Preparing for Africa Trip 2

I am in a BAD Place. The suitcase conundrum. So please enjoy the old posts while I get my life under control. I'll be back soon.

Friday-The visit with the King in Burkina

The King of fada and I. Note the laundry. Even the king has laundry.

The girls and I. My favorite picture of the whole trip.

Delilah and another cousin serving food. The tray was cut out of the picture, (Thanks Rakieta) but she is carrying a large tray with meat.

After the dinner and celebration, we toured the compound. D and S's uncle made a recording studio in one of the huts. The picture does not show things well, but it is pretty cool. In many places you could see the evidence of the original hut, but yet it also was completely redone to look and handle sound for recording. Looked like something you would see in the US. He is doing a lot of recordings for up and coming Burkinabe musicians.

Grandma and Rakieta

You say "This ought to be good!" It was. Delilah and Stephanie's grandfather is the king of the Fada people. After a very quiet day, we were all whisked off to see the king. We all piled into a jeep of some sort. Picture the commercials where as many people as possible piled into a Volkswagen as humanly possible. I have no idea of the head count but we made it. The grandchildren did not want to go. I thought "Why on earth wouldn't the kids want to see their grandpa?" Well I found out. In Africa, having a king for a grandpa isn't such a good deal. You don't get kisses and hugs and treats like from a normal grandpa. No, it's prostrating-yes really- and serving. Being a royal grandchild means you play the servant role.
So after much complaining from the grandkids, they were told they were going and we all jumped into the vehicle and off we went. We drove only a short distance to the King's home in Ouagadougou. It wasn't anything very fancy. Just a normal compound. The pictures will tell the rest of the story. All in all it was a pleasant day and because of the rain it only was about 70* that day so a very nice break after all my excitement on Thursday.

Merry after Christmas everyone!

Well, I am finally breathing a little more normally. Grandma seems to be weathering radiation and chemo pretty well, all the holiday celebrations are over, the apartment is cleaned out, the Christmas show is over and there is a less frantic pace around here for the time being. Jeni finished my sentence very eloquently today when she stated we were without deadlines. Yes, it feels pretty darn good.
Now I finally am getting the laundry caught up. A miracle in itself. I am beginning to think about a possible next trip over to see the girls and have stopped worrying I am going to die in my sleep from a heart attack.
Adele finally seems stable for the time being. Unfortunately, I think Lee (Grandpa) is getting ready to slide on us. Been a few weird days.

I am looking at going to Burkina via Ghana. The rates are much, much better. The big question is: How safe is it to get from Ghana to Burkina? I'll be sure to post when I finally figure things out.
I am just getting caught up with our guys across the sea but as near as I can tell everyone is pretty status quo.

Needs List:

Donations needed:

Stuff for sewing school: Can be gently used

Pin cushions
Pins
Tape measure
Seam rippers
Zippers
Buttons
Velcro
Thread
Lace
Embroidery floss
Embroidery hoops
Needles
Sewing machine needles
Scissors
yarn


School supplies: can be gently used

Pencils
Pens
Crayons
Markers
Manual pencil sharpeners
Paper
Wire bound notebooks
3 ring binders
Highlighters
Post it notes
Glue sticks
Envelopes
Erasers
Rulers
***back packs*** need badly
Atlases and globes
tape
Color books
Educational games

Other items: can be gently used

Shampoo, conditioner
Tooth paste, tooth brushes
Any and all personal hygiene or medical supplies
Bedding
Children’s games, toys and books
Manual can openers
Plastic dishes
Silverware and cutlery
Cell phones
Laptops
Dvds
Dvd players

Last but not least-money to help with mailing supplies

We also need pen pals for anyone who wishes to actually sponsor an individual child. Please call me for more info


Phone number: 810-627-1833
Kalinowski@bigtube.net
http://browncityrdadventures.blogspot.com