Whose Day Are You Making?

So tonight on my way to church, a few blocks from my church, I heard someone scream my name. I turned and saw one of the guys from church.  He was rushing to go somewhere so I waved him and walked on. Then this dude that I had noticed who had parked his car and was playing or texting someone on his phone called out my name too.

'Oh so you heard my name and decided to call me right? Because I don't recall telling you my name' The silly me who walks around laughing about nothing in particular kept laughing.  How then was the dude supposed to take me seriously even if I didn't like the idea of him trying to talk to me.  He offered to take me wherever I was going. My church is just here. He didn't believe me, I had to point it out to him. 'So you are going to church to pray for a hubby.' I laughed till my cheeks hurt. (Sweetness, we don't go to church only to pray for husbands.  I go to church because my soul is happy when I go there. It is addicted to church: hubby or no hubby. It keeps me in check, what is taught from the Bible at church is the standard  by which I live my life. Thank you! ).

After our conversation, I bid him goodbye but  not before recognizing who he was. He was all calm that I'd made him out. (A celeb obviously). I still tried going my way and then he asked for my number after which he did something Gh boys you meet for the first time barely do.

He walked closer: pulled me into a hug and kissed my forehead. I walked into church thinking. What the hell just happened? Did he really do that? Ok: sorry he may have been a stranger to me but I liked what he did though he caught me unawares. You see, I would love to see him again. I may not go that extra mile with him (No!)  but I'm thinking he made my night with that act. (I love what he did. Call me silly but that's just me ).

I'm thinking how many people's day I make in a day. Sometimes I just ignore people completely whilst it costs absolutely nothing to put a smile on their face. Life is short. When you have the chance to make someone smile, don't waste it. May I ask: 'Whose day are you making?' You could help someone by sharing what you have with them or by just giving them a listening ear. Which ever way you do it, what matters is: you are making someone's day and making them smile. 

Reading something tonight and it  makes  me sad.
Last day of 2015. Grateful for life and the blessings of these last few days. My God redeemed me before the sound of the final whistle for full time.

Do You Know The Birthday Boy?

'Silver bells, silver bells
Its Christmas time in the city
Ring- a- ling, hear them ring
Soon it will be Christmas day...'

Blake Shelton's silver bells and I love it!

Well the yultide season is here again , a time when christians around the world commemorate the birth of Christ. It's  a time for celebration, a time to give, a time to  spend with loved ones and those who mean the world to you. A time to take vacations, to get married and do lots of things I guess.

One thing I love about Christmas is the carols and the dozens of activities lined up: shows, plays, parties and the list goes on. My Christmas began last week with the Mtn festival of lessons and carols, party and this week, parties, play: more fun.....Last night, festival of lessons at church  got me smiling from ear to ear. I felt young again. It ended early enough so after party could begin. I went to bed at three in the morning so your guess is as good as mine.

It was crazy. Ghanafuo wo krom: y3 wo krom which literally means 'We are in town.' Republic, So ho, Coco lounge,  well from the little I saw, 'we are in town.' I loved the spirit but I
just came to the realization that it really does not matter which way you choose to celebrate. What matters is if this yuletide means anything to you. Do you know the birthday boy?

Remember a personal relationship with the birthday person is the reason for the season.
You can't be a gate-crusher or an ordinary guest at his celebration: 'a personal relationship or a continuous personal relationship' with him will make the season more meaningful. Be or keep being a friend of Jesus....

The liquor, the dudes and girls, smoke and you know the others will not depict the real reason for the season. It's a spirit soul and body thing.  Whilst we do all that, do not lose yourself: there's a reason for the season.

Wishing you all the blessings that come with the celebration of his birth: joy, peace, good health amongst others.

I love my friends who are sending me glad tidings and then stating from: Mr&Mrs...................Everybody should get married already and send me such messages....lol.

Puppishgirl sending you seasons Greetings...

Childhood Tales: Redco Days...

I did not  stay at Redco, I was only going there for vacations till I twisted my leg. I remember how my Stella would carry me around the Police Hospital once  we arrived. No wheel chair for me at the time and since I couldn't walk I had to be carried.  Once my leg was put in a cast, I learned to walk hopping on one leg after wearing it for two weeks.

The difficulty was that, mostly I had to stay home whilst others played downstairs. It got Boring for me so after two weeks I learned to descend the stairs with my cast. I found it easy holding on to the railings but climbing back upstairs was always a difficult task. After that vacation, I didn't go back to Ho. Redco became home for over thirteen years.

I remember I never learned to skip with two people holding on to the skipping rope due to my fear of the rope hitting my legs. I would rather hold it for others to skip. I  remember Redco day and night watchmen.

One of the incidents that shook the neighbourhood of Redco was when  a man on the fourth floor behind our  block decided one night to throw his wife away downstairs. She was by then the Matron at Presec, Legon. She had not died on the spot but had told the night watchman who had heard the sound and patrolled round the building to find her laying there in her undergarments. They must have   been   arguing   when the incident occurred.

That story had made the news for a while in the country. I still recall how the ambulance carrying her remains had come to Redco and the crowd that thronged her block to catch a final glimpse of her. She was later sent away to her hometown for the funeral. Her husband was made to face the full regals of the law and incarcerated   (Their daughters whom I knew from a distance must be big girls now).

So one of the things I appreciate about Redco was,  it taught me one major lesson I never thought I was taught at home  : it exposed me to sex education .  At an early age of eleven, I heard stories of boys having sex with girls. They made it seem like a  trend. I remember how I would never walk past the big Redco boys. Sadly I recall how one of the coolest big boys got shot in the states right after Senior High School where he went to visit his Aunty. I liked him because he was quiet. He was so cute and would ask how I was doing. We never saw him again as his body was never brought home (Bless  his gentle soul).

Yes there were two sets of boys. Those I could stand up to and those who were eight or more years older. I just freaked out when I saw them gathered together. I think I was also shy of them once I hit adolescent.  The second whom I was comfortable with, were really cool. The big ones if I ever spoke with them was because they wanted to ask about Gifty.

So I vividly recall Redco parties. Those parties were hot. Kissing, smooching, whatever.......Now tell me, I had seen it all. I knew what was wrong and what was right. It was at Redco that I started making a list of boys who asked me out. I would clearly stand up to you and tell you: you were the fifteenth boy asking me out ( I just enjoyed counting, I never said yes. It massaged my ego in a way). I felt like some beauty queen:  already my Dad had told me I was. Yet validation   from my peers did matter (Hilarious! Adolescence issues).

So my Stella hated the idea of us standing downstairs with the boys. She preferred us having the boys over at our house where she could keep an eye on us. I remember how Gifty would get invited to parties for thirteen  year olds but would not be able to attend because of me. I never got invited because party hosts probably thought I was underage. I hated that about Redco parties, party hosts always had an age limit.

Redco was fun. I really would not want to offend anyone by telling a tale or two but Redco was the place. It exposed me to sex education at an early age. It made me aware that there would always be boys and frankly that every boy was a liar when it came to expressing their feelings for you (Hahahahah...yeah  back then). It was more of a self interest thing for them than  being truthful.

With fond memories of Redco.
Wonder if it's still as fun these days as it was during our time.

#ChildhoodTales

#RedcoDays

Some people will not be viewing this blog again as I just remembered to remove a few addresses linked to the puppishgirlblogspot.com
My apologies if you get affected: personal decision. 
Google if you want to read.
Thanks.
It's Christmas already.

Seasons Greetings!!

Childhood Tales: Living with Grandpa

I remember I had the opportunity to live with my maternal grandparents at age seven or so for a full academic year. My Dad was studying abroad and my Mum worked in Ada. I lived with my grandparents mainly because my parents wanted us to go to a good school. Around that time, two of my cousins also came to live with my grandparents and so we were five grandchildren living with them.
Vacations were spent with my Mum, Aunty or Uncle.

I recall how four of us (excluding the oldest of us all) could get into the shower and bath for hours till parts of the house got flooded. My granny who couldn't see at the time would only hear us screaming and singing in the bathroom.  After a while,  she would ask us to get out of the shower but we would ignore her and bath for hours till half of the place got flooded.

Usually it would be the househelp telling my Granny that the place was getting flooded but we would never step out till we were tired.  It would be the househelp's  duty to clean up the place after we were done.

There was this game that we all enjoyed playing. Since my granny couldn't see, we took delight in removing her stool from wherever she placed it so in the end she ended up falling on stones. Ho where we lived is noted as a stoney town and one of the things Grandma Lucy enjoyed was sitting outside in the mornings at the backyard. She always carried her own stool outside to sit down but as troublesome as we were, would pull the stool before she got seated making her fall down. We would end up bursting into laughter and then she would eventually realize that we had planned it. Of all the games in the world, all five of us enjoyed playing this particular one.

Grandma Lucy was noted for punishing people at dawn. She chose that period to beat you for something you did the previous day since you would run away. At dawn, you ended up enjoying your sleep forgetting about  your past deeds yet Grandma Lucy would beat you whilst you were sleeping and let you know why she was beating you.

So I don't recall exactly what I did wrong but then she promised to get me at dawn. Gifty and I being the oldest grandchildren at the time shared the same bed. I woke up in the middle of the night and swapped sleeping places with Gifty who was fast asleep.  My granny knew I slept at the other side of the bed by the wall. When she woke up, since Gifty and I  had the same hairstyle,  once she felt her hair she thought it was me. She started beating Gifty. Gifty woke up crying and asking: 'Grandma, why are you beating me? What did I do?' 'Oh Gifty, I'm sorry I thought it was Elikem.' By then I had jumped out of bed and left the room. I never allowed her to lay a finger on me.

I remember breakfast. We all took turns daily to prepare breakfast. By seven you had to be seated at the dining table at your rightful place. Grandpa knowing we were short had throw pillows on each chair so we could all access  the table. Once it was your turn to fix breakfast, you were in charge of making sure the househelp: Aunty Mansa (Of blessed memory, she was so lovely and patient) filled up the kettle and  grandpa was in charge of making the hot water. Once it was done, you made everyone a cup of milo and grandpa coffee. You were also in charge of the bread and making sure we all had our slices which grandpa made sure were really small so you could have  a slice cut into  about four pieces spread with margarine, chocolate spread or cheese. The fruits for the morning like orange had to be ready too. We all sat down and whoever was in charge for the day would say a prayer and we all ate in silence. No talking at Grandpa's table.

In the evenings when grandpa got back from work, he would take a long shower of about an hour minimum (Still can't tell why he took forever), then he would eat his dinner.  He made sure all of his grandchildren shared his meat or fish by  calling us beginning with the youngest, one after the other to feed us.

Grandpa had this wine fiat which we all took turns to sit in the passenger's seat by Grandpa. He drove us to school (my school was just a walking distance from where we lived, same vicinity: Mawuli Estates), the market: where we only stayed in the car awaiting Aunty Mansa. Mostly, he would drive us to the library in the mornings after breakfast during vacations and Saturdays where he registered us. Whether you liked it or not, you had to stay till midday and read a book. If you couldn't finish reading it, you ended up borrowing it to take home.(Guess that's where I fell in love with reading). My neighbours were our best friends as we went everywhere together though we went to different schools.

There's absolutely no way I can forget what happened after school one day. School had closed and I stood at the entrance waiting for Gifty so we could walk home together. She was three classes ahead of me. I stood unawares as a senior pushed me into the hedges and beat me up. She made sure she scratched my face with her fingers for a crime I can still not tell. I was helpless as I couldn't fight back (That day, I resolved never to fight anyone: I was a weakling. Afterall, my little brother could even beat me up how much less a stranger. Fighting was not made for me).Grandma made sure that girl was properly dealt with by sending my small Aunty to the school authorities.

I became friends with some girls who were two years ahead of me and lived on my street but farther away. One invited me to go to her house after school: so all three of us met at her house. Each time I went, they would leave me all by myself to go play in a tank whilst I watched tv. One afternoon I began to wonder why they always invited me yet left me out when they were playing. If I wasn't their age, why did they make me their friend, I really began to wonder. I got curious and followed them to the tank. I saw them doing something funny (Grandma probably knew and stopped me from going there once I told her: little girls playing gay).

There was a tree between my neighbours house and ours where all the kids (our immediate neighbours: our best friends and us) gathered not under but on the tree to talk. I had learned to climb it too but fell flat on my chest during one of our tree climbing expeditions. I never told anyone and we the children kept it a secret amongst ourselves till I had a prolong chest problem after the fall.

Weekends were fun (guess that's where I fell in love with travelling). Grandpa loved to travel and would take us with him wherever he went. We would stop over at places to eat or visit people he knew. Grandpa could chase us just to ensure we went to church even when he wasn't going to church himself.  Grandma and Grandpa attended different churches so mostly we went to grandma's church.
I recall birthday parties. Grandpa's Piano and  Christmas decorations.
Christmas, new year, easter and the new clothes, bags and shoes. I remember taking photos together as a family and the bond that existed.

Whilst my grandma had her own share of problems, grandpa had his too. I remember how my siblings and younger cousin would finish a tin of milo and pour sand into it only for grandpa to find out during breakfast.

I recall one vacation, school had vacated on a Wednesday and they had still not decided where we were going to spend the long vacation.  My cousin: Rejoice and I decided to join our neighbour who by then was in senior high school to push a wheel barrow. He had been carrying stones from a particular house to his house. We would sit in the wheel barrow  whilst he pushed us till we arrived at the place where the stones were. We would walk back with him and sit in the wheel barrow once he emptied it. He pushed it so fast that we had to jump out of it or else he poured us out like he did to the stones. I vividly recall a certain woman who had been passing by cautioned us but we ignored her. Then the unexpected happened. The guy did his usual pouring us out on the side where I was seated. I was not fast to jump out he ended up pouring me out and I could not get up again. My leg had turned in the opposite direction as I screamed out in pain. He had to carry me home. Grandma bathed me and decided to massage my leg. Our neighbour also came to massage it but the more they did, the more I cried as the pain was unbearable. My twisted leg wouldn't go back to normal too. Grandma gave me a pain reliever and I went to sleep since I couldn't walk.

When Grandpa got back from work, he decided I needed proper medical attention so he had the househelp pack our things. He made a quick call and told us we were going to Accra for vacation. Apparently we were too troublesome.  Two days into the vacation one of us had twisted her leg. He couldn't tell what else would happen if we had to stay for four to five weeks. We were sent to our parents on Saturday dawn. It ended up being my worst vacation ever as I couldn't walk for over a month and had my right leg in a cast.

#Childhood Memories
#Living with Grandpa (Spider man)

In memory of my maternal grandparents:  Lucy and Fritz Agra with fond memories of my childhood days.

Childhood Tales: The Girl Guides Experience

Lovely weather tonight and it reminds me of the girl guides training centre. One of the memories I hold so dear is my Girl Guides camping experiences. As the saying goes, once a guide, always a guide.

Girl Guides taught me quite a number of things. Firstly as a ten year old, I had never lived on my own. I still remember when my Stella of blessed memory (Last Friday marked exactly five years she was returned to dust ) would drop me off at the training center. Surrounded by weeds and trees, the Girl Guides training center seemed to have been the only building in the forest if I'm allowed to put it that way. You saw no lights and heard no sounds except for that of birds chirping and perhaps wild animals. Once a while you were lucky to hear the sound of a car.
The thought of running away never for once occurred to me. This was a boarding house experience devoid of seniority. We were all Guides. The junior didn't have to sleep on the top bed. Allocation of beds was based on first come first served basis.

There was no indication that there were seniors and juniors. We were all sisters, even the seniors pampered the younger girls.

They allowed me to go camping because my Stella was once a guide and beside my uniform, I became the owner of her guides uniform with all the badges she had earned.

Give me a G: G
Give me a U: U
Give me an I:I
Guides are smashing, guides are cool.....

As we trek along together, shall we sing a song...
love, love, love and sorrow who knows what comes tomorrow,  love, love as we trek along..

Oh I have an Aunty
An Aunty Monica...

There were cheese,
Cheese, cheese to make the mice go round....

Legon Girl Guides are coming
Will you give way for them ohhhh.....

Midnight feasts in Elsie dormitory or Ruby dorm( I only slept in these two dorms each time I went camping) Entertainment( Saturday night),  fun day out.
You ate the food whether you wanted to or not. A sense of owning your own stuff and being responsible. I guess you've got to learn to be a lady....

There my writing began.
Turning my Girl Guides camping experiences into fiction( They were deemed crap in those days as i littered the place with papers covered with things i had written and today I write just more than camping  experiences).

I miss wearing that blue dress with my enrollment badge on the left side of my chest. My red scarf: yes my company was known for wearing red scarf and spotting my black combat shoes. One of the things I would always remember: the lessons I learned and I miss those days.
Reminiscing on my childhood days with love from the Ghana Girl Guides Training Center. I' m wondering if my Girl Guides teacher is still alive but I sincerely hope she is.

#Childhood Memories
#Girl Guides stories

Saturday marked my sister's   special   day.
Congratulations @Mancee Adiku.

Photo source: Anita Erskine 

Cuties Readerfeast : Thank You!

Last Saturday, 5th December,  the Cuties Readerfeast team was at Okwampa  near Bawjiase in the central region   where we hosted one hundred children to a Readerfeast.

We started off with a screening and registration session for participants aged six to fourteen years from Okwampa  and its   surrounding villages.

With one volunteer leading all the children  and taking them through a phonetic  refresher session using fun methods such as phonetic songs and rhymes,  the children were eventually placed in appropriate   groups depending on their ages, class and their ability to read.  The team comprising eight  volunteers took the children through a two hour reading clinic. The children   were later assessed  to enable the team find out the level of impact made on them. Those who were able to do the task assigned to them were rewarded. The clinic was followed by a feasting segment where the children were fed. Every child went home with a souvenir to constantly   remind them of the   Readerfeast experience .

A few weeks ago, I learned   about  investing in the   Kingdom of God and thought  I   would put this into practice. Thank you to the almighty   God for making   this a dream come true.

A special  acknowledgement   to  a man who believes in investing in  children regardless of of their geographical location: Rev. Ankrah. He  was on a mission   to spread the good news of Christ to people in Okwampa  as well as its neighboring villages and gave the Cuties Readerfeast   team the platform  to hold this event.

Thank you to EPP books services and to everyone   who supported   us. Through  donations, rendering of services,  I cannot   mention everyone   but I want you   to know that I truly   appreciate   your support   and   donations.

It was such a joy  seeing the smiles on the faces of these children.
It felt like  we had put some sunshine in their  lives.
Every child in Ghana, deserves to have access to story books. They deserve to be able to speak and read English regardless of their geographical location. Cuties Readerfeast, is a foundation  which is solely dedicated   to   helping a rural child  read and speak English. Though we may not have been   able to provide all of the  needs of these children,  we are glad we achieved  our goal: 'to put sunshine   in the   life of a rural child.' It's our pledge to do so at Cuties Readerfeast.

In all, we had a good Readerfeast.
Thank you to those amazing kids.
Thank you Okwampa village.

Like every dream, this has been quite challenging   as well but
on this journey,  some people have been  God sent. 
Thank you   to my Saturday   team of volunteers and for everyone who was there doing one thing or the other to ensure a successful event. You guys   were amazing!

Cuties Readerfeast: Thank You!

Last Saturday, 5th December,  the Cuties Readerfeast team was at Okwampa near Bawjiase in the central region   where we hosted one hundred children to a Readerfeast.

We started off with a screening and registration session for participants aged six to fourteen years from Okwampa and its   surrounding villages.

With one volunteer leading all the children  and taking them through a phonetic  refresher session using fun methods such as phonetic songs and rhymes,  the children were eventually placed in appropriate   groups depending on their ages, class and their ability to read.  The team comprising eight  volunteers took the children through a two hour reading clinic. The children   were later assessed  to enable the team find out the level of impact made on them. Those who were able to do the task assigned to them were rewarded. The clinic was followed by a feasting segment where the children were fed. Every child went home with a souvenir to constantly   remind them of the   Readerfeast experience .

A few weeks ago, I learned   about  investing in the   Kingdom of God and thought  I   would put this into practice. Thank you to the almighty   God for making   this a dream come true.

A special  acknowledgement   to  a man who believes in investing in  children regardless of of their geographical location: Rev. Ankrah. He  was on a mission   to spread the good news of Christ to people in Okwampa  as well as its neighboring villages and gave the Cuties Readerfeast   team the platform  to hold this event.

Thank you to EPP books services and to everyone   who supported   us. Through  donations, rendering of services,  I cannot   mention everyone   but I want you   to know that I truly   appreciate   your support   and   donations.

It was such a joy  seeing the smiles on the faces of these children.
It felt like  we had put some sunshine in their  lives.
Every child in Ghana, deserves to have access to story books. They deserve to be able to speak and read English regardless of their geographical location. Cuties Readerfeast, is a foundation  which is solely dedicated   to   helping a rural child  read and speak English. Though we may not have been   able to provide all of the  needs of these children,  we are glad we achieved  our goal: 'to put sunshine   in the   life of a rural child.' It's our pledge to do so at Cuties Readerfeast.

In all, we had a good Readerfeast.
Thank you to those amazing kids.
Thank you Okwampa village.

Like every dream, this has been quite challenging   as well but
on this journey,  some people have been  God sent. 
Thank you   to my Saturday   team of volunteers and for everyone who was there doing one thing or the other to ensure a successful event. You guys   were amazing!

Cuties Read A Book Fete

Do you know not every child of school going age who is in school, can speak, read or understand English in Ghana?

Yet they always have to sit for the same basic exam as city pupils though in the rural areas, access to story  books is still a distant dream.

The Cuties Readerfeast train, will be at Ekuampa a village near Bawjiase in the Central region for a two hour Readerfeast on Saturday 5th December at 2pm.

A special thank you to everyone who has supported us thus far. I value and appreciate all the love, donations and support.

Thank you to Rev.Paa Nii Ankrah for believing in my dream and giving me the CCI platform to do this.

Cuties Readerfeast: helping put sunshine in the life of a rural child
I pledge.....

Raindrop

I think you'd like this story: "Raindrop" by Puppishgirl on Wattpad http://w.tt/1QSSz9M. Get the app now: https://www.wattpad.com/download