Lakeside

It didn’t take me long to realize that my favorite place to adventure out into was going to be the lakeside. The first time I saw the lakeside was in Ancase. The lakeside there is spread out and many people go there for washing clothes and dishes and for taking baths. I didn’t stay long that day but not long after decided to travel by myself down to the lakeside in Amakom. The first day that I decided to go I was going for the purpose of getting away with God and writing some and of course checking out the lake. It is quite a hike to get down to the lake. There is a very narrow path through the bush and I have to admit that the first time I went down I was a nervous wreck thinking I was going to run into a python at any minute. When I came out the other side and arrived at the lakeside this is what I saw.
The wind was blowing some, which is always a good thing, and it was so peaceful and serene. I thought wow! This is perfect! I finished my writing and praying and was just sitting on the dock soaking in the privacy and the sun when I see a fisherman coming up on literally half a log and he was paddling with broken bowls. He was smiling and I was like oh my what now lol. He started indicating to me through hand motions and his broken English that he had been out on the water all day and needed some food. I told him I didn’t have any but he was pretty persistent so I went poking through my bag to see if I had anything that I could offer him. I found a beaten up granola bar, probably leftovers from the flight over, and handed it over to him. He was very thankful and showed me the fish that he had caught. He had travelled from Dompa which is a village across the lake and he paddles steady for 45 minutes on this log to get to his nets and fish for the day. After a few minutes of talking to him I saw other fishermen paddling towards us and then rain pouring down. Thankfully there is a boat dock at Amakom lakeside so I sat under the covering of the boat dock and was quickly joined by TEN fishermen. Yes I said TEN! I and my ten new friends sat under the boat dock for over an hour while it poured, talking, or trying to, laughing and having good fellowship. When the rain dissipated I stood up to go with the two fish that I had been given in tow. I didn’t really know what to do with such small fish but I quickly found help and began the process of scaling, gutting and frying up these little fish that are actually very tasty.

I decided to go back to the lake just a day or two later. As I was walking down the hill I saw Obibini’s running up the hill shouting Obruni and I had a little entourage follow me to the lake. About fifteen children were sitting inches from me, jumping and splashing about in the water and loving to try their English out on me and teach me some Twi.

I decided to hike up my skirt and get in the water with them. We splashed around and took funny pictures.

They couldn’t get enough of themselves on the camera and if they thought someone had more pictures than they did they would quickly let me know that was not ok. As we were playing, one of my Dompa friends came up and strung up six fish for me and would not take payment for them.

That is the equivalent of about $1.20 in the US and a very big deal here. Especially since I knew from our previous encounter that this man had two ex-wives and eight children to care for.

Besides the fact that my last encounter cleaning and preparing the fish was not the best experience I’ve ever had.

My roommates of course laughed at me and my antics once again as I walked up with my six fish. I could not for the life of me kill them so I had to leave them in the sink and leave the house for a bit until they died which everyone said was really horrible of me.

Yesterday I took my roommate Rebecca to the lake. The children of course saw us coming down the hill and started running up the hill crying out Obruni! Obruni!

They followed us to the lake and this time we discovered we had about 35 children with us and fortunately I had come a little better prepared. I had brought some yarn and beads to make the girls necklaces! Oh my you should have seen the excitement that it brought.

The boys of course went to great lengths to pretend to be a girl, most of which I cannot divulge here, but I quickly shooed them away to keep swimming so that we could have this precious time with only the girls. They loved their necklaces and made sure to count seven beads on each necklace to make it fair. Here are the girls and their necklaces. So sweet and precious they were. All the children were asking for cash and toffees which have been given to them before but we want to offer them something that is longer lasting and amazingly they are ok with that. On our way to the lake I started hearing some of the children sing some of the songs I had sang with them before and we began singing them at random points throughout the day and telling them Jesus loves them and the importance of the number seven as it relates to Jesus and creation. It became a very precious time with them and it was hard to pull myself away when it was time to go. They grabbed my stuff and walked it all the way back up the hill. Rebecca’s and my hands were grasping little Obibini hands and people just smiled at us as we walked with our little entourage up the hill. As I was walking up to the house I thought about the gift the lake has been. Sitting amongst little children, learning Twi from fishermen and sharing the love of Jesus in a place that is more beautiful than words can explain.

Yes the lakeside is one of my favorite spots.

So last night right after dinner I needed to see the sunset lakeside again, so I travelled the mile to the Ancase lakeside and chatted with people on the way and enjoyed the beauty of the sunset. It was definitely worth it!