PICTURES!!

okay well I uploaded all of my pictures to my facebook so yall will all have to go check them out!!

Since I've been back I realized how much I really did love everything about Africa. Some of the kids have actually called me this last week which was so exciting! The day we left was sad and hard. I made it pretty much all the way through my goodbyes without crying....until Lebene came and found me. Then I lost it when he gave me a hug and said he was going to miss me. What made it worse was when I got back to the house, a girl named Melissa was like you crushed Lebene. I said what are you talking about? and she said that while I was down in the front of the school he was up on the balcony just staring at me with a blank expression. Then I was even more sad for leaving! But I got to talk to him the other day and it was so good to hear his voice! I know that one day soon we will see each other again!! 

Here is a little preview of some of my favorites 

Kakum Canopy walk

Brittany out in the waves

Lebene

cuties

love them 

terrifying spider we found right behind my head

beautiful Sarah 

Tilton education building

classroom i taught in 

  Stephen :]

Seth

Ghanaians vs. Americans football game. 

...we lost! 

Lebene loves taking pictures with me

Shirts we painted for the USA vs Ghana world cup game

Victoria 

some boarder boys 

Lebene...last night in Africa

Back home in TEXAS :] we figured we'd bring back some Ghana pride! 

but go check out my facebook for alot more pictures!!! 

Well tonight is our last night. We had church and at the end we had to go sit in the front and the house parents made a circle around us and everyone sang. We were hoping they sang this one song but they didnt, which is allright. When they were done they all came around and either shook our hand or gave us a hug. Ah today was weird. We walked around with my video camera and pretty much video taped everything. I wanted to bring this place back home and I figured it be the best way. Today I was up at the field hanging out with Victoria during her pe period. We were just talking and she told me she was from the Volta region. I love love this girl, shes so sweet. She told me that she never knew her parents and that she lived with her stepmom. She had a stepsister who got everything and when she asked for something she got nothing. She said that she started working on a boat, and lived with the people she worked for. Im assuming her stepmom sold her to these people. She had to help them fish and she said that she would have to dive down and bring the net to the boat then pull it up into the boat. She showed Laci scars on her feet from where she had been abused. Then she picked up a stick and said that when she got to the village of Hope, she looked like that because she was only fed once a day. If you had just met her you would never in a million years think that she'd gone through anything like that. I asked her if it was scary and she said oh yes, ecspecially when you get caught in the net. The sad part is that she just sitting there talking to her, she pointed out many other kids who came from the same place as her. I think so many people are blind to the fact that slavery is still very much a problem. It happens every single day. I have gotten close to her brother Mawuli the past few weeks and I asked him if he'd ever want to go back to where hes from and he got really serious and said NO. I asked him that before I even knew where he came from. One thing being here that Ive noticed is that some kids have weird scars on their faces. One boy, Ebenezer, has 3 little lines on the corner of his eyes and the corner of his mouth. I asked Victoria if she knew what that was and she said that they are 'traditional marks' When you are born someone in your village marks you so if you are ever lost or something happens they will know if you belong to their village or not. Crazy world over here.
   On a lighter note, I got married tonight. Haha.....not really. But after church I walked back with all the older boarders and one of them had my ring. So when I went to get it from him this guy named Isaac came over and said why are you not wearing my ring. I was so confused at first but then I remembered that earlier this morning he told me that I was his wife, so I just went along with it. Anyways tonight Mustafa got my bible and opened it up and was pretending to be a preacher and asked Isaac if he would have me as his wife and he said I do, then it was my turn and I declined. They all thought that was hilarious and then I said ah 'just kidding!...But really I dont know how yall do it in Africa..but im not really marrying him right' and they all started laughing again and were like no no...this is just a preview of how the real thing will be like in a year or 2. So watch out American boys, I already have someone waiting for me here. :]
  Tomorrow the kids start their exams and luckily have a good hour of a break so that's when we will go up to the school to say our goodbyes. I was talking to Lebene tonight and he told me if I cried I couldnt see him. He then said he might cry a little and shoot if he starts then its over for me. If I had to call someone my best friend here, it would without a doubt be him. Im going to miss all these kids alot, but im really going to miss him. Right now were watching kicking and Screaming and Brittany's packing her bag and it really hasnt hit me that im leaving this place tomorrow. Maybe it's because we've been here for so long and im just like eh its going to be like any other Thursday. I dont know...Tonight I was talking to Chealsea and she said that you should think of these kids as those family members you get to see only once a year and when you do see them you cherish every minute. That helped me out alot because it's so true. I get facebook notifications sent to my email and Ive already had some of the older kids ask to be my friend so that makes me real excited...ill have some way to relay messages to other kids here faster then a letter.

My plane leaves tomorrow at 1040 I think. We got from here to London..hang out in London for a little while, then head to FORTWORTH! and we land there at 340. So fire works just randomly went off...thats weird. Ah maybe its from a boat out in the water that needs help. HAHA scared Brittany to death. ahahaha.

Well this will be my last post in Africa. I will forever hold this place near and dear to my heart and I cant wait to come back here again. Whether it be for a week or a year. I know that I will be doing things to help this place out in whatever way possible. Hope whoever who has been actually keeping up with this..enjoyed it! :] 

Texas Bound Tomorrow.

God is Good..ALL the time.

Loveyouall.

Shelby

Well we did our last day of taking over for the 1st and 2nd grade classes. Thank the Lord. But to be honest I really didnt have that bad of a time. I really did luck out with my kids. There were 1 or 2 kids that were trouble but those are in every classroom. I went over to Brittanys class today and she had some kid up at the board writing 'I will never disrespect my teacher' hahahah. He looked so mad and so did she. I sure did take a picture and it's priceless.
Sidenote to mom: Mark, one of the boys from the book, was in my class. Thought you'd appreciate that. It's so weird to think that tomorrow is our last full day here. Tonight I was over in one of the houses and they wanted to look at my pictures from America. So I was showing them pictures and it made me more and more excited to get back home.
 
                                             ::FAMILY::We went up and talked to Araba about what time we are leaving on thursday and we get to leave right after lunch which is good because then we will be able to go up to the school to say our last goodbyes to the kids. Everyone who knows me knows that im not a cryer, but i guarentee I will be crying on Thursday and I am not looking forward to it. All I hear now is..'well when will you be back'.  I wish I had an answer to give them. But when we leave we will drive to Accra and go to the open market which im really excited about...so if you have anything you'd like me to get you email me and i'll try to get it! Brittany is nervous about going to the market because we keep telling her she has to hold her ground and try to get the prices down and shes like ahhh im too nice I cant do it! haha so she will be our entertainment for the day! So today in class I was sitting at the desk while the kids where doing some problems I made up for them and this boy came up to me and asked me a question. He is the cutest little boy ever named Shine. I call him sunshine, he is 10 and precious. Well he came up to me and goes shelby, i need to go shit. And i was like WHAT?! excuse me? and he said it again and I was just like shine! and he was like what? i need to go to the bathroom. I was caught off guard at first but couldnt help but laugh. Cuss words in America are not bad words here. The other night Lebene put up his middle finger and was like hey what does this mean and I was just like uhm, its not something nice so dont do it. Then the next day he came up to me and was like shelby, what does fu*k you mean. Haha it was one of those moments where I really didnt know how to answer him. I just told him its a mean way of saying go away. When the kids get mad here instead of cussing, like im used to hearing they say 'are you mad??' Oh I have so many saying that I have picked up here that I know I will be saying when I get back home.

   We will be going to a mexican food restraunt for dinner on friday after get                               off the airplane. okay thanks!


Anyways one of the girls made some pineapple upside down cake so we are about to eat some and it smells delicoussss! :] so goodbye from now.
 

The fact of the matter is, we are all blind, and our only solution is to pray that God will show us our blindness.

wow may the Lord bless all the teachers out there. Today I taught 2nd grade. I had them for science for the first half and PE for the second half. Today made me very happy with my decision to veto education as my major. Maybe it is just the kids here, but good Lord they were awful. I actually had my class under control and we played this review game which was pretty fun, but Laci and Brittany's class were honestly spawns of the man downstairs. When I was on break I would go in and see if either of them needed help and haha I walked into Brittany's class and she was threatening to cane them. One kid was on top of another choking him. Words cannot describe how crazy they act at times. I feel like people think were over exagerating when we tell them what we dealt with today, but were not at all. Im just so glad that it looks like I got the better class out of the 3. :] But we have to do it tomorrow too. I have Math and English, should be fun. I told them if they were real good i'd get them some toffey...now I just got to go find some!

I wrote alot of goodbye letters to the kids and passed them out today. It was sad. They love getting letters and writing you back while your here. I have a pile of them in my journal. This past week I have been bringing my laptop to different houses and letting the kids watch a movie on it. They have a tv to do it but I guess its 'more fun' to have it on a computer. Tonight we watched Free Willy. There was one part where the whale jumped out of the water and this little girl jumped back into her seat, I couldnt help but bust out laughing. Brittany came with me tonight and I looked over and told her that I would love to put in a scary movie and watch it with these kids. She told me I was an awful person haha.   I got an email from my mom today and she told me she was reading the book 'Jantsen's Gift' by Pam Cope. For those of you who dont know, she helped free come kids from Lake Volta here in Africa and was actually on the Oprah show talking about this. Well there is a part of her book that talks about the Village of Hope because that is where 7 of the kids she helped are at. My mom gave me a list of the names of the kids in the book asking me if I knew any of them. Crazy thing is that I went to a house devotion tonight, and sat next to Hagar, one of the girls mentioned in the book. I know 2 of the other kids in the book as well. I cant wait to get home and read it! Anyways thought that was cool!

Well the countdown has begun, I officially leave in T-minus 3 days. Which means I will be back in the States in 4 days. That means I get to take a hot shower, eat some mexican food, and hang out with the family. Life will be good, but like I say in every one of these posts, Im really going to miss these kids. Being here really makes me understand why some people want to be foster parents. These kids have it sooo good here! This place is amazing. I was talking to one lady that was here a few weeks ago and she was talking about how she's been to a 'childrens home' before and left there wanting to adopt every kid, but after being here she said she has nothing to offer these kids. They really do have it made. There all so respectful and do what their told, well for the most part, haha not in our classroom this morning. But yeah these kids have truly been blessed and I cant wait to show you all their precious faces! Well Lord willing, I will be back here one day..thats what I keep telling them when they ask when im coming back.

OH haha morgan and mckenzie--your in a few pictures on my screen savor on my computer and the kids are always like ah! are those your twin sisters! they love seeing pictures of you, and they dont understand why I have different hair color than you. They told me that when I come back I will have to bring you two so they can be friends with you too! Sooooo ready to come back to Africa with me :] haha

'Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more that standing in a garage makes you a car'

                     -Billy Sunday

'This was not something we chose. It is something God put in our path. Wherever He leads, we will follow'

                            -John Thomas

So I cant tell yall how weird it is to think that I will be in Texas at the end of this week. It is for sure a bitter sweet thought. I just got an email from my mom telling me that our caregroup sent me something. Thanks you guys! but sadly....I really doubt I will be around when it gets here. Mailing here is insane. I was asking someone about it the other day out of curiosity and they told me it takes about 10 days to get from the US to Accra, then anywhere from a day to a month to get it from Accra to Fettah, which is where the village is at. But I'll let someone know here that it's coming so it will be all good :]

Tonight was the WORLD CUP! Spain won it all!!!! I was so happy they beat the netherlands...dont have anything against them, I just like Spain better! Today when I was walking back from church, I was walking with this boy named stephen, which is Seths twin brother, anyways we were just walking and I said well, this is my last Sunday here..so crazy! and he was like dont say that! and I was just like, well why..its true. And he told me that when you say that it makes the days go by alot faster and I dont want these days to go by fast. Stuff like that is what is really going to make me miss this place. There are a few kids that each are going to have a piece of my heart when I leave. Brittany calls them my little gang. Because when i'm out there always around.

Tomorrow we have to take over 4 classes. 1&2 grade teachers are going to some teaching seminar so we are the lucky ones that get to take over while their gone. The best part is that 1&2 grade is the craziest class here. They are little heathens, but hopefully we will be okay. Exams start on Thursday so all we have to do is help them review..should be interesting. But on a lighter note everything is good in the village. I get facebook notifications sent to my email and some of yalls comments have made my day. Even though I cant comment back right now...just know that I do see them! We leave in 4 days...holy smokes. I was talking to one of the older kids today, Shaibu, and he was just talking about how I have to go back home. He said that I cant just get up and leave everything behind and move here, even though that would be awesome, but you have to go back and finish school and see your family and friends, and then you can come back here. I told him he had a deal and that I would see him again one day. So with that said.....I will be returning to this place.HOPEFULLY next year, Lord willing.

Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with Action can change the world.

          - Joel Barker

ah so we have not been able to get the internet to work for the past 2 days so that is why I havent been keeping this updated! my appologies.

  Hmm. Thursday we spent pretty much the whole day out at the beach. We left here around 10 and didnt get back till 415ish. It was nice to get away. The beach was completely empty so it was just Brittany, Laci and me. So fun. We ate at tills and they have this big cabana thing like at Jetty east...minus the grills. I got a little sunburnt but it's gone now.

  Yesterday we found out that we had to do something with all the kids at the school from 12-3. Thats a good 600 kids and 10 of us. All the teachers had this big meeting and they didnt want to let the kids go home early..why im not sure. Anyways we decided to do this mini field day. We had different stations that we made them go to. One was put your forehead on a bat, spin 5 times and shoot a soccer ball. Easy fun stuff like that. I was on the volleyball quart and I was supposed to have this relay where you go back to back with a ball between you and your partners back and we did it like 4 times and no one was really that excited about it. So me being the people pleaser, said forget that lets play football on this side and volleyball on this side. Needless to say, they liked that idea much better! Last night we had a time of prayer and praise. It was originally supposed to be an all-nighter. From 10 until 4. To us thats a random time, but these kids go to sleep every night at 9 and wake up at 4, so to them its an allnighter. Instead, thankfully, it got chaged to 6-7. When that was over everyone had to go back to their own houses and continue to have prayer time until you went to bed. We went over to Tommy's house and while sitting there you could here kids in different houses singing at the top of their lungs in twi. When they sing here, they YELL and its awesome! We were praying for different things and a point came up that its amazing to hear those kids singing in a different language because even though we have no idea what they are saying, God does. I've never really thought about that, he knows every language in the world. Languages we've never even heard of. I got some of the singing on video and once again, I wish so bad I could show all yall right now. One of the main things we prayed about last night was the needs of this place. As much stuff and volunteers this place gets, they have no funds to help with the kids who have graduated and want to go on to college. There is one boy here, Francis, well hes graduated highschool and has always said, since he was little that he was going to go to school in America. He found out that he was given a full scholorship to Oklahoma Christian but he doesnt have the money to fly there. So everyone here is trying to pull their resources together to get him to oklahoma! Anyways, we take for granted the opportunity to go to any sort of college. Education here is the way out for these kids. I found out that for a WHOLE year of college..including boarding and everything it is $2500-3000 per person. Thats one semester at ACU..blows my mind.
   I feel like since i have been here, stuff like that is made more real. I mean I always knew that Africa was extremely poor and that many people die daily, but until your here, and drive through those towns and look those people in the eye, it really doesnt hit home. I have 5 days left here. It seems like it was forever ago since I left home, but at the same time it seems like just yesterday. Today we woke up this morning and I went out and helped the kids with chores. We moved dirt from one house to another. We put the dirt in big buckets and then carried them up on our head. It was fun, they thought it was exciting that I was out there helping!

 Anways hope everything is good back home.....see you in 5 days. so weird!

Loveyouall

**Acts 1:8**

haha so today I realized how bad of a farmers tan I have...its really bad. Thank you Braxton and Devon for not only moving your wedding up but for also having it in Costa Rica, where it is hot...my arms are going to look realllll good. :] just kidding loveyouboth!

 So funny story, when we went to the Elmina Castle in Cape Coast awhile ago, I met this guy named kingsley and the only reason I started talking to him is because he wanted to get a picture with him me and laci. Anyways after awhile he asked for my email address so he could send me the picture. To my suprise...I got an email from him today as well as the picture. Its actually really good! But we've been emailing back and forth and he plays football for some team i dont know, he talked about it like i knew exactly what team he played for. Everyone is extremely friendly and hospitable here. May be because im an American and they really do put Americans on petastools. Today I was out on the field playing soccer with some of the kids during PE and this field isnt a nice grass field, its dirt and gravel with many random wholes that have been washed out by rain. Anyways I was running for the ball and completely wasnt paying attention to the ground I guess because I ate it. I stepped back into a whole and went down on my knee. When I got up, I looked down at my knee and it was all bloody and gross. ALL the kids told me they were sorry. I was like it was completely my fault its okay. Even after we went back up to the school kids would come up to me and be like 'Shelby! you are hurt!' They were all so concerned. Lebene and me were walking back when school was out and he started pushing me towards the clinic. I kept saying I didnt need to go there and he said since I made him go he was going to make me go. But dont worry, Im pretty positive I will survive this injury :]
   Yesterday Lebene wrote me a note and said he was sorry that he didnt talk to me alot that day and that i seemed unhappy that he wasnt talking to me. Then at the end of the note he said, this is the one thing i want to tell you, "Did you know out of all my friends, you are the one I like best?" Then I felt bad for seeming 'unhappy' but all is good now. We hung out today and played some volleyball. I wish SO SO SO bad I could upload pictures on this and just show you what I see everyday or who Im talking about when i say Lebene or Seth or the nurse at the clinic....That will deff. be one thing I do when I get home & im so excited to show anyone and everyone whose actually keeping up with this!


NINE days until we leave. I think it's starting to kick into the kids minds because whenever I bring it up they get real quiet and dont want to talk about it. There have been a few groups of people come and go while we've been here and alot of the kids have said well we were sad when they left because we dont really know them, but were going to be real sad when you leave. 6 weeks is a long time but right now it feels like I havent been here that long. There are still some kids that Ive just met this week. I only hope if you ever get the chance to come here you will take it. The kids here have the ability to change your life if you let them. Some of them already know how to push my buttons to annoy me. Ecspecially Seth, and hes been taking advantage of that lately. But thats a whole other story!
  Being here really makes living somewhere else a real ambition of mine and something I would like to do one day. The nurse Corrin moved here 3 months ago after selling all of her stuff. She is crazy! She visited this place a few years ago, then came back last year and when she got back home she walked off the airplane and said, I cant live here anymore. She went and sold all her stuff, moved to Africa and is living in the clinic and is doing it strictly voluntary. She's not geting paid on cent. I went up and was talking to her today about just living here, one thing about the ghanaian culture is that you have to get married. Its taboo for you not to, because you always need someone to help you with different things. And Corrin is divorced and here by herself and they just couldnt believe it. But she told me that she became a christian 5 years ago and that she could not be more happy with where she is at with herself. Her story is awesome and I told her I dont think I could handle moving somewhere completely different by myself. But God has a plan for each one of us and who knows, maybe one day ill be back here for more than just 6 weeks!! haha



 Love you all!
--Shelby

well Happy 4th of July yall. :]

Today all that kept occuring in my mind was the fact that all of you guys back home probably layed out by the pool all day, or better yet was out on the boat all day and then going to go watch fireworks tonight. Kinda sad im missing that...I spent today going to church, then hanging out with the kids, playing some good ole sand volleyball, and then watching the movie the orphan. I'd seen it before but there were still a few parts that made me jump. Brittany full out screamed in one part and i laughed sooo hard.

Today this group that had been here for 2 weeks left. They are from Memphis. They spent their time here going to Senya, a town about 15min from here doing VBS at the church. So we really didnt get to know them all that well since they were gone alot. We got to know one of the guys, Seth pretty well because he actually got here before them and went to Abetifi with us to that school. Little fact, since Ive been here, there have been 5 visiting people who have gotten malaria while staying here. So glad I havent gotten it....yet.

Yesterday Lebene was being stupid, well he was being a boy, and he was trying to jump over benches and didnt jump high enough and fell on it. He cut the space between his thumb and pointer finger. When I say cut, I mean huge gash....I thought I didnt get sick when I saw stuff like that but I had to turn away when they were cleaning it. Today I took him up to the clinic to get it properly bandaged and they barely had enough stuff to do something simple like that. He was a trooper, he flinched when she poured the alcohol on it but besides that he kept reassuring me it didnt hurt. He was really quiet around the nurse, I was the one who talked to her. He's the kind of kid who only really is himself around certain people I guess. He's really grown on me, he used to never talk and now im the one he always comes to see. But Cory, the nurse put all this gause on his hand and it looks like he has a white boxing glove on his right hand. haha I kept giving him a hard time about it today.

Well start of a new week, our last full week at that. Still blows my mind that we've been here this long and we leave next week. Ive promised myself that I will be back here one day. I dont care who comes with me...just know that if you want to come with me, be prepared to leave a little bit of your heart behind!

'For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works'

Ephesians 2:10

Well yesterday was a sad day for some of the kids....Ghana lost in OT and penalty kicks. The game started off awesome because we scored in the first half and I dont think I have ever seen a group of people so excited before. kids ran out of the campus center screaming, came back with huge african drums and we had a full out dance party!! It was probably the coolest thing Ive been a part of since I got here. Everyone was soooo happy. But saddly the happiness came to and end and some of the kids by me even cried. They take soccer real seriously here.
  Today was had planned to walk down to the beach but it was cloudy most of the day so we just hung around the village. I played some sand volleyball and that was fun. The kids love love taking my phone and listening to music. Some of them have realized how soon it is till we leave and they've all said they dont want us to go and their going to be really sad when were gone. Makes me sad but also is reasuring to know that i've been making a difference in some of these kids lifes. Tonight we had a party in the campus center and gave the kids these ice cream things that they love and had another dance party. It was so much fun...these kids can dance! They get down and crazy even the little ones. It so funny. towards the end of the night some of the older kids came out and brought the big drums and had this african dance thing. I got some of it on video, which im so happy I had my phone because it was so awesome! Anyways I just looked over and something on our washer broke and water is going everywhere. so I think i am going to go try and be a handy man and help out :] haha

P.S for anyone reading who has thought about sending stuff somewhere in need, the clinic here is in great need of simple supplies. Bandages, goss, ointment, just simple over the counter drugs. They are pretty much out. The clinic here does not turn down anyone, so that means people come here with no money in their pockets and leave with medicine. I was talking to Cory, the nurse there and she told me that healthcare is about $7 a YEAR and some people cant even afford that. And usually when people send stuff here its for the village and the kids, which is great and they love getting new stuff, but very rarely does the clinic ever get some help.  Just thought i'd add this since ive been helping work in there :]

God is good..ALL the time.

I can not believe that it is already July! We have been here for a month, time goes by so fast. I literally have no sence of time here. I didn't know it was July until I got on the computer. Yesterday a group from Alabama got here. There is 6 of them and they have the best southen accent ever...its so funny. They came with their church and have been doing work in the plains and the group that came to the village wanted to see this place so they are just here for a few days. Apparently there is another group coming next week. We never really know until they actually walk into the door.

   Today I went and helped at the clinic again. They are re-doing their medical charts so thats what i've been doing in there. Its easy work, they keep telling us that they thought they would never get done so we've been a blessing. Nice to know your help is wanted :] But today while I was going through them, I was reading one of the medical histories and realized it was a chart of a boy that i LOVE here. He's a twin, his name is Seth and from the first time I met him I noticed this bald spot on the top back of his head. It's about a quarter in size...never really thought anything of it. Well in his chart it has his family history, and it said that both his parents are mentally ill and his grandmother has problems with mental illness as well. Then I kept reading to find out that his scar on the top of his head was inflicted by his mother. I havent stopped thinking about it since I saw it this morning. Just makes me realize how truly blessed I am to have been born into a loving family. I was talking to the main nurse about it and she was telling me that mental illness here isnt always what we think it is. Here in Africa, if you have epilepsy you are sent to a psych ward. They just think so differently and arent really very knowledgable in areas like that. Anywayssss...

  We have 2 weeks left here so it's starting to feel like crunch time, take alot of pictures, always be outside with the kids, just stuff like that. Tonight Ghana plays so were all going to be up in the campus center watching the game. If they win tonight, they will be the first african team to make it to the semi finals in world cup history. So tonight is a really big game!!!!

Hope everything is still going good back home, last I heard it was. I miss all yall but like i've said alot I absolutely love it here. Haha Brittany says that I have a little gang of boys that are always with me. Its going to be soo hard leaving them!

muchlove.

shelby