Rebel Loon

 

Minnesota's Rebel Loon

It’s been about two and a half years since I have been back here in Ghana and with Hope for Life. At the two-year point, I am advised to take a break - - which I took during the second half of Oct & Nov. At the beginning of my leave, I started a blog update about the people and things I’ve already written about - - Rose, Genvieve, Dawood, mushrooms, etc…. It was just going to be brief updates about each person, where they’re at now, what’s going on in their lives, successes, struggles, whatever it is.

But I found it hard to finish the update, in part because an important part of my leave also involved figuring out my future. I just had a milestone birthday this past year and I’ve had friends and family expressing concerns about what will happen to me as time goes on. I still feel like I’m in my late 20s, though. And yet, reality is reality. So, one goal of my break involved discussing my future with various current “bosses.”

That kept me preoccupied and not getting around to finishing the update. However, that is only part of why I still haven’t finished. Other thoughts and feelings delaying the update’s completion are related to what has been going on in the US over the majority of this past year, particularly during the past few months in Minneapolis.

I’ll get around to finishing the update I started, but first, there’s Minneapolis…the broader US…and then the fallout around the world. 

       The Streets of Minneapolis, Bruce Springsteen (with lyrics) 

There are people – recently in sub-zero weather – who are supporting their neighbors – protecting the stranger – standing up for what they know is humane, what is human, Christian values (whether they believe in Christ or not)… despite knowing they may face consequences, but not imagining those consequences could mean being killed by government agents.

I have family in Minneapolis that has needed to teach their children not to open the door to these government agents and that if those agents insist to the point of breaking the door down, that they need to be filming and shouting, “We do not consent! We do not consent!”

I remember as a child being taught to wave as a police car drove by. Times have changed…

These same children witness abductions taking place a block from their school as they are being dropped off. And after school, parents need to take shifts keeping watch while groups of kids go sledding - not to mention the parents who are also taking shifts keeping an eye out at drop-off and pick-up times or who are dropping and picking children whose parents are afraid to leave their house and potentially be separated from their kids.

What are children learning? They know their teachers and fellow students and neighbors and friends are not criminals…. And the ones who should be protecting them from criminals are the ones breaking down doors and “disappearing” people.

I am far away - - all I can do is write some letters to my representatives…and I can try my best to stay on top of what’s going on...and I can vote.

In spirit I am with the strong, amazing people of Minnesota. It’s made it hard to focus on writing updates about Hope for Life and the people I’ve been with for the past couple of years. My mind is distracted by the horrors the government is committing there and with the bravery of the people who are protecting their neighbors and doing what they can to demonstrate that “The Only Thing More Powerful Than Hate Is Love.”

I am so moved by Minnesotans standing up, standing strong and standing peacefully – as well as those across the US and the world who are out supporting Minnesotans and who are against ICE’s tactics. Yes, there are the observers and those filming/documenting what is happening, as well as those using whistles, car horns and megaphones to warn about government operations in the area that are invading homes, schools, restaurants, stores – and I have been told they are fully aware there could be legal consequences for this. They are prepared for that because their values of loving and caring for the marginalized matter that much to them. There are others giving their support through food drives, picking up school children, driving to medical appointments, helping with home births and translations, whatever might be needed to take care of the health and safety of families who might be afraid to step outdoors. Of course, there are others, in protests across the US, writing letters to and calling Senators…supporting businesses that support the community and avoiding businesses that are complicit.

These are the people that give me hope at this time. These are the people that I am standing with from a distance. These are the people that are constantly on my mind and in my heart - - good people standing up for love of each other, no matter the color, religion or country of origin. People who see each other and care…who, even if they are not “believers,” are living the values that the Bible says Jesus, once an immigrant and a person of color, taught and lived.

What these people are going through, how so many across the US are standing strong, preoccupies my thoughts. I’ll get around to finishing the other update, but first there is the amazing pride I have in so many Minnesotans especially, as well as in so many more across the US – and the surprise, disappointment and even shock and horror at others who, despite saying they are "believers," are turning a blind eye, or worse. 

 

Minnesota Anthem - The Rise of the North 

 

 

 

 

 

Rose

 

Rose and I met in 1996 when she was a branch member in Teshi, a neighborhood in Accra. She was training to be a seamstress. Her beautiful smile was reflected in her eyes, lighting up her entire face and reaching out to light up the faces of those around her. She was an early member of Hope for Life and, aside from the coordinator, was the first member of the Teshie branch. She got around with a hand-powered tricycle, which she has maintained and still uses from time to time to this day. 

 

In her tricycle at a recent branch meeting

 

 

When I returned to Hope for Life in 2009, Rose had become the branch coordinator for the Teshie branch of HFL. Branch coordinators know where their members live, maintain contact with them and visit from time to time. They know what is happening in their lives, and are the primary contact for the HFL administration (the president, the administrator, me). Branch coordinators come to the periodic executive meetings, which are when all the branch coordinators gather at the main house to discuss their branches and Hope for Life overall. I already knew and loved Rose, and from 2009 – 2011 this gave me the opportunity to know, appreciate and love her even better.

Rose was one of her branch's representatives at the recent HFL elections

One of the beautiful things about HFL is that the members become brothers and sisters. There’s a part of HFL called Bethany House. It is the “headquarters,” but so much more. It is a home away from home for HFL members, a place where they can have a break for a few days and be with other HFL members, to relax, laugh and make new friends who might also be staying at the house during their visit. The house plays an important role in HFL members becoming family. While at the house and attending the meetings, Rose met many people from other branches – a number of whom became lifelong friends, despite sometimes living quite far from each other.

A year or so ago, Geoffrey (from the mushrooms) joined for a visit to Rose. He and she had met years ago at Bethany House when he was the executive secretary for Hope for Life.

 

About three years ago when I was still in France involved with migrants, I was contacted by a HFL member from a sister branch in Tamale, almost 400 miles (over 600 km) from Accra, taking at least 11 – 12 hours by road to get there. Rose was extremely sick – stomach pains, bleeding. It sounded like life and death and she was being rushed to the hospital. 

The beauty of HFL is this family spirit I mentioned. The woman from Tamale, Mariatu, came to be with Rose in the hospital. Another friend from another side of Accra also visited her; and another from yet a different part of Accra also spent time with her. HFL members, friends, brothers & sisters from over the years all came to support Rose at this time.

Rose was diagnosed with a tumor in her abdominal cavity. Due to her scoliosis, it could not be determined which organ the tumor was attached to. The doctors decided to give medicine to try to shrink the tumor so they could better determine how to proceed, whether surgery or some other option.

Non-Ghanaian friends who knew Rose from when they had been lay missionaries at Hope for Life, and friends of theirs who had visited and also met Rose, contributed to help her get the treatment needed at the time and over the following years.

So, for the past 3 or so years, Rose’s life has involved doing follow-ups, labs, doctor visits and so on.

My first visit to Rose upon my return a couple years ago.

When I came back to Ghana almost 2 years ago, Rose was one of the people I visited early on. She was still taking the medicine as well as other meds for the pain, but assured me all is fine (which is a standard assurance here). Mostly when I go visit her, she is her old self with that beautiful smile. But, at times when she is just down, literally….sitting on a low stool with her head down on another stool…you can see the pain in her face.

I’ve been fortunate the past six months because Joe and his team have an outreach clinic for children with cerebral palsy once per week on that side of Accra. Since I’ve been busy with the bakery and all else going on, I haven’t been able to get out to visit the HFL members as much as I would like, so I volunteered to be their driver on clinic days. This gives me a chance to have time with people (and we save some money that would have spent on transport). Sometimes during the clinic, I stay and help out a bit. Other times, I go visit members, like Rose, while the clinic is going on. For the past 3 months or so, the outreach team and I have just been stopping to visit Rose after the clinic closes for the day. Joe’s team members are trained in a special, healing and spiritual therapy called René Mey. They always give Rose, and whoever else might be visiting her at that time, special attention.

Sarah, a part of the outreach team, doing René Mey therapy for Rose, while Rachel does the same for  Moses.

Recently, due to Rose's pain and difficulty getting around regularly, she stepped down as coordinator of the Teshie branch. Moses was voted to take her place. He regularly visits Rose and has become a René Mey recipient, as seen in the first picture above.

In the '90s, Moses was one of the children in the Teshie branch. Hope for Life, thanks to donations at that time, helped him with his mobility aids and to get through school. Today he is married with three children and works in Accra's Ridge Hospital.

 

Last week Wednesday, Rose went for an ultrasound scan and on Friday to the doctor for the review. I was able to join for the doctor visit, and it was explained that the current status couldn’t be determined based solely upon the ultrasound. More labs needed to be done and the previous scans needed to be brought so they can decide how to proceed. Rose’s brother Seth takes good care of Rose, accompanying her for the tests, scans and doctor visits. On Monday this week he took the new lab results and the scans for the doctors to review. They advised him to return this Friday to find out if it will be possible for surgery or whatever the next steps will be.

So, the story of Rose’s journey through this is to be continued….

Hope for Life Bakery

 

There’s a part of Hope for Life that I’ve not yet written about – the bakery. But, as always, a little background first…

Hope for Life (HFL) was founded almost 40 years ago, in 1986, by a French SMA priest and a handful of Ghanaian friends with disabilities. I first came to be a part of it in 1996 when the French missionary left. It was a time when Hope for Life was well funded, as there were a couple of NGOs that helped cover a lot of our efforts, especially with children. After 3 years, I left to go back to school, believing that I would be able to do even more if I studied occupational therapy. Later, I realized that basically what I had loved and left behind with HFL was a lot of what I was studying with OT. HFL had given me immense hands-on experience in the community-based aspects of OT, and my studies were providing me with the theories behind OT approaches and broadening my mind and skills. I planned that I would ask to return to HFL when I finished my degree. (As it turned out, though, when I finished school, there were two others at HFL and no need for me at that time. I was asked to go to the Liberian refugee camp outside of Accra, instead.)

Around 25 years ago, while I was away, HFL submitted a proposal and received funding for a bakery project. The intention was to generate income for HFL and to provide employment, training and income-generating options for some of HFL’s members. The bakery has undergone various changes in its administration over the years, with varying results. When I came back to HFL in 2009, there was an SMA Dutch lay missionary running the bakery who was having some success in finding new customers. Yet, the bakery has never achieved the profits needed to assist with funding HFL’s activities and for the past few years there have been no HFL members employed or otherwise directly benefiting.

sugar bread cooling prior to bagging

bread oven

cooling racks to the right, slicers in the background

Following some mismanagement issues, the bakery closed for a brief period around 2019. This coincided with COVID-19’s arrival, so it made sense to take a pause. When I returned to Ghana again about a year and a half ago, there was a Catholic sister running it. The sister had come about 2 – 3 years prior to my return. Together with the baker, they had gradually found a market and built it up a little, eventually increasing production a bit. 

Emma, the baker, mixing

 

Emma bagging the butter bread

Richard, the assistant baker, working the rolling machine

However, assistance from the bakery towards HFL’s efforts was still not coming. Finally, 2 years ago, the head of Ghana SMA insisted that a portion of income from each loaf of bread sold be given to HFL. It took more than 6 months for that to begin, and, even then, it was less than half of what the SMA head had insisted upon.

 

Emma bagging the butter bread

loading the temporary delivery vehicle

The settled-upon contribution was a compromise and we (the HFL administration) agreed to it, as the other option would have been to receive nothing. The share of sales began coming a little over a year ago, which has helped a bit in our outreach efforts.

 

Kaneshi (a part of Accra) branch meeting

In October last year, disappointed with the lack of greater profit, the SMA boss asked us (the HFL administration) if we would take over running the bakery to see how it would go. Even though running a bakery is the last thing I want to do, we did as he asked…

It’s been a gradual learning process – with gradual progress. We see some profit, but a lot of other issues have become apparent – the machines and the delivery van had not been maintained (which is why there is a temporary, borrowed delivery vehicle pictured above - after we took over, I was able to raise donations specifically for another delivery van), staff had been promised raises for over a year and were getting discouraged that no increments in pay had come, a lack of structure and discipline for the staff, an almost non-existent and disorganized bookkeeping system, and more.

For the first month or so things were fine, as we were just beginning and we didn’t yet see some of the other issues. Gradually, however, we began to see them and there were a couple of months when it seemed the bakery took up all our time, in spite not wanting the bakery or the mushroom project to become our main focus. What would be the point of either of them if we are not directly involved with Hope for Life and its members? We have continued to attend branch meetings regularly, but for a while there was little time for additional outreach. 

Mamprobi branch meeting

Gradually we are getting a handle on these issues and are getting back to giving more focus to HFL and its members. For the past couple of months, we’ve been able to get out more and visit some of our members in addition to attending the branch meetings.   

 

Odorkor branch meeting

We do not need to remind ourselves that the bakery and mushrooms exist for HFL – they are not to become the primary focus or take away from HFL. Yet if they are to be successful, which will help HFL, then the bakery needs our attention. Fortunately, this need is becoming less constant and we are getting back on track with giving increased attention to the HFL members.