Hi everyone,

Thought that it was about time that I sent further news from Ghana to update you on what is going on and what I have been up to.  The months just seem to whiz by and it's hard to believe that you have had spring and that we are about to enter into May!  Gets all very confusing when life here feels like one long hot summer season.

The end of last term was busy at New Nation School with reports being written and the older secondary children gearing up for their International GCSE and A level exams.  I spent time checking the primary school reports and also testing the younger children on their recognition of High Frequency words.  It took ages but did give me an opportunity to have a few one to one minutes with each child in the lower school which was good and has enabled me to get to know them all a bit more.  There have been some changes in the staff for a variety of reasons.   Florence, who I have got to know quite well and have enjoyed spending time team teaching with has left the school to move to America to be with her husband.  I'm sad that she has left but of course pleased that she is with him.  Work has begun up at the new school site with the next phase of the building work.  Currently the secondary school is up on this site and the plan is that the upper juniors will also be there from September....seems a lot of work to do before then.  Yesterday I was part of a team working to fill the foundations with concrete and so I spent the day carrying head pans of soil and rocks around. It was hard work but great fun and reminded me of my first trip to Ghana on the Life Change team in 2007.  I am continuing to teach when I am needed and to help the teachers with new ideas and ways of teaching.

We were able to celebrate Easter with all the traditional food items - just!   I made some hot cross buns which I feared would turn out to be hot cross rock cakes, but were actually quite yummy.  Rose made a Simnel cake and also endeavoured to make some chocolate Easter eggs.  The challenge in this was trying to get the especially produced unmeltable Ghanaian chocolate to melt!  We had a good church meeting on Easter Sunday and this was followed by a church picnic on Easter Monday.  It seems that it is the one day in the year that everyone in the country gets into holiday mood and heads off for a picnic and games. 

Having completed the required courses(!) I am now a member of City of God Church here in Accra.  This means that I can now lead sessions in the Sunday school which I have previously been only able to just help with.  I'm working with the 5-11 year olds and each week there are about 40 children.  It's very different from KidZone (the children's work I led in England) but I have been able to work with Kobby, who leads the work, to plan the teaching for this term and to introduce some new ideas. The home group that has begun meeting in our house is going well and we are getting to know each other more and have much fun as we teach each other songs in English and Twi.   When there is the opportunity I enjoy travelling to our other churches in different areas and seeing what God is doing there.  This Saturday we are hoping to travel up to a village near to Ho in the Volta Region (about 4 hours drive) for a medical outreach.

I was unsure what to do during the 3 week break from school over Easter as suddenly it felt like I had lots of free time but nothing planned.  I decided that it was a good opportunity to go off and explore Ghana and so I headed off on two very different adventures!  First I went on a 3 day mountain bike trip through the Eastern Region.(area north of Accra - the regions are all very confusingly named ie. east of the Eastern Region is the Volta Region!)  A few months back I had made contact with the guys who run Aburi Bike Hire and had been out for a few hours with them.  I had really enjoyed being out on a bike again and so I was keen to do more.  Anyway, I had a great time travelling along surfaced roads, tracks and footpaths through forest, farmland, small villages and isolated houses, to waterfalls, mountains and to the edge of the Volta Lake.  It was good to be with a local guide who was able to point out different plants and animals and help to chat to the locals on route.  At times we seemed to cause quite a stir as children spotted us coming from a distance and then rushed out to meet us crying out 'Abruni! Abruni!'  (a friendly term meaning 'white man')  at times we felt like we must be famous!  It was all quite hard work though and very hot but I enjoyed it and hope to be able to do more in the future.  After a day or two relaxing and sleeping I set off again, this time to the Western Region and the coast.  I travelled with Rose into Accra and then set off by myself using taxis, bus, trotros (minibus) and shared taxis to eventually reach my first destination of Busua Beach after about 8 hours.  I was a bit nervous about travelling by myself and finding the right trotro etc but found everyone always very willing to help and point me in the right direction.  The western region is beautiful with long sandy beaches lined with palm trees between forested headlands and clear blue water.  I spent my time walking along the beaches to local fishing villages, swimming in the warm sea and improving my surfing skills!  I also walked to the lighthouse at Cape 3 Points which apparently is the closest land on earth to 0 degrees latitude and 0 degrees longitude - now that's an interesting fact for you!  It was good to meet many different people and to see a very different part of the country to where I live and also to where I had been the previous week. 

So it has been a busy few months but I am doing well and know that this is where God wants me at this time.   

Please pray for....  

New Nation School: for the staff and children and for my involvement with the teachers as I help in lessons and suggest ideas.

City of God Church: for the leaders and for continuing involvement in the community

Me: for continued good health and safety, that I am able to build friendships with those who live near to our home and those who work at the school and for wisdom in all that I do in the school and church.

Thank you for your support and prayers

Love Sarah