life journey..100 posts later

i noticed that i've reached the 100 mark for posts.  when i started writing, i was living in Brighton, NY, not really experiencing the spiritual energy of life as i know it today.  since arriving in South Africa, we have lived in 5 different furnished flats, and are now living in a lovely house in Accra, Ghana.

my life has entered a whole new and different sphere of existence on the continent of Africa.  Dash and i look back on the journey leading us here, seeing how our destiny was meant to wait 10 (long) years before we could arrive in Africa.  we were meant to give birth to ayana, dyami and domani in America and arrive just in time for domani to enter school (albeit a year early).

we look back on South Africa and our minds go straight to Delft, the place of a magnificent spiritual journey of love and servitude to our sisters and brothers in a neglected township in Cape Town.  from there we were meant to live 3 months in Durban as a stepping stone which enabled Dash to be interviewed for his current position with Olam.

we're now writing about our west african experience as Baha'is.  the blog is continually evolving as i evolve.  as the name portrays, each post is written as a little gem of life's experience and perspective which is shared in spirit within the realm of oneness with the entire human race.

Nas & Damian Marley - Patience

Jason in Knysna

We met Jason while traveling through South Africa in 2009. He lives in a small coastal town called Knysna. We met him upon parking the car. i was drawn to him immediately because he was so young -- he was out on the streets trying to earn a living by watching people's cars that are parked in town. In South Africa it's become a way to work by standing by the cars in the spirit of 'protecting' the car from any crime, and before you leave it's a courtesy to offer something. This boy was only 13 years old; by looking at the holes in his shoes we sensed he wasn't able to attend school (because even public schools require fees which some families cannot afford). One's heart stretches in these moments, feeling such a longing to change the world many hearts at a time and establish justice everywhere. We talked with him and felt his heart -- he was most polite and full of beauty. We offered him the food from our car before walking away, and instantly Dash and I were thinking the same thought: let's buy him dinner. We returned with a hot meal and his gratitude was immense. Dash was concerned for this boy's safety (thinking someone might take his bag) so he watched and waited for a little while; Dash saw the boy (Jason) find a place that was obviously hiding himself from others on the street. When we came back from our dinner he was busy with another car so we didn't get to say goodbye again. For the next few days our family continued to talk about this soul. We loved him, and he taught us a lot -- the children were able to think about how difficult it would be if they needed to do what he was doing; they also saw how beautiful his character was, how polite, respectful and sincere he was...all those spiritual qualities and powers which made him beautiful.

We had to drive past this town on our way back to Cape Town, and as soon as we reached his area of work, we saw him nearby helping another driver; we felt so excited! Dash parked the car and ran back a block, waiting until Jason was finished. When he turned around, he noticed me standing there and smiled, came over and hugged me. He hugged me for a long time -- it felt like we were family. We started talking about how he was doing. I asked about his family and he answered that they love him -- that comforted my heart. We walked back to my car and he hugged the whole family. He asked for nothing but Dash gave him some money. It was not easy to say goodbye or drive away from him. He kept saying 'God bless you' to Dash as they waved goodbye to each other. It was such a soul to soul connection. Our family will now keep him in our prayers, and continue to pray for all the children of the world whose lives are indescribably difficult.

The Best Azonto Dance Ever

"..the holder of a precious trust.."

it's been about 2 months of occupying cities to represent the 99% of the population that is not extremely wealthy or greedy.  as the momentum gained and spread to cities outside of america, i started to feel energized that finally a social movement was beginning to wake the masses from their slumber of lethargy and apathy.  it feels like i've grown up my whole life missing out on that sense of consciousness, where there is a shared sense of active participation toward justice.  i have always been interested in and captivated by the Civil Rights Movement.  i grew up in america without that fight for human rights.  it has occurred in other parts of the world in different ways, at different times, in the past 40 years, but right now the entire world is connected through the internet and something is stirring in the hearts of people who are fed up and tired of economic or political oppression..

*****

"Now is the time when every follower of Bahá'u'lláh must cling fast to the Covenant of God, resist every temptation to become embroiled in the conflicts of the world, and remember that he is the holder of a precious trust, the Message of God which, alone, can banish injustice from the world and cure the ills afflicting the body and spirit of man. We are the bearers of the Word of God in this day and, however dark the immediate horizons, we must go forward rejoicing in the knowledge that the work we are privileged to perform is God's work and will bring to birth a world whose splendor will outshine our brightest visions and surpass our highest hopes."

The Universal House of Justice ~

from a letter dated Naw-Ruz, 1979, to the Bahá'ís of the World

 *****

after reading the excerpt above by the beloved Universal House of Justice with its immeasurable insight and wisdom as gleaned from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, Abdu'l-Baha and the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, i felt confirmed on how to utilize my energy and passion for all issues of justice in this world.  i certainly haven't desired to partake of the occupation myself, but i like seeing that people are waking up and no longer willing to accept injustice in any of its forms.  i know that the Message of Baha'u'llah is the banner which will raise up and unite everyone's hearts and transform our way of life in order to establish, once and for all, the cherished desire of world peace, justice and universal brotherhood throughout the world.

ok, i'm an expat

we are 'expats', whether we want to be considered such or not.  at first i couldn't identify with this term at all. in fact, i wanted nothing to do with it.  i am not a foreigner whose life is characterized by all of the trappings of an expat -- typically spending a lot of money and spending most of one's time on things of this world that do nothing to benefit humanity.  i know, a gross generalization.  but i've observed enough to realize it's basically true.  the reason, then, that i have accepted we are expats is because we do rely on the local supermarket to purchase items that the typical ghanaian doesn't buy -- though it must be said that the new generation of wealthy ghanaians, especially those who have returned from england, nigeria or the states, is also purchasing these kinds of items.

Dyami & Domani Douglas serving mac cheese for Thanksgiving dinner

first on my list for being an ex-pat is butter (second might be cheese!).  we go through butter so quickly but it costs 6 cedi for 200grams.  i'm not one to understand life in terms of numbers and statistics but i know this is very expensive for the quantity we're purchasing! 

i made a list of everything we buy that is incredibly expensive for what it's worth, it would be very long.  everything from milk to biscuits to dried beans to soy sauce. the local ghanaian eats very nicely and inexpensively with locally caught fish and locally grown peppers, tomatoes, palm oil, onions and a wide array of seasonings, grains, fruits and vegetables.  we have incorporated much of it into our daily diet, but somehow we cannot see living without imported dried beans (which make a variety of soups and stews depending on the spices used), macaroni and cheese once in a while, and the occasional soy burger or sausage.  so i now accept that in this way i am an ex-pat in the eyes of the ghanaian people. :)

observing our life in ghana

it's a sunny day of heat and humidity here in accra, ghana.  we're very fortunate to live with air conditioning.  as simple as i try to live, i think i'd be completely worn out if we didn't have the air con.  this surely must be why people who live in the hot regions of the world typically move very slowly.  this comfort of life enables me to have energy to serve my family and the community.  without it, i would not be able to accomplish much of what i can because i feel exhausted after a short time of working in or out of the house without it.  the heat consumes me after 15 minutes of working in the garden or keeping the air off in the house while doing some cleaning in the morning hours..such are my genetic limitations coming from northern europe. :)

our way of life seems normal to us now, but i often realize that what we're seeing, hearing, or doing, and how we are living, is quite different from most of our friends in the world.  today is a common example.  i'm outside gardening -- pulling weeds, removing stones, watering, and replanting.  i decided to use the water pump cover, which is too small for the pump, as a table/shelf for 2 potted plants.  it's very ghetto to most middle-class, educated people, but to me it's being transformed into something very useful instead of continuing to sit outside without a purpose (as a result of the new pump which will not fit under it).  while rearranging the plants i decide to uproot a handful of the mung bean plants which are growing too closely together.  at first i was going to add them to the pile of decaying green matter (which i still hope to use for our next sheet mulching experiment).  a thought, though, came to me to share them with katrin who is 17 and helping sprout seeds and grow food in her compound.  i walked down the dirt road and into her big yard, finding her lying down on a rattan mat.  she sat up and received the seedlings with appreciation.  i noticed that she had the children's version of the Dawnbreakers with her on the mat.  it was such a sign that something is happening in our neighborhood, something invisible -- that mysterious attraction of the soul to the spirit which animates our lives.  if the thought hadn't come to my heart to share the seedlings, i would have missed that opportunity to see our book being enjoyed by another soul who may not realize how special this story is..i felt so deeply happy..

the masses of ghanaians typically wake very early with the roosters, collecting water, washing clothes, sweeping, smoking fish, preparing porridge, fufu, gari, kenke & banku, & walking long distances to get to transportation, school or work.  black plastic bags carry everyone's meal or groceries -- no one carries something by hand unless they are eating it.  my driver explained that the black bag protects any bad spirits from affecting the food.  i use cloth bags when remembering to bring them with me, but if i try to take the local produce without a bag (like a bunch of bananas) and place it in my car, the ghanaian merchant will try to offer me a bag even after i've explained i don't need one.  in addition to the black bags, small, square-shaped sachets which carry water (instead of bottles) are bought & sold everywhere by everyone who is traveling by foot or in public transport (with the windows down, the merchants walk along highways and roadways selling the sachets).  the amount of waste thrown onto Mother Earth is disheartening.  no bins or enforced laws exist so people just throw the bags on the ground..



yesterday our jr. youth group's first service project, in response to the abundance of litter on the ground, was picking up trash.  with plastic bags in hand, we worked mostly in pairs to collect mostly plastic bags, but also empty food containers and wrappers, etc.  for the 3rd group meeting of newly-formed relationships, it was a big success seeing them cooperate, consult and have a good time doing something worthy of praise together.  one car stopped on the main road, rolled the window down and gave us a thumbs up with a shout, 'Good job!'  it was very rewarding and truly a divine confirmation.

..today we welcomed people to our home 5 separate times throughout the day.  what a great sign that we are part of a community!  some kids joined us for Devotions this morning.. when we were hanging out at the pool, the kids who live across the street came by to hang out with us.. mid-afternoon 3 jr. youth came by to talk, 2 of which missed yesterday's session..before dinner 3 Baha'i youth came to hang out..and 7 other jr. youth and kids who are our neighbors down the dirt road joined us for sunday night 'storytelling'. :)  though we couldn't hang out longer with each of the friends who came by (or else we wouldn't be able to study or do what we do as a family, especially on a day that dashiel leaves for a business trip), it made us feel happy that we finally have established bonds of friendship with people in our neighborhood, most of whom are enjoying children's classes and jr. youth group with us!  now i will be thinking of them when we leave this week for the States and stay for 4 weeks.  some of them have already said how much they will miss us. by the grace of God we are all sharing bonds of love together. :)

C-Real – Do The Azonto [Ft. E.L.]

C-Real – Do The Azonto [Ft. E.L.]

this link is one of the few ghanaian songs i've downloaded from http://bigxgh.com/ -- it took 6 months to find some songs we really like! what enabled it to happen was hanging out at someone's place, sitting on benches in the shade. when the kids started playing songs they have on their cell phones, it was like a swarm of bees rushing toward us as all of the kids came to listen.. and DANCE! what a fun site it was to see the ways they can move their body to a song -- ways that i've never seen before! after hearing "Yese Yese" a few times i was hooked. :) that was when i discovered how bluetooth works. i was introduced to free music downloading!! now i'm on a quest for clean (as opposed to 'explicit) hip hop music in africa. for now, we are infusing our home life with the new sounds of ghanaian hip hop and capturing a bit of it on video as the local children dance their way through listening to the songs. :)

water. woman. carrying a precious load

this morning i heard a lot of commotion outside so i looked out of my bedroom window and saw women filling up water from the other side of the wall.  jugs were sitting on top of the wall for my neighbor while other women found another location to fill up their jugs.  a pipe had busted.  free water for the neighborhood.  i saw Magdelene, my 10 year old friend, in her school uniform carrying an empty jug and spoke to her for a moment, as she was consumed with her task at hand.

example of Ghanaian girls working during school days

families are struggling to provide enough water for their families.  i constantly see kids and adults walking from unknown distances and locations to bring water back to their homes.  people have figured out very well how to store the water in jugs, using basins for water that doesn't need to be kept clean.  it is quite impressive to me to see people managing to carry heavy containers of water with their arms, on their hips and on their heads.

as i watched many women doing this while walking along the dirt road, all i could think about was the preciousness of water.  every drop that spilled out of their open basins was not able to be used for washing or cooking.  even though i think i appreciate having running water entering our home through a system of pipes, i know i don't appreciate it enough.  i am conservative and utilize techniques to reuse, redistribute or save, but i only begin to enter that sphere of true appreciation when there is an emergency and we have no water pouring out of our faucets or flushing through our toilets.  it is at that moment that i can no longer rinse my hands, a task i do probably hundreds of times a day.  we manage to have back-up jugs of water for rinsing but we must stop doing all of the daily activities which use much water: cooking, washing dishes and clothes, taking a shower and flushing the toilets..

while looking out of the window daydreaming, praying & longing to help but wondering if it would take away their dignity, i noticed a laughing dove with a twig in its beak.  it was perched on top of the barbed wire.  i watched it hop to the next arch of the wire and was curious where it was going to take this twig.  a few minutes later it hopped down to the top of the wall which separates us from our neighbors and hopped toward a bunch of small branches and leaves that were resting along the wall.  to my joyful surprise i saw another morning dove sitting on top of the beginning of a nest!  she was there to receive what he brought her every few minutes for the 10 minutes i watched them.  she maneuvered the twigs with her beak and somehow managed to twist them in a manner that would enable them to be secure for them.  it was beautiful and amazing to watch.  i was mesmerized.  it made me think of how typical it is for the husband to work outside of the home and bring back sustenance for the family, while the wife is typically home waiting to receive the sustenance and make good use of it for the family.

like two wings of a bird, men and women must support each other in their family life and in the workload in order for the family to be able to soar.  humanity is far from recognizing and appreciating the hard work women contribute to family life, but to me, it is precious.