Operation Ghana

In case you haven’t heard, we are going to Ghana . Take a look a the count down to our flight on the right hand side of my blog. With your help, we have raised over $12,000. We are still $4,400 away from our fundraising goal.

We sent in our Visa applications two days ago. Aaron had accidentally run his passport through the washing machine a month or so ago, but his replacement came just in time. Aaron, Leah and I went to Rite-Aid to have our Visa photos taken. It took 45 minutes! When I went in and said we needed passport photos, the woman look frightened. I said, “Is there a problem?” She said, “No, not really we just don’t do them very often.” I guess that was evident when she called for some of the stock boys to come move a large display that was blocking the white screen where the pictures are shot. (Are you kidding me?) The man who took the pictures did not seem to know how to use the zoom, so he took the pictures at about 8 inches from our faces. Note to self: Next time go the post office.

Leah was able to meet with Curry from Signs of Hope International and ask questions. Her first question was about the machete men. (Are you surprised?) He explained that these men are working in the field and yes their machetes are just about as long as Leah is tall. Curry told her that she will get to cut grass with machetes when we want to play soccer with the kids. Yes they cut the entire field with knives before they play. (And I hardly let her slice a tomato!)

We also talked about what we should bring to eat and drink. We are each to pack 2 suitcases and split our clothes and food between 2. That way if one suitcase gets lost, we still have half our clothes and food. While we are there we will have dinner catered each day. This is supposed to consist of bread, beans, rice and always a hard-boiled egg. That’s what they said to count on.

So we need to bring or buy food to eat for breakfast and lunch. Things to bring: beef jerky, pouches of tuna fish, jars of peanut butter, granola bars, nuts, dried fruit, fruit snacks, pop-tarts, packaged cheese and crackers. Basically, anything that still tastes good even if it gets smashed.

Do not bring chocolate. It melts all over everything. Do not bring packaged chips, they gets smashed and explode all over your belongings. Do not bring candy that has a lot of wrappers. Trash is an issue and you need to plan on being responsible for all of your trash.

Oh yeah bring lots of ziplock bags and your own toilet paper!

Looks like a meal fit for a king!!

Yesterday we had our first pre-trip meeting to get through preliminary info about going to Ghana Africa. Wow!
Curry, from Signs of Hope International (SOHI), his assistant Heidi, Derek (Alex’s Dad), Aaron, Robi (my sister Rebecca’s husband) and I were all there. The only Signing Time Foundation team members missing were Alex and Leah, they were in school.
(I’m taking the picture)
Left to Right around the table: Heidi, Curry, Robi, Aaron, Derek

We went over so much information! But here is a quick rundown:

The guys can wear shorts and t-shirts, the girls need to wear dresses or skirts with t-shirts.

Shorts should be long.

Wear open shoes or sandals, but not too open. Think Crocs.. ooh maybe I could get Crocs to donate!

Do not bring too many different pairs of shoes, shirts or pants… or bring a number of shirts that are identical. The children only have one outfit and are very distracted by people showing up in numerous outfits with all kinds of shoes.

Most anything you bring will come back orange (from the red dirt)

Do not bring shoes with a soft or material insole. You will be walking in mold after 3-4 days.

Do not bring jeans or anything that will take a long time to dry.

If you are bringing something for the children, you had better bring it for all 250 of them.

Do not pay more than 12 or 13 cents for a loaf of bread. They will try to get you to pay up to 30 cents when they realize you are an American. (FYI I could drop 12 cents in a parking lot and never think twice!) But OK!

The children will come up and press on your skin to see it turn whiter and then back to normal. Their skin doesn’t do this, so it’s quite novel. They will pet the hair on your arms and if you have hairy legs (especially women) they run their hands on it and say “It’s SO beautiful!!!”

Girls wear small earrings. All of the children have their heads pretty much shaved because of lice. So the only way to tell the girls from boys is by their earrings. When an American girl is not wearing earrings, they get such a kick out of it “Are you a boy?” They tease. My husband Aaron always wears tiny silver hoops… so we will see what teasing HE gets! Heidi is guessing it might make Aaron the most popular guy there…

I am sure he would be, but then they told us this:
NEVER use your left hand to wave, shake hands, eat… basically just don’t use your left hand or you will offend everyone. There is only one thing your left hand is used for and it is offensive to use it for anything else. For example SOHI had a group who volunteered for more than 2 months. Their final day some of the volunteers waved good-bye with both hands in the air. Curry later received a letter letting him know how offended the headmaster and teachers were. Just to make it fun I would like to mention that my husband Aaron is a lefty. This should be interesting.

Oh and if you are walking down the road and a large black man comes out of the forest with a large machete and holds onto your arm, don’t worry! They just like to make sure you are getting, wherever it is you are going, safely. Ok, sure, uh-huh, I’ll try and convince Alex and Leah not to run and scream. Just throw all stranger danger training out the window!

Now you probably want to donate just to see what happens!!

Support the Signing Time Team
Going to Ghana
with your Donation today!

We have an incredible adventure coming up! The Signing Time Foundation has partnered with Signs of Hope International to bring Signing Time to Ghana Africa.

The Signing Time Team will include Leah, Alex, Rachel (me), Aaron (my husband), Derek (Alex’s Dad) and Robi (Alex and Leah’s uncle). On January 21st we will head to Ghana Africa to teach deaf children and to teach their teachers for 10 days

Why Ghana?
Ghana is the size of Oregon. They have 13 schools for the deaf. Deaf children start school at the age of 5. Many are dropped off for their 3 month semester and their families never come back to pick them up. A week after the semester ends, an orphanage bus comes to get the children who have been left.

Many of the families cannot afford the tuition $83 per semester. Many families are embarrassed that their child is deaf.

The teachers have no background in Deaf Ed. They finish college and are assigned to teach at a school. Most teachers are unhappy to find they are assigned to a deaf school. They do not know the language and have no proof that these deaf children CAN be taught.

I learned about a student, Silvia that goes to a special school for the deaf in Mampong, Ghana. Apparently, Silvia was born hearing and attended the hearing schools until she was devastated by a sickness that left her deaf. A few short years later another sickness caused her to lose her sight and become blind. Now without hearing and vision Silvia struggles to learn and progress and wants so much to be in a classroom where she can learn. I feel that Silvia deserves an opportunity to become what she hopes for!

Organizations like Signs of Hope International have found that most teachers are entering the deaf schools without proper sign language education. Because of the lack of suitable resources, deaf children are struggling to learn and progress using sign language to enhance their education.

In Ghana deaf children have extremely limited rights and opportunities compared to deaf children in the United States. Like Silvia, any students at the schools for the deaf in Ghana struggle to receive an education, and it was not too long ago that some headmasters at the high school for the deaf have finally allowed girls to attend too.

When Leah heard this, she was distraught. Her eyes were full of tears and she said, “Mom!! We have to do something!! I’m deaf and I’m a girl and if I was born in Ghana I wouldn’t have a chance!”

Leah’s Wish

While filming the last Signing Time shows we interviewed Leah and I asked her what she wants to be when she grows up. She said, “I want to be a writer and make books or a teacher for the deaf African kids that don’t know sign yet. At these schools the teachers don’t know anything about the deaf and ASL.”

Well, Leah will not have to wait until she has grown up. We have partnered with Signs Of Hope International - they have created internships for Americans who know ASL to go teach the teachers. They also have a teacher incentive program, to encourage the teachers to show up to class and to learn ASL. We are looking to make this a yearly trip, where we can go inspire, teach and show these children the possibilities for their futures. It is our goal that on our future trips we will not only teach and inspire, but we will be building playgrounds and dormitories at these schools as well.

Support the Signing Time Team
Going to Ghana
with your Donation today!

Everyone Wants To Make A Difference

You can become a member of our team by making a donation to support our efforts. You will see the pictures and watch the videos taken in Ghana and be able to say -”I am a part of that! I helped make that happen!” You can donate any amount via PayPal right now or send a check to:

The Signing Time Foundation
623 E. Fort Union Blvd.
Suite 202
Midvale UT 84047

The Signing Time Foundation is a 501c3 Non-profit Organization. Your donations are tax deductible.