Some Things I'll Never Get Used To

I had a conversation with Steve a few nights ago and found myself saying, "Some things, I'll never get used to."

It's funny how "used to" things I have gotten during my time living here. 

The heat doesn't bother me too much anymore.  In fact, now that it's rainy season, I often get cold in the night and have to heat some water on the stove for a morning bath.

You get used to the dirtyness of the place and forget to even "see" trash around.  I've tried to be more aware as volunteers have come through, but it is something that just becomes normal here.

I have gotten used to the accent and can hear (and sometimes speak) Ghanaian English pretty well.

A constant barrage of kids, well, I know how to handle that now without too much impatience.

Cold water, electricity that goes out, drinking water for sachets instead of from the sink...all of that is normal now.

I've gotten used to seeing things carried on heads and often help put things on the children's head to carry.

I've gotten used to babies being attached to the back (though our babies are a little big for the cloth, they still enjoy a good backride).

But, in the past couple of weeks, I have seen some things that I will never forget and I don't think I'll ever get used to.

A couple of weeks ago, Stacy and I were traveling back from ladies day out in Accra when we came up to an accident not too far from where we live.  A motorcycle had been hit by a car.  The motorcyclist and it's passenger (a woman) were both lying dead in the middle of the road.  The car was flipped over on it's side in a ditch at the side of the road.  So many were gathered around, but no one was helping.  I could hardly breathe seeing such a sight in the middle of the road, and all I could do was pray.

And just this week, we were driving back from our 4th of July shopping and in almost the SAME spot, a boy had been hit by a car as he was running across the road.  He laid at the side of the road, the crowd gathered around, but no one helping.  We rushed to the police office not too far down from us, and Stacy and John ran inside and the policeman ran out to their cars to check out the situation.

And then on Wednesday, I found out that one of our own was involved in an accident.  One of our boys from school was hit by a motorcycle (a motorcycle without headlights on) the other night.  He was running across the street and was hit.  He was rushed to the military hospital and has stitches all over his body (his face and back primarily) and he is going in for x-rays tomorrow as the military hospital is concerned about some of the bones in his face. 

Yeah, those pictures just don't leave my head.  And I have to continue to pray for the families of these victims and trust that God will do the healing process in our little boy that attends our school and He will also work his healing in the lives of the victim's families from the past two accidents.

I'm learning that here, there is just a different value placed on life. 

So, as I'm seeing this, I'm praying that God will continue to teach his children at CORM and at Faith Roots about the VALUE of life...of freedom...of joy....of health...of truth...so that they will want to reach out to the world beyond themselves.  And may my eyes never overlook the value of ONE child...one person...one soul.