Ghana Journey: LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE

Monday 10 June 2013

Rain. As we departed this morning for an orphanage, rain started coming down, light but steady. Wouldn't you know? Every day I've been dragging this essentially useless rain-proof windbreaker during the hot sunny days. On the day I decide to leave the jacket in my hotel room, it starts to rain. Oh, well. 

Today we visited the Nazareth Home for God's Children in the Sang Village Community, Yendi. It is an orphanage for children who are abandoned because of physical disability or, in some cases, simply for being born on a day of natural disaster or calamity. In some villages, such children are feared and blamed as harbingers of bad fortune, witchcraft and even death. Their presence in a family is sometimes considered as a curse; hence, they are abandoned or even killed. Unfortunately, such superstition still persists with some tribes.

The Marian Sisters of Eucharistic Love heard of the plight of these children and opened up a home for them here in Yendi. There are 35 children here between 6 months and 16 years old. Each of them are lovely, smiling souls who immediately capture your heart when they meet you.

When we stepped into the orphanage's main square the children were standing together as a choir, and they greeted us with a happy song. "We welcome you! We welcome you!" They were each dressed in their Sunday best, and it was really touching to see the genuine joy in their faces. One of the Sisters directed the choir from the back row by intoning the first line of each song. They sang a few more tunes in their own language, then launched into an uplifting rendition of "This Little Light of Mine." Our group happily chimed in and then returned the gesture by singing our songs for them. Music truly is a universal language of goodwill. 

We were shown a video of the orphanage that told their story on national television. Then our group brought a gift: paint! The old exterior walls were in need of brightening, so we got straight to work on giving them a fresh coat of salmon and blue.  So for a couple of hours we painted the front walls and the entry hall, with a little help from some children who were eager to participate. 

The orphanage staff gave us a delicious simple lunch of vegetable rice jollof and baked chicken. Sadly, it was time to leave our new friends, but not before another singalong. Val, Alsy, Greg and Sarah sang "Over the Rainbow" in stunning harmony as Sarah accompanied on her ukelele.

Ben saw a little toddler on the floor who was crying because she was unable to walk and felt left out of the party. So Ben scooped her up in his arms and she hugged him tightly as they watched us sing "The Cry of the Poor," "This Little Light of Mine," and "Trading My Sorrows," with one energetic boy leading the gestures with Val. That was followed by formal farewell speeches by an older girl and boy -- lovely sentiments in perfect English that were memorized and delivered to perfection. Finally, Sister led the children in a goodbye blessing song as we reluctantly got into our van and drove away as our little friends smiled and waved.

I will never complain about the rain again. After such a powerful experience of joy and hope, I don't know if I will ever be the same.