John is my friend in Ghana who does what he can to help people who come to him in need. Though very poor himself, John always tries to care for others. When things get too desperate John sells the only thing he owns of any real value, his cellphone. That may not seem like much but when you have absolutely nothing selling the one thing you do have is a great sacrifice. John has done this more than once in order to have the money to help someone in desperate need.
Last month we finally managed to arrange for the Naming Ceremony for the little baby boy of the homeless Nigerian girl Favour as described here and the care center where our little orphan Anabel is staying wanted to throw her a party on her fifth birthday, as described here. So it was a good month and we got some important things accomplished.
But they did take what they took, nothing is free, so they sucked up funds that normally would have gone into basics like food. I’m not sure how many people John actually cares for on a regular basis, let alone those who come to him in an emergency, but it is more than a few.
At any rate, it turns out that John sold his phone again to scrape up a little extra money. He can still keep in touch with me but it’s a hassle and so he doesn’t chat much when he’s phoneless. Because of that I don’t know everything that has been going on among his circle of friends and those he is helping.
Anabel is doing alright. This is the time of month when her monthly fees at the care center are due but those have now been paid. I’m not sure what is happening with Favour and her baby. Some of the others have been asking for help but so far we haven’t been able to get to them. We will try to do at least some of that this week.
My biggest concern right now is Gofred. Gofred is a now six year old boy who was abandoned by his father and left on the beach in Accra about a year ago. His mother had disappeared shortly after his birth. The father left to work in another country and didn’t return. John found the boy and took him in. The boy had a bad urinary infection and was urinating blood.
We managed to get that all taken care of and Gofred stayed with John until his father returned (finally) and took him with him when he returned to his native village.
This past week the father sent John a message that Gofred has the measles. Obviously the measles is nothing to joke about. In fact Anabel came down with them last year and had us all worried. so now we are worried about Gofred too. John is going to go to the village and see for himself what is happening and what he can do.
(If you are wondering how John could have got a message from Gofred’s father when he doesn’t have a phone, the answer is that John can still get online by borrowing a friend’s phone and putting his own chip in it but it’s awkward and he can only do it when his friend agrees to let him, which is not always.)
The photo above was taken last year so it’s not current but this is Gofred with John.
John should be getting his phone back today so that is good.
Everyone is alive, everyone is hanging on.
Sorry this update doesn’t really have much meat to it but this is where we stand and I thought those who are keeping track of my little diaries would wonder what has been going on with John and his friends.