Ghana Trip Journal: Day 4

Today we were rolling by 9am and went to take a look at the basketball courts where Mark’s team practices and plays some of their games.

After a quick tour we then made our way over to our pizza joint meeting spot to hand out uniforms to Mark’s team. This would make it official that their new team name is Kingdom Hoops Ghana!

African pizza doesn't quite taste the same as it does here. The crust is very flat, almost like a tortilla. However, I think I ate pizza for lunch 3 days in a row....I needed a break from chicken!

Mark's wife, Amina, and I eating our yummy lunch. Amina plays professional soccer for the Ghana National Team. She is the team captain! We've heard she is the best player on the team, but she is very humble and shy so you would never know it!

We ate pizza as Mark and Jake gave speeches about what it means to be a Kingdom Hoops player, and the opportunities for education available in the United States through the platform of sports. I’ll pause here by saying that these boys love basketball, but what they are really after is an education. This is a foreign idea to many Americans…it too often is the other way around here...sports first, education second. But, in Ghana, education is held up on the highest, highest, highest, pedestal. To Ghanaians, education means breaking the cycle of poverty that almost every family finds itself in. If you are never able to get yourself out of Ghana, you will likely be there your entire life, selling something on the street, unless you are one of the few who are able to work hard enough or catch enough breaks to find a job. And, jobs as we know it are very scarce in Ghana. To these boys, the opportunity to come to the United States and receive an education would be the biggest and best dream that they could ever have come true. And, hopefully, those who get this opportunity will eventually come back to Ghana and help their country. Sadly, not every single boy on this team is going to be able to get the chance to come to the U.S. So far, Jake only knows how to scholarship these older boys through the means of basketball. Which means, they have to have some sort of basketball talent for the opportunity. Many of these boys are 18 and 19 years old, which means their next move is college. They have no money, so the only option is for them to somehow receive a scholarship at a college to play basketball. That is where Jake comes in. His goal is to get these kids seen by college scouts, to wake the world up to Africa basketball, and to work hard to help these kids get opportunities for education in the U.S. There is also a way in which potential college students in Ghana can apply to study here in the U.S. without the use of sport. However, with this route the potential student has to find a sort of host family either in Ghana or the U.S. that will vouch for them and say they will help them financially through school. You all already know, that this has spurred Jake to start his Kingdom Hoops hosting program in which younger kids can come to the U.S. on a student visa and attend a private high school. For this sort of situation, they don’t have to necessarily have basketball talent. However, the future hope is that any potential host students will be identified out of Jake & Mark’s Kingdom Hoops Ghana program once they can start developing and training younger teams. Hopefully that all makes sense. I just want you all to understand the yearning of these kids to come to the U.S. for education. It’s at a whole different level than how many American children view education.

So, back to the pizza joint! Jake handed out brand spankin new Kingdom Hoops uniforms to some very excited guys! Here is ‘Big Sam’ after he got his uniform:

Big Sam is the next student to be part of the hosting program. He is supposed to be here by the end of January…he is still waiting on final approval of his visa. He will be staying with the Gerlach Family in Des Moines and will attend Des Moines Christian Highschool. He is 16 years old so he will have two years in highschool. So far, Jake only knows how to coordinate his hosting program with private schools. Because of the type of visa these kids are coming to the U.S. on (F-1 visas) it is very complicated to get them into the public school system. It is a different process than a typical foreign exchange student program. However, the future hope is to be able to coordinate with the public school system as well.

Two of Mark’s players also spoke to the group, thanking Mark and Jake over and over for starting to pave the way of opportunity for them. These kids are SO GRATEFUL and VERY well-spoken. To hear these words coming from teenage boys was just unreal. They are so humble and just overflowing with gratitude.

The team ends the meeting in prayer.

After lunch and the meeting with the team we went to Mark and his wife’s house so they could show us their place. Mark & Amina live in a village right near Accra. Their house consists of a living room that is about 10ft by 10ft and a bedroom about the size of an American’s master bathroom, if even that. They also have a small corner with cooking supplies designated as the kitchen. This is where they live, along with their 7 year old son. Other than being in the chief’s house, this was the first time we had actually gotten to go inside one of the little houses found in these villages. I was quite in shock as we sat in their living room in the dark because the electricity was out. I had not at all expected that Mark and his wife also lived in one of these tiny houses with a metal roof. I wanted to take pictures so that I wouldn’t have to figure out how to describe it. But, this has been one of the thousands of times when pictures are just not appropriate. I wanted to dig for my camera when we came out of Mark’s front door and were greeted by a group of baby ducklings and goats, or when I looked across the street and saw a young mother hand-washing her clothes in a giant bin, or when I peered into a store to see a woman sewing beautiful African garments that she would sell, or when I saw a little 3 year old girl with an extended belly running barefoot through the dirt – dodging metal and glass, or when I saw two paralyzed little men sitting on the shoulder of the road dragging themselves around with their hands, or when I see the young boy pushing his wheel-chair bound grandmother up to the cars to beg for food. These are the moments I wish I had in pictures, because they leave me speechless and I am experiencing them every minute. Some of the moments are beautiful, and some are dreadful. And, I want to share them. But I know that these people do not want to feel like they are specimens for Americans. I don’t blame them. I wouldn’t either. They know that they are poor. They know their country is in a state of desperation. Ghanaians will tell you themselves that they are waiting for their Deliverer. “Help is coming,” they say with a smile. They talk about it on the radio. They hold conversations about it in restaurants. It is the subject of sermons at church. They know that their country is severely impoverished. They will mention it time and time again. They know they have starving children. They know that much of their population is illiterate and uneducated. And yet, they hold their heads up high and carry on. Because they know there is no other choice. What else can they do except wait for someone to help them? They want help! I’ve heard it so many times since being here. Ghanaians will tell you face to face that they lack the vision and ideas to better their country. We heard this exact line from 3 different people in the past few days, and I’ve also heard both Nana Yaw & Esi mention the same thing. But they say, “If someone will show us how, if someone will teach us, we would do it.”

Today was the first day that I felt this intense feeling in my soul to cry out for these people. It’s not stemming from pity. It’s stemming from frustration on behalf of these people. I just want to cry out! Does anyone see all this trash lying around? Somebody start a garbage disposal system. Somebody put up garbage cans every ¼ of a mile on every street and get garbage trucks to come pick it up and take it to the dump. It’s no wonder the water is contaminated and undrinkable here…every single river and waterway is trashed with litter and old food and feces and animal remains. Does anyone else notice the construction workers out there on the roads using primitive hand tools? It takes them 20 times longer to build anything because they have no machines or modern equipment. Somebody help them! Does anyone know how to start a massive water filtration system so that these people can use and drink their water? Someone, show them how to do it! Somebody, please, organize the traffic! Somebody, please start schools here with free education! Somebody, please help these people farm every inch of their land so that no one goes hungry! Somebody, please find a way to bring jobs to this country so that little 6 and 7 year old children don’t have to sell bags of water on the side of the road! Somebody, please set up shelters for the homeless women and children that line the streets and beg for food and money! Somebody, teach these homeless women how to sew, how to do hair, how to basket weave, something so that they can learn how to provide for themselves and their children. Somebody, ANYBODY, help! These thoughts are endless in my mind today, and they just swirl around and talk back and forth to each other in my head. I am just frustrated for these people today. They are in this never ending cycle of poverty and I am feeling the weight of their bondage in my heart today. They just so desire someone to reach out and help them. And if someone would, they would be so grateful. They are a kind and loving people. And have I mentioned that, somehow, through all of this, hope reigns in this country? There is this spirit here among these people that is so uplifting…..even amongst all of this tragedy. These people are expectant, waiting, hope-filled. They carry on, and wait for their deliverer.

Okay, deep breath. I’m done freaking out now.

Well, after we visited Mark and Amina’s house we went back to the hotel to meet with ‘Big Sam’ and his mother. Big Sam’s mom is very excited and nervous about Sam’s soon departure to the U.S. so she wanted to speak with Jake and and talk it over one more time.

Sam’s mom gave us a gift as a thank you…..it was one of those wraps that the women use to sling their babies on their backs with (I still need to get a picture of that for you). It was the most beautiful fabric! However, I am quite sure Jayla will not let me attach her to me with it, so I think I may use it as a table runner instead. :)

After our time with Sam and his mom we said goodbye to everyone for the night since we all would be heading to church in the morning at 6:30am! Jake and I went back to the room and put together the goodie bags which we would be handing out to the children of Samuel’s village in less than 1 ½ days!

BIG smile when I think about getting these bags into those little hands! I can't wait!