Lows and Highs in Africa!

I want to share a few tender mercies that have happened while I've been here in Ghana.

-First, during my second or third week here, my brother received his mission call  for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. (For those that aren't familiar with this, they don't get to choose where they go, and they go to teach the gospel for 2 years.) I really wanted to listen through the phone while he read where he was to go! Because of the 6 hour time difference between Idaho and Ghana, I set an alarm at 2 am to wake up and call my family. My mom put me on speaker phone and Zach started to read his letter. Crazily enough, he got called to Ghana!! What are the chances?! My friends here with me knew I would be talking to my family during the night and were excited to hear where he was going too. The next morning when I told them all, they were all so excited for him! Africa is amazing and the people are the best. I can't wait for him.

-Second experience happened during one of our usual out reach days. I had realized that I was getting a lot of pictures with the children, because I'm more comfortable getting pictures with them than adults. I told my friend that I wanted to get more pictures with adults so that people would know that I really actually am working here too! As we were working together, she suddenly said, "Oh! I need to be taking pictures of you while you're working!". So she snapped a few random pictures of me with patients and then posted them on Facebook that night. Later that week, a friend texted me asking if the man in this picture I was tagged in was George, a blind man. I wasn't sure of the man's name, but I definitely knew he was blind. Turns out that this man was my friend's convert from his mission 1 year earlier. What are the chances. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

-Third and last, happened just this week. While working at the visual acuity testing station in Cape Coast, a girl came through and I noticed the wristband she was wearing. It said "Stand for Truth and Righteousness-Latter Day Saints". After I tested her eyes and she got up to leave, I pointed to her wristband and told her I liked it. She smiled really big once she realized what I meant. She asked if I was a member and when I told her YES! she pointed to about 8 others around her and said, "so are all of us!!". She was with her family and cousins who are all members of the church. I talked to them for quite a bit, and then asked if they knew my friend (who I met at BYU this year) since he is from Cape Coast. They said he is their cousin?! What are the chances.

So, as you can tell, this week I learned more of why I am here. I know the Lord places us in certain places for specific reasons. It's amazing.

On to the week's experiences. My 5th week here was hard. There are two different clinics that the 12 of us BYU students get split into. We're assigned by Unite for Sight to these groups. One of the groups is very efficient and working with them is more desirable for all of us. I only had the chance to work with this group 2 out of the 6 weeks, leaving me with the less efficient group for 4 weeks. It has been fine, but week 5 was very difficult. We were working in the "zango", which is basically the ghetto. All of the patients here were very rude to us. Every time I tried collecting their money to give them their glasses and medication, they would ask me to pay for them and try to guilt trip me. Most of my time here, people have been very respectful of prices and such. The cost of glasses and medications is very much reduced, but the people in the zango weren't having it. They were rude about it and after about 2 hours of this, I had to take a step away. 4 days in a row, work was like this, on top of being with the less efficient clinic, making things difficult. To add to it, we  blew a tire driving home one of these days. The car sounded like it was going to explode! Turns out that Ghanaians are very quick tire fixers! We made the best of it and made a pretty funny video on the side of the road. Maybe one day you will be lucky enough to see it. Luckily all of us BYU students are really close and were able to help each other through the struggles. From this I learned how mentally strong I can be when things get really tough. (I owe thanks to all my sports coaches for making me mentally strong in previous years!) Luckily we finished up this difficult week with a short day in a beautiful village. I was able to meet so many little kids and play soccer and frisbee with them, despite the pouring rain. It was so fun to be soaking wet, but not care because I got to be playing with so many beautiful children. 

-Evance, a 12 year old boy became one of my good friends this week. He was just passing by where we were working and stopped at the sight of white people. At this point, we were closing up for the day so I was able to talk to him. We talked until I left that day. It was another sad departure. I hate leaving these little friends. Miraculously, the next day as he was walking home from school, he saw us again, even though we were in a completely different part of the town! He came in and I was so happy to see him. This isn't the first time this type of thing happened during weeks 5 and 6. 

-Florence, a 9 year old girl and I met on my second working day in Ghana. She was such a cute girl and begged and begged me to bring her to my house in America. She kept asking me if I would be back and telling her no was really hard, as it always is with every kid I ever meet here. Unknowingly to me, we went to the exact same place this week. 6 weeks later.  As I was working, I heard someone calling me. I saw little Florence peaking her head through a fence. I was so happy to see her! I went over to her and asked if she remembered me and with the biggest smile she said, "Yes!! You said you weren't coming back?!". I told her to come around the fence and then I was able to be reunited with her and her little friends for the rest of the day. So much happiness.

-I don't think I've written about my favorite baby here, but he's a 4 year old named Nana that I met when I went to primary at church. He sat on my lap all of the first Sunday we met, and then always pouted when I left church every week. Throughout the weeks, my love grew for this little boy so much. He's such a sweet but crazy little boy. On my last Sunday this past week, I had a hard time saying bye to him. As I left big alligator tears rolled down his cheeks. That night, we all were invited to dinner at a family's house from the ward. When I walked in the door to their house, I immediately had a child hanging on my neck. The house was somewhat dim and so I couldn't tell who it was at first, but once I realized it was Nana, my heart felt a happiness that I'm not sure I've ever felt. Turns out, that the mom of the family we were eating dinner with, is Nana's aunt and they are raising him so he can grow up in the church! I was able to play with him all night. I think he liked me even more when I kept giving him my chicken bones that I wasn't going to eat. So fun. His uncle walked by as I was holding him and said, "Nana, don't cry when she leaves this time ok?". My heart melted yet again. I feel a special love for him.

-The dinner at this families house was so great. We've gotten really close to their family (the Ankrahs) throughout our time here so getting to go to their house made us all really excited! We made our way through the pouring rain (rainy season is great) on tro tros (public van/busses) for some time and ended up at their house which is so beautiful! We were warmly welcomed with so much delicious rice! The Ankrah's are a power couple. Their family is amazing. An embarrassing thing happened while I was there. I can't say no to children jumping all over me, and so I had 3 kids on my lap riding the "moto" (motorcycle). This is a common game that I play with them and so I didn't even think about what type of chair I was sitting in. Every where I've been, in all of Ghana, except in the church, there are only plastic chairs. So, the "moto" is driving along you know, and suddenly the plastic chair exploded beneath us! Just imagine, a smashed chair with me on top of it, with 3 kids on top of me, in a member's house. It was so funny and not a big problem, only left a few bruises :)

-Saturday, we all took our last excursion to the Botanical Gardens and the ocean! I had so much fun swimming in the ocean after being hot and sweaty for so long. I can only imagine how funny it looked with 30 Ghanaian men and 5 American girls jumping the waves. I'm not sure if it's a cultural thing or what, but the men loved to come and pick us up in their arms, and lift us above the waves as the washes crashed on them. It was so funny. There was so much happiness and laughter as we were swimming, until a wave brought in too much garbage for us to stand. Other than that it was an amazing day. Such a good finish to a hard week!

-Yesterday, we had a YSA (young single adults in the church) activity with people from the ward. They wanted to throw a party for us since we were leaving. It was so fun dancing, eating and singing with them. They all ask me when I'm getting married, and when I don't have an answer they're all really confused. It's great. It's amazing how the gospel is the same all over the world.

As I prepare to leave Africa within the next 2 days, I have really been pondering all that I've been taught mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. In my next post, I'll wrap up all those feelings. :) I've had an amazing experience serving the people in Africa. I've been able to fulfill one of my biggest dreams coming here.

I'm Alive!

Wow. I'm officially the worst blogger ever. It'd be a lot easier if we had consistent wifi but, that definitely isn't a thing here! About 2 weeks ago, on a Saturday evening, it rained harder than I've ever seen it rain. Apparently it rarely rains like that in Ghana and lets just say our hotel wasn't prepared for it. All of a sudden, there was rain pouring through the ceiling right above the electrical box. The electrical box isn't secured so multiple wires were getting a better shower than I've had in 5 weeks! This ruined the Wifi router, hence the reason none of us have been able to blog or really talk to our families for 2 weeks. This experience has helped me to realize how blessed I truly am to have what I do. Now that I'm back to writing...I have more stories than ever. However, it's hard to express my feelings through word because my heart has experienced so many new feelings these past few weeks.

-I'll start serious and move to the better things! I've found so much out about myself these past 5 weeks. I've always loved small children yet I never realized how drawn they are to me. Every day, I make new baby friends. Kids here love talking to us and love playing/singing/dancing with us. My heart loves these friends so so easily. I've realized that I can easily love many many people without really knowing them. Many times these past weeks, I've had a hard time leaving my new friends. I don't consider myself an emotional person, yet new emotion has seeped from me as I leave these kids who ask if I'll be back and I have to say no.

-I was very sick for weeks 2 and 3 with...problems lets just say haha. The pharmacies here didn't really understand my problem so gave me some medicines and told me to take a lot more than I probably should have. The day after taking the pills, we went to the Accra temple! Which was amazing from what I remember of it. I was rather distracted by trying to stay alive and out of the bathroom. Luckily after many prayers from family members and my friends here with me, I'm doing much better. Despite my sickness, the temple was so amazing. My Grandma Coleman gave me family temple names that my friends and I were able to baptize and confirm. It really was such a spiritual experience. That day outside the temple, I got proposed to multiple times. The men here love to propose to us. I'm not sure why I can get married everyday here...but not in America ;)

-One out reach was 2 hours deep in the bush! The roads to get there are full of pot holes, but the view far above the rainforest was so breath taking. Sydney and I had to go to the bathroom on the drive there, but there was no bathroom within hours of us so we told the Ghanaians we work with that we'd just go on the side of the road. They laughed at us so hard and said, "Women?!" but we definitely showed them. I've never had such a great view (the rainforest) while using the bathroom!

-All of the students that came to Ghana with me are BYU students, so we often sing together in the long van rides. One Sunday as we were traveling for a week long outreach, we all started singing hymns. Our Ghanaian workers loved it so much. They all recorded it on their phones and randomly would play it throughout the week. One of the days, before we started working, our Ghanaian worker friends had us sing "I Need Thee Every Hour" to all the people waiting. It was amazing. I know the Spirit works through music!

-Kiera and I walked to get snacks before work one day and started being followed by what they call a "crazy man, who stayed in the sun too long". He was seriously crazy. He wouldn't stop following us and he almost pushed us in the sewer ditch numerous times. Once we got back to our work site, our Ghanaian friends yelled at him and told us "don't mind him". He walked away, saw his reflection in a car and took off all his clothes. That wasn't the last time we saw him that day.

-Week 3 and 4 we saw at least 300 people a day! That is amazing. To think that we help 1,500 people a week see again is so amazing. Thank you to those who donated and have helped me help them! When I give people reading glasses to try, and then show them the Bible and ask, "Is it clear?" and they say, "YES! I'm so excited!" I remember the real reason I'm here.


-Raymon (4) and Eryka (2) are siblings I met. At first they were shy, but as I started talking and waving with them, they warmed up to me. I had gone back into work, and then I saw them watching me so I had to go see them. They were so smiley and happy. Tanner, my youngest brother, had found a motorcycle at home that he wanted me to give to someone while I was here, so I gave it to Raymon and he was so so happy. I had a little rubber duck that I gave to his sister.


-Baby T, a 2 year old sat in my arms all day one day. I had done visual acuity testing that day, which always finishes first so I had many hours to sit and hold her. She didn't talk, but just rested on my shoulder. When her dad took her at the end of the day she screamed and kicked him. My heart broke a bit watching her leave. This same day, I was taking about 3 to-go boxes of finished rice to the trash can and some of our little friends told me they would take it to the trash for me, yet as soon as I gave it to them, they opened the boxes and started eating it all. So amazing to be able to help out in even the most simple ways.


-My favorite friend of the week...Justice Eshun. This little boy (9) was in the courtyard of the church we were working in. Again I was doing visual acuity and finished early so I was able to play with him and eventually about 15 more kids. I guess seeing a white person is exciting! He stayed attached to my hip for probably 3 hours until an adult shooed the kids away. About 30 minutes later I heard "Obruni! Obruni!". Behind a cement wall, there was my friend Justice! He asked me if he could come back and play and there was no way I would've been able to say no! He stayed with me for the rest of the day. He danced for us, helped us clean up and everything. As we headed to the van, his face dropped in sadness. I teared up as we pulled away to his wave that day.

-The "washrooms" (not called bathrooms here) range from a hole in the ground to normal toilets to bushes. One experience was rather sad for me...this washroom was just a tile slab with a hole in the corner. As I was using it, my sweat rag (if I don't have this, I die!) dropped...which means it was now sitting in ages of human waste! There was no way I could've picked it up and used it on my face. #mournthehandkerchief Luckily I brought two. Funny things like this are always happening :)

-The Pizza Hut in the mall by our hotel finally opened last week so naturally, Buffy and I splurged and shared one whole pizza. It was easily one of the happiest times in the past 5 weeks!

So much happened these past few weeks. I have been confronted with a lot of struggle mentally and physically. As I've been surrounded by amazing friends, in such an amazing place, I've realized how important it is for me to work hard at things I'm passionate in to overcome the struggles. Africa, the people and all that I'm being taught is changing my life for the better!


Stay tuned! :D

Free Flowing Love.

Week 2 has come to a close! The first week here in Africa was really, really long. Luckily, this week went way faster than last week. Knowing the schedule of days really helped a lot! I've decided to write this week's blog a little bit different, to make it more interesting for you! Before I start, I have to apologize. I have been terrible at keeping up on my blog because my laptops hard drive crashed on my second layover on the way to Africa! So I have to use someone else's laptop every time so...sad day but it's all good!

Here goes week 2...
-Last Sunday in church, we all literally thought we might drown in our own sweat! The power goes out often here and at the church they only have ceiling fans. It's an open-air building, but there's rarely a breeze here, and if there is it's a HOT breeze. Since the power was out, the ceiling fans didn't work so we were raining sweat! 3/4 of the way through sacrament the power came back on, turning on the fans and man, I wish I had our reaction recorded!
-Since out reaches are usually about at least 1 hour from our hotel, we travel all over Ghana. We went to some amazing places! In total, our group served probably around 300 people just this week. Glasses are sold for 7 cedis which converts to $1.86. Eye drops are sold for 15 cedis which converts to $4. Those of you reading this that donated, I hope this helps you realize how much your donations help!! All that money goes to this fund.
-Nanayow is my favorite little boy of the week. He is 21 months and the cutest baby ever. His mom was waiting to get her eyes checked, which is generally a long time (Ghanaian time is super relaxed) and he was restless! We have enough of us volunteers that everyone once in a while I can take a break to play with the kids. I saw Nanayow and had to go play with him. I had sunglasses that I kept putting on him and he would smile so big! Then I'd take them off him and put them on me. He especially loved this because he could see his reflection in them. He would smile and stick his tongue out at himself and just laugh. Some of my group was going to buy lunch and I was going to go with them, but when I got up to leave, Nanayow just cried and cried. Short story, I didn't eat lunch that day.

-To be honest, being in Africa is a love-hate relationship. Being somewhere extremely hot, where not many people understand you, where the food is not good, where you are so far from family and friends has been a hard adjustment for me. Yet I love being here serving people who are so loving and I have always wanted to visit Africa, so being here is a dream come true. I've prayed everyday to understand why I'm here and guys, prayer works. On Tuesday, I prayed before we left to out reach that I would understand better my purpose here in Africa. We met the most loving and amazing people. One of my fellow BYU volunteers, Lily and I saw a bunch of little kids about 100 yards away from us just staring at us. (happens a lot here!) We started waving and dancing and they loved to copy us. We walked over to them and just started talking and playing any and every game we could thing of. Finally, I suggested we play Goat, Goat, Chicken (like duck, duck, goose but with animals they know). Once we started playing there was no stopping! Our group of about 10 quickly grew to around 35 as we were playing. The group wasn't just kids, but men and women of all ages. Laughing and singing was happening all around. 2 older women came to the circle and insisted that we dance with them. So much happiness! I realized then, what my purpose is here. To realize the importance of slowly our own lives down, to take time to enjoy those around us. The people here work extremely hard, but always stop to talk and laugh with us. As we left, kids held onto my hands and legs and asked if we would be back. Since we hit different villages every day, it breaks my heart having to tell them no.

-Last story! Simon is my new Africa dad. Last week, I met a man at one of our out reaches who just started talking to me. I wasn't going to sit and talk with him just because I was needed by the glasses dispensing station, but somehow I knew I needed to sit and talk with him. He asked me lots of general questions about my family, schooling and America. When he left we just normally said our goodbyes and I didn't really think more of it. This week at surgery clinic (we got to St. Thomas eye clinic once a week to watch cataract and other eye surgeries), I didn't feel like I was going to pass out and was actually able to watch them which is a blessing let me tell ya! As soon as I stepped out of the van to go into the clinic, Simon was at my side! What?! I never though I'd see him again but he was there for surgery! He was beyond happy to see me. It brought tears to my eyes seeing that someone could be so happy to see someone they barely knew. He said, "Megan! It's Simon! Remember me?! We talked about your dad who is ... many years, your mom who is ... years, your grandma who is ... years and your grandpa who is ... years!". As you can see, we talked about a lot of random things the first time we met. I have no idea how he remembered everything perfectly. He then said, "I want to be your dad in Africa. You have a dad in America, but while you are here, I want to be your dad". Later that day, he saw a woman selling donuts and said, "Here! I want to buy some for my daughter!" and gave them to me. I was overwhelmed by how easy it was for him to give. I was deeply touched by his kindness and love. As I left that night and he was waiting for his ride back to his village, he said, "If we never meet again, know your dad in Africa loves you". Tears.

From reading about these experiences, I hope
you can realize the love I have for these people and the love that they are so willing to give. People here are always trying to help us with the Twi language (even though they laugh). They're gracious people and it helps me remember my purpose. Until next week!

Obruni.

(Sorry if the pictures don't work! Look on Facebook. My laptop is broken.)
1 week down and still alive friends! Africa has already given me an experience I never knew existed. I have seen a way of living 100x different than how we live in America. People here don't stop working. When it gets dark, they light candles by their food stand and continue selling. They're up and going so early. It's consistently 90 degrees with 90% humidity, yet they continue on. I was talking with an 18 year old boy this week at an out reach (more on these later). I asked him, "Doesn't it hurt people's necks when they carry such heavy things on their heads every day, all day?!" He simply said, "Yes it does hurt. But they carry food on their heads to get money, to have food in their stomachs". After his answer I felt stupid for asking. People here don't buy in bulk ever. (That's why we run out of toilet paper and never have it at our hotel!) They live day to day. They buy food and pay bills. It is amazing how hard they work ft so little. I am continuously amazed.
This week we started our out reaches! I'm here with a non-profit company, Unite for Sight. We travel to surrounding cities every day at about 7 am and set up our clinc. It's usually in the middle of a school or church yard. We give eye acquity tests, then they see the doctor, and then they get prescribed medications and glasses. We have 1 Doctor which makes for looongg waiting lines for him. We can get through visual acquity pretty quickly, but 90 people waiting to see the doctor is what usually keeps us there until about 5 or 6 pm. Makes for a long day! But...I've realized how amazing it is, despite the heat, to be able to help so many people. I never realized how many people truly need help.
We went to Cape Coast, Akotolanta, Ashimma and Kpone. It's amazing because we get to see so much of Ghana through our travels. Everyday I get to meet new friends! All the Ghanaians call us Obruni! Especially the children. It means "white person". In America, you'd get beat up for that but here people are so cool. They don't worry so much about what people say. I love it. When they call us Obruni, we must wave and they smile so so big! It melts my heart! We went to the eye surgery clinic on Thursday and I almost passed out. I took anatomy at BYU and never had any problems but these surgeries are so so bloody! And it's a quick process, while the patient is awake. They have local anesthesia, but it's hard for me to watch. Hopefully this week watching them will be better because it's really actually amazing.

Random thoughts/stories:

-I miss American food more than anything. Food here is...very interesting. Very fishy. I ordered white rice and chicken the other day and the lady looked at me like I was an alien! I thought I missed Momma's cooking while I was at college...
-The whole no make up and pony tails everyday? Yeah I love it!
-The group of BYU students I'm here with are some of the most awesome people ever.
-I love watching the people here smile when they put on their glasses and can see.
-Ghanaian babies are ridiculously scared of us. It all makes sense now hahaha
-It's really hard traveling somewhere different everyday because they kids in the out reach cities ask us if we'll be back tomorrow and we have to say no...really hard. Two little girls have asked to come to my house in America when I leave. One boy told me he loved my skin. My "fair skin".
-People here drive so so crazy! There's seriously like no rules. I feel like I'm going to die driving in cars here.
-We got smoothies here, expecting them to be super good. They tasted fine, but we realized how dangerous they were. Who knows where the fruit was cut, and there were ice cubes in them which is very dangerous (dirty tap water).
-I get sunburned so badly here. I'm gonna come home as dark as the Ghanaians!

Although everything is very, very different, I love being here so much. Being in Africa for even just 1 week has made me feel so much love for the people here and the service they need, that I get to give to them. I can't wait to continue serving the people here!

So. Much. Sweat.

I've officially been in Africa for 1 whole day! Goodness...the past 2 days have been so crazy. Amazing, yet crazy. My mom dropped me off at the Salt Lake City airport Friday at 5:30 am. My flight left SLC at 7:30 am, and I arrived officially in Ghana, Saturday at 3:45 pm. I never realized how uncomfortable airplanes are, or the impossibility of sleeping on them is. I had to ask a random girl next to me on the plane for some of her sleeping pills, since my second layover flight made me check my carry on, and all my pills were in there! I had only slept 20 minutes the past 24 hours and was so desperate. Once I took those sleeping pills, my flight to Ghana felt the shortest of them all, although it was the longest because I was out cold! Overall, my flights went super well even though I had to run past 76 gates to make a flight leaving in 17 minutes and my laptop's hard drive crashed, making it pointless for the next 6 weeks! (luckily I've got super awesome friends who are good at sharing theirs) But hey, I'm now in Africa and it's been the most amazing days ever.
We started off our Ghana experience with 9 of 13 of us BYU students going through Ghana customs. Since we're here volunteering with eye clinics, we all had to bring 600 pairs of reading glasses. We were given exemption letters to pass us through the customs, but that custom woman was not having it! She was telling us that we would have to pay 600 cedis (3.75 cedis=1 US dollar) taxes on the glasses. Luckily, John, our driver guy was able to come in and talk to them. However, they only let us past once we gave them each one of our glasses! I'm so glad we don't have to go through that on the way out...I sure hope not at least. On the plane, I wore sweats...which I realized was a terrible idea 10 feet before I even stepped out of the airport. The weather here is about 90 degrees all day everyday, with 90% humidity. I have never sweated so much for so long. I have always hated going to bed feeling sticky, but here there is no choice! The water gets turned off in the nights, so we get about 2 minutes for showers in the mornings. Best 2 minutes ever. We're staying in a pretty nice hotel here. It's just us here, since we take up all the rooms, and we've just sat outside on the covered porch (because if you stay inside, you will die of heat, I'm sure of it) and played so many card games. It's super fun already!
Last night once we got into our bedrooms and changed, we all desperately needed water. The tap water here will make you deadly sick, so we have to buy it. All 13 of us Obruni's (white person) headed out onto the Ghanaian streets in the dark. (Sorry Mom!!) It feels pretty safe here luckily. At least until 13 white people show up at an ATM on one of the busiest streets in Ghana. As soon as I realized how stupid/dangerous this was, I decided not to exchange any of my money until I had to. So I did that today and bought some water. We drink water out of little sealed plastic bags that they sell on the street. About 30 150 mL bags for 3 cedis. I even showered with one of those tiny bags tonight. It's hard to sleep so sweaty, but no showers because the water is turned off so I improvised!
Last thing...church today was so amazing. Walking in to a random building, hearing hymns from the piano brought the spirit so quickly. The people in the ward are amazing. They welcomed us and were awesome about talking with us. They all sing the hymns so loud. Their testimonies were amazing. They're truly grateful for little things that us in America would never think to be thankful for in our testimonies. Their prayers are straight thanks. They are amazing people who LOVE the prophet. Definitely love President Monson. Despite dripping sweat continuously for 3 hours, church was amazing. The kids here...kill me. Anyone who knows me at all knows how much I must be dying over the kids here.
We also ate our first Ghanaian street food today...fufu...I'll save that for the next blog. It wasn't pretty. All I'm gonna say! Read my next blog to find out about that experience! Tomorrow morning we head out to our first outreach! I can't wait to get started!!

My Adventure Starts in 5 Days!

Friends and Family! Thank you so much for all of the support you've given me as I've prepared to study abroad in Ghana, Africa this spring. I've always wanted to go to Africa for as long as I can remember and I can't wait to get there! I'm going to be volunteering for 6 weeks with a non-profit program called Unite For Sight. A lot of people in this part of Africa have eye diseases and can't see, which results in them taking their kids out of school to work for them since they can't see. Being able to give them glasses, medication and further referring them to doctors for surgery, won't just help the person who can't see, but also their children as we will hopefully be able to help get them back in school! I've been in Provo, Utah at BYU for the past two years on my own, so I'm not worried about being on my own, but I've definitely never been alone this far away. Luckily I get to go with an awesome group of students also from BYU. My family has vacationed in some awesome places internationally, so hopefully that will help me too. I'm not too worried, but if you want to follow my blog while I'm gone, you will know really how "worried" I am! I'm going to keep an ongoing blog for the 6 weeks and I'd love to share my stories with you. Thanks again for believing in me, pushing me to go and helping me realize that I can do new and exciting things! I'm so excited to do something new in life. I can't wait to be in Africa in 5 days helping the Ghanaian people!

P.S. the best way to reach me while I'm gone is through my E-Mail (megan.r.coleman@gmail.com) or through Facebook messenger. :)