We were all up and packed to leave by 8:45 am in the morning. The day's schedule looked promising with another 4 hours in OrphanAid Africa (OA) to spend time with the kids and then head to Accra.
Start to OrphanAid
After our breakfast at The Marina Hotel, Dodowa, we set out for OA. We headed straight through the village, up a narrow dirt road beside a mango plantation to reach the OrphanAid cottages where the special needs children stayed. There were so many mangoes hanging from the trees, almost touching the ground and I was tempted to jump off & pluck some of them off (especially since it could be done without throwing any stones!)
We reached OA by 10:30 am, to be welcomed by ~ 20 children who were all prepared for visitors. I was struck by the care with which the children were looked after - the place was clean and well sanitized and the children dressed in clean clothes. One of the most fasinating facts about the place is that the bathrooms do no have water but saw dust is used instead. It's an interesting concept which has gotten coverage in various circles.
Little Angels
They were little happy smiling faces waiting to eagerly to interact with these bunch of visitors that jump filled up their cottages. We started by introducing ourselves and then the children took over to show us what they were simply awesome at: singing and dancing. Before we knew it, we caught ourselves tapping to the rhythm and soon enough got pulled into the fast forming pool of little dancers in the middle of the floor. Within a minute, everyone was on the floor dancing with glee and it was amazing to watch them go all out.
Dancing and singing are two things that people here enjoy a lot - I wonder if that's a technique to keep up their spirit despite life being hard and a constant hussle.
Before we knew it 2 hours flew by and we were waving goodbye to the kids & heading to the main section of OrphanAid village for a session on 'Ghanaian Society '. It was another interesting session on the matrilineal nature of the society and the various traditions that's still followed across the various tribes in the villages.
After a quick lunch, we started back to Accra and reached the city by 4pm. Exhausted after the long day, we rested for a while and then got ready for the evening musical by a South African theatre group called 'Umoja'. Our excitement about the play paid off as we witnessed a spectacular display of music, color, energy and imagination portraying the importance of music in the African culture. It was a perfect ending to the day.
All got back to Holi Flats by 11 and crashed knowing we had a long day tomorrow with the start of our program preparation. So far, I've loved every moment of this program. :)
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