Up the dust dirt pot hole covered road we traveled. The smell of dirt, smoke, and must flooded my nostrils. Shifting side to side in my seat from the uneven roads I wondered when this trip to Rafiki would come to an end. The bus gradually came to a stop at the main gates, which was guarded by a darker African man who then waved us through. As we pulled up I looked to my right; in a perfect green field of grass stood the Rafiki family: 22 children (ages 18mths to 9yrs old. When our eyes met the children went wild.
Screaming, jumping, waving, and shouting as if it was rare to have visitors. As we stepped off the bus the children of Rafiki approached. Humble and shy a small petite, yet strong girl tugged at the bottom of my shirt. I bent down just enough so our eyes met. I extended my hand and she hers. I smiled widely as she rested her small frail hand inside mine. "I'm Casey" I said softly. "Effua" she replied. Effua was a strong, beautiful, brave and passionate young girl, who will forever remain in my heart.
As we met the other kids my heart overfilled with joy. I thought to myself 'this is why I want to teach'. We started with the normal Ghanaian welcomes, prayers and thanks. Next, we painted faces, warrior marks if you will on all of our faces to separate the children into teams. Today the children were off from school because of the national holiday, Republic Day. At Rafiki Orphanage it was field day.
Tug of rope, two legged race, plastic egg hunt, obstacle course, water balloon toss, and then water guns...lots of water guns.Effua was by my side. Effua and I sang:
Lord I lift you name on high.
Lord I love to sing your praises.
I'm so glad your in my life.
I'm so glad you came to save us...
I pulled out my camera to take a picture. "Let me snap, let me snap" said Effua. "You first" I responded as I held up my camera to take Effua's picture. "Smile!" I said. Effua would not smile.
As we played games I fell in love with this child I barely knew and as activities winded down, Effua remained by my side. As we were getting ready to go we were dismissed in prayer. "Amen" the group said to bless the prayer.
"Snap! Snap!" said Effua. I let her have the camera and helped her take a picture of us together. It wasn't until I was on the bus that I looked at the picture she had taken. In the picture of Effua and I, she smiled.
History of Rafiki
Not long ago,fishermen would come to Winneba,Ghana and the surrounding area and offer the locals a small amount of money for their children to come work on their boats. Because of their poverty,many parents would accept. As the fishermen cast nets to fish,the nets would often get caught on logs and other debris. The fishermen would “ask” the children to climb down and untangle the nets. As you might expect,sometimes the children would drown while trying to free the nets. The fishermen would then tie their bodies to the log;as the body decomposed,it would serve as bait for the fish. The orphanage was started,in part,to provide an alternative destination for parentless children.
Rafiki Foundation (http://www.rafiki-foundation.org/) is a US-based organization whose mission is to help Africans know God by caring for and educating orphans,providing materials and training in education and Bible study,and giving economic opportunities to widows. As part of that mission,they build orphanages. Typically,over the course of 5 years,Rafiki Foundation purchases the land,builds the buildings,pays the staff,and helps local churches and other organizations prepare to take over the costs. This was the original plan when Rafiki Foundation started building this village. Unfortunately,after 1 year,Rafiki Foundation was unable to continue supporting this particular village. It was left half-finished,and the Methodist church had to step in early than expected and take over all of the costs. Since then,the village has been struggling financially and has had trouble meeting current costs,let alone finish the building plan.
For more information about Rafiki Orphanage or to support a child, visit www.rafikifriends.org
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