Well, Day 9 for me here in Ghana. We're in 'wait-mode' as our I600 is in the process of being approved...Lord willing, we'll have an answer next week. It's their rainy season here so we've had a lot of water, maybe that's why it's so green and beautiful here! We've really been treated like royalty here at our hotel - fresh water bottle every day, clean sheets, fresh towels, not bad eh. All the staff absolutely go ga-ga over Jonathan, he's becoming quite the celebrity, especially with the ladies. We visited Christ Outreach Orphanage in Kasoa a few days ago. Our kids had been living here before we adopted them. Turns out Jonathan had been there since he was born and Ama since she was very very young. When I asked her how long she had been there she said she couldn't remember, a very long time was her response. I probably need to clarify my daughter's name change from Constance to Ama, sorry about the confusion. For now, suffice it to say that she prefers Amma, I'll cover their official names on another post ;-) So back to our visit to the orphanage. When we arrived there was a crowd of about 30-40 kids who surrounded the car, chanting 'Nana-Ama'. It quickly became apparent how popular our sweet Ama is at the orphanage. The children are just precious and more beautiful than i ever imagined. It brought tears (many of them) to my eyes to meet Ama's Grama Rose who runs the orphanage and her mother, Esther, too. We were immediately greeted by Ama and some of the other girls with an African dance which I got on video and will try to post at some point. This girl can move!! We took a lot of pictures of the kids with their friends AND family, I could tell their friendships run deep. We were told Jonathan's name at the orphanage is Kitchen Boy, which does not surprise me at all. The guy thinks about food allllll day. In between teasing Kitchen Boy, the children showed us around, their classrooms, dining area, kitchen, bedrooms. I had no idea how awful the conditions were going to be, I think I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Jonathan's mother was also able to come to the orphanage and it was a blessing to meet her. More tears. One thing I will never forget will be the scene where I started to hand out the package of crackers I had in my bag (for Jonathan,of course). Once word got around, rather quickly i might add, that i was handing out crackers, all the children surrounded me with their little hands in the air trying to be the next to get a cracker. Once it became obvious to me that I wouldn't have enough for every child, my heart ached for these poor children. I had intended to bring the food donations next week when we came back so I brought the gifts from home I had for them this time. Had I known.... duh, what was I expecting at an orphanage in a third world country?!?! Leaving was heartbreaking, even though I knew we were returning soon. The worst part being Jonathan's screams 'Mama, Mama' as his mother put him in my arms. Thank GOD he went right to sleep in a matter of minutes from pure exhaustion. As we drove away on that very bumpy dirt road I couldn't help but think 'I really hope President Obama takes time to see this part of Ghana when he visits this country next week'. Change is desperately needed in this country too. Check out Jeanie Hertz' blog, she's here with us in Ghana with her new daughter Akos. Click HERE to go to Lemon Grove Lane.