" stuff to apparently dry in the sun. Just found out it is Gari, a creamy white grnular flour with a slightly fermented flavor and a slightly sour taste made from fermented, gelatinized fresh cassava tubers.
This is part of the 5 day drying and fermenting process.

Last Saturday we went to a gallery where a group called the Ghanaian Allied Artists bring their wares to display and sell.  It was full of incredible works of art, and some antiques collected over time from villages all over Ghana.  We fell in love with the work of one of the water color artists, but he was a little out of our price range.
 This crab and the fish below are beautiful caskets.
 John didn't want to climb inside so we could show you how they work.

To the right is an old Kente cloth loom.  It is incredible how they pass the designs on down through generations.    The thread is held in the mouth and two hands in order to weave the cloth.

We got a call last Sunday evening from Ike Ferguson (our boss at LDS Charities) who told us that 4 young people who work for World Joy were stranded for the night at the airport before they could go up to Abomosu.  They are teachers and will be working with teachers here in Ghana for 6 weeks on how to effectively teach reading.  So we collected them from Yao, our old driver, and it was fun to have them overnight for a visit.

This is Joseph and his family from our Jamestown Branch.  The little boy is "false advertising".  He is full of spit and vinegar during Sacrament meeting.    We have asked our students how the children do not end up bowlegged after being carried by their Mothers all day long for up to 4 years with their little legs strapped around Mom.  They just laughed at us.
On Sunday, for Father's Day, our Primary sang two songs about Dads in Sacrament Meeting.  It was somewhat strange for some of the children, since the relationship between family members is a little different here in Ghana.  Not too much physical interaction or affection is shown.  The children made Father's Day cards with papers we printed and some crayons and stickers that our sweet grand children, Elijah and Hailey, sent for them.

Lately, some of our students have been posting sweet remarks.  Thought we would include some for our blog so we could save them.
Have a great week!

Graham Amponsah I pray for good health for YOU and PAPA JOHN. May the Almighty God restore every strength you people have lost.I know it has not been easy but you are doing this because of your quest to help change lives and your love for humanity. I pray for abundant blessings in your life and may you live long, long and long because the world needs good people like you two! Ronald Nkansah Adjekum  Where do we go from here...how do we continue to live our lives the same...how do we try to explain this experience that we have right here...ALL I CAN SAY IS MY LIFE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME... I LOVE YOU JOHN AND ANN RIBERA! Williams (after hearing that Ann was ill for a couple of days) sent this text: "Good morning Prof. I would like to find out how our great mother is faring today? I have been praying for her and I believe the healer of healers, the most high God, will make her well. Wishing her speedy recovery. Amen."

"I Bless the Rain Down in Africa...."

We're not sure we ever understood the words to this old song by Toto.  John says it has been misinterpreted as "I left my Brains Down in Africa", which may also be true by the time we return home...

But, the other day while standing at the kitchen window, we blessed the rain.  If you can believe it, things seem greener in the rainy season and the flowers from bushes and trees are re-blooming.  The thunder was so loud it set off our car alarm and the downpour is really something to behold!  It is truly different.

The dust is finally settling from the humanitarian trip and the USU students have uploaded some incredible photos...thanks, guys.  One of them actually caught us smiling!  We are saying goodbye to seven of the senior missionary couples in the next two months, including our Area President, Elder Dickson.  It will be a bit of a turnover here.

Our granddaughter, Emily, sent us this and we thought it was pretty funny.  Interestingly enough, we have not seen any golden arches, but there are 2 Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants!  We have skipped those, too.

It as been a busy week.  John is finishing the last couple of weeks of classes for the students, then there are two weeks of finals.  He was finally able to get into the ENG (balance test) lab this week, which is great since we are running out of time and no one here knows how to use the equipment!  The Deaf School up at Mompong is back in session and 16 of the University of Ghana students and staff are going up this next Sat. to do some screening and work with the children.

No reason to stick this cute little truck in...I just liked it.  It has 3 wheels and is a common type to be seen on the roads.

This gentleman, and we say that seriously, is our favorite policeman in all of Ghana.  We usually stay as far away from police here as we can since they love to harass the "obruni".  This dear man, however, does his very best to make everyone's day delightful.  He directs traffic not far from our apt. during rush hour and always does it with the best of humor and a smile.  He is a treasure!

Speaking of smiles...our student, Joyce, fit a hearing aid at one of the deaf schools and look at the face of the young girl who could suddenly hear sounds.  Precious!








The event of the week here was Thursday when John was invited to speak at a Public Lecture at the School of Allied Health Sciences on "Audiology:  The Emerging Allied Healthcare Profession in Ghana."
The Lecture Hall was standing room only and he gave an interesting (magnificent) presentation.  Our students were in attendance and he introduced them all to the audience.  Our staff at the clinic even closed the clinic and all attended in their 'best dress'.  So sweet!

Photos are a little dark since they turned out the lights to be able to see the slides.

Our incredible students above, except for one.
To the left is a future audiologist peeking in the door of our office.