August

Hello friends!

Wow, what a month. Feels like ages ago at this point but Coming of Age kicked off the month here! Coming of Age is a week long “retreat” for students reaching maturity where they learn life lessons and spiritual lessons. There is so much potential with this program. This year was special because we had students from the outside community join! The ritual to recognize girls reaching maturity in communities around here is much more diminishing for young women so it was incredible that community members wanted different things for their kids. My role for the week was as one of the girls deans which included waking the girls at 5:30 AM, making sure they get where they need to be on time (a struggle), being present for as much as possible throughout the week, and getting them in their rooms with the lights out at 9 PM. This year, we faced many challenges and I had to consistently remind myself how special it was to even be here in Ghana in the presence of these students who are coming from so many different backgrounds. Despite the challenges, the week was incredible. We had a lot of fun and I continue to pray that they learned from the lessons and activities.

A huge blessing this month was getting to join the Aecheampong family for a weekend away at a lodge nearby, the Stone Lodge. Three days of REST. And warm water! The time away reenergized me for the busy weeks that were ahead!

After a week of exams at the beginning of August, the school went on a vacation for a few weeks! We still have 1 week left on this break. The first week of break was jam packed with sports and activities for the kids! The guys who planned did an incredible job! Everyone was split into three teams, blue, orange, and yellow, and we competed throughout each activity to earn points. So many fun memories from that week and a great time in community.

The week after the activities was basketball camp! A team from Cape Coast came to CORM and led basketball training and games for everyone and it was so much fun. The drills and games brought me back to my old days of basketball on the Lady Bombers and Kessel. It was also a joy to spend time with the team from Cape Coast. Always great to make new friends! My main struggle for this week: SORENESS! The first few days of training had me walking like an old lady. But, again, such a great week for community and more connection with some of the staff ladies.

In the final week of break, we will have more activities for the teams to compete and then we will be heading to the pool at a nearby hotel for a couple days of swimming! Since there are many kids, the little kids will go the first day and the older kids will go day two. I am sure it will be a blast!

Vacation from school has been full of rest and tons of fun, and I also am feeling excited to jump back into school to continue my work there. During the next bit of time at school, I will be focused on completing math assessments to determine where students are at and find some gaps in their learning that we can address for future classes. Praying this work is fruitful!

Overall, my spirit is at peace following what I feel called to in these days. Every day is not perfect or anywhere near but God continues to send blessings throughout the good and the bad days. I am grateful for the opportunity to be here and learn so much from the people around me, so a huge thank you to my supporters!!

Blessings: Amazing community, rest, physically strong, endless opportunities to spend time with the kids, patient friends who are helping me learn the language Twi

Prayer requests: Continued opportunities to connect with the staff ladies, continued physical health, energy entering back into school, more opportunities to experience more of Ghana, strength to battle any loneliness

Thank you all so much for your support throughout this time. I cannot believe its already been 2 months! Days are slow, but weeks go by QUICK!

Here are some pictures from the past month!