September 23, 2010
Day 7- Moved

You ever wake up and get that feeling like something or someone is going to ‘move’ you today? I had that all over me as I woke up this morning.

Kofi came to me in that rushed manner when something is wrong. I didn’t address it, I just kept it moving. He and Uncle Kwofi were on their way to go view the land in Ayensudo and negotiate prices with the Chief. When they left I looked at the time and saw that it was 8am. I laughed because he was supposed to be there at 8am so that we could make our other appointments and get home early today. Now I know why he came in with that energy. LOL!

I am journaling with the little bit of time I have left on the laptop since lights went out this morning. This is so ironic because we celebrated yesterday the fact that the electric company finally made it to OB to connect the last chalet with electricity and the new meters. Then lights out the very next morning in all of the surrounding villages. So, I can’t keep my laptop charged. If my laptop is not charged, then I can’t get to the internet to communicate with you all. Anyway, I finished journaling but did not have enough power to connect to the internet and send the entry. Right when the laptop shut down, Kofi and Mr. Kwofi came back. I closed my laptop as Mr. Kwofi was rushing me to be ready for their reports. I started eating my oatmeal and then said, “Alright, please come.” And did they ever?! This village is not ready for OYC. Too much money for a community development project. They are treating us like any other purchaser that wants to buy land there for commercial or residential use. So, I told them how we are going to handle this and if our next move does not work, then we will move on to the next village. We have 5 villages to visit in the next 3 days, so no problem; we will find the appropriate land deal.
Kofi rode Mr. Kwofi back to the junction on his motorcycle while I took my shower and got dressed. When he returned, it was looking dark and cloudy. DEFINITELY RAIN. I began to walk to the taxi station and Kofi says, “Oh Dad, we are taking the bike to Elmina.” I looked at the sky and said, “In the RAIN, Son?” He said, “Oh, it WON’T rain. It will just be dark today.” I smiled at him and said, “Son, rain and a motorcycle do not mix. We will be wet, stuck and pissed.” He of course insisted that we will make it to Elmina to meet the Rootman and then take a car to the DVLA in Cape Coast. I told him that I will be right back. I went in to get my rain poncho and came back out. “Not going to rain, huh Son? What is that dropping into that puddle behind you?” He looked and said, “OH! Wow…I didn’t know.” Not even 5 minutes later we were under the veranda of Chalet 3 experiencing light wind with a crazy DOWNPOUR! You know I would have CANED this guy if I was on the road on that bike in this rain. Anyway, it stopped after about 30minutes and we set off to the taxi station for a car.

First stop DVLA, for the license. I don’t want any of you passing out from laughter so I am going to spare you the play by play. But I will give you a taste. Let’s start with the day before, when the Doc brought us there to meet one of the Supervisors who assured me that the process is very simple when you have a license already from another country. It’s called a conversion. Bring a photocopy of the license, 50 cedis and you get your temporary license. The permanent one will be ready in 2 months time. The 2 months thing was a little odd but I’M GOOD. Oh Hell, Play by Play Fam! We go into my Man’s office first thing and I wait my turn and then I give him my photocopy. I’m chillin’ on the couch ready to take a photo so we can get out of here and get to the Rootman. My man asks me for my actual license. WOW…didn’t I ask this guy yesterday would I need that? Didn’t he tell me “Oh, all you will need is the photocopy.” Of course I have it, because I KNOW GHANA! He writes some things on the photocopy and sends me to the cashier. I’m like, Oh, I get it…My Man just signed off on my joint and I just have to hit the cashier and it’s a WRAP! My Man! I go to the Cashier and he tells me to take this to Room 4 so that he can itemize my requirements so that they can figure out my bill. WoooooooOOOOW! Alright, to room 4 I go where there are two men at two desks in a room the size of a utility closet. There are about 3 guys in there waiting for their papers and these guys are handwriting stuff, using glue to affix passport photos on the paper, ink stamping going on all OVER the papers, and of course my favorite thing to do in Ghana…DASHING. I already know that they are going to have attitude from me because they’re not getting JACK from me besides the license fee. They finally get to me and itemize and send me back to the cashier. Cashier adds it up and it is only 36 cedis. Nice, but YO what was the 50 all about from the Supervisor? Anyway, they sent me BACK to Room 4 with some papers now. I go back and they ask me for PASSPORT photos. My Man, did you tell me about the Passport photos? ‘H’ NO! Now, I go in the big room where the lady is taking the photos and giving the eye exams to have her shoot me some Passport photos. Wait, EYE EXAM?! Damn Bro…You left out a FEW things yesterday. Oh no, is this machine going to be alright? Are my eyes functioning properly right now? I haven’t had an eye exam in a minute and you know technically I am supposed to be wearing my glasses when I drive or do exams like this. Anyway, I’ll worry about that after I get these photos. She nods at me in that cool Ghanaian way to say, “What do you need?” I told her and she frowned and said, “I don’t do passport photos.” REALLY????? So, they point me OUTSIDE in the parking lot where there are photo stands. Nice hustle guys…let’s get it. I go back in to Room 4 and the man is not there. Great. Line of people and he is not here. Here he comes and I had my paper out in the air and he took them as he walked in. Cool. “Yes, I see you old man sticking your hand out every time you touch my papers. Mumbling under your breath about no money. Damn right, you’re not getting any dashes from me.” He finally gets to my papers and tells me to go do my eye test. WOW! This is comical, but I would be the ONLY one laughing here because this is their reality and norm. I don’t know if she even knows what letters are on those lines she asked me to read out. I can’t even tell you if I REALLY got them correct or not, because a brother was straining and working to tap into my ‘superhuman x-ray vision’ sight to see those little letters. She passed me anyway and sent me BACK to ROOM 4. Yes indeed, this is comical. Kofi was eating, drinking, reading my driving guide, chillin’. The Elder finally got to me and did whatever he did to my papers and sent me to Room 2, My Man. “Bro, are you serious? Back and forth?” He said, “We are working on it right now to get everything in one room and computerized. See the network box up there? It’s coming soon.” I replied, “Cool. Because this is some ancient type of business practices here.” He signed my papers and documented something and sent me back to the woman who takes the photos. Photo…Snap…”Go back to Room 2.” LOL!! This is some funny…My Man threw my papers on the floor and gave me my Temporary License and said you’re finished. Medase Peeeee, Bro. I’m OUT!

So, we are off to the Rootman. He is meeting us, at all places, the house between One Africa and Kohain’s place. So, as we awaited his arrival, I went to One Africa to see Shabazz. He was at the Market so I missed him. I then went over to Mabel’s Table. I spoke with Mabel and her Sister for a minute and then the crew drove up. Kohain, Yuhanna, Rosalyn, Reuben, and another brother from Mount Vernon. Cool. I get to see everyone at one time. Reuben’s Wife, Sarah was even on the yard and I didn’t know it. She inquired about OYC and expressed a big interest in getting involved with us. She was very honest with me and said that she doesn’t want to just live in Ghana. She wants to travel around. Six months in Ghana and move around the other six. “Alright, Go Queen!” Anyway, I spent a short time with the family and then said my goodbyes to Yuhanna and the Queen. They are out tomorrow. They had just come back from reestablishing Mount Vernon as a Sister City to Elmina at the KEEA District Office. Cool runnings Mount Vernon…Finger Lickin Politickin…LOL!!! I didn’t feel like making anyone squirm today, so I didn’t ask if Yuhanna made it to Iture. Hey Fam, I gave them a pass today. You see, I don’t ALWAYS mess with people. LOL!!

The Rootman is in and for the next 2 hours, we were entertained with some pretty amazing healing stories. He has done something for ALL of our peeps that are here in Ghana. He works at the University as the main Gardener. He is also the Manager of that house in between the two family yards. This Healer has known Kofi since he was born and remembers me from coming and going over the years. Neither Kofi or I knew his skills. I LOVE IT! He gave Kofi some roots for me for the anti-malaria and Manpower. The roots were kind of dry for me, so I wanted some fresh ones. I like to chew them and the dry ones are better for grinding and adding to water. The anti-malaria was made with regular pipe water…you already know family. I needed to get the meds so that I could mix it with my Voltic water. He kept pulling more and more herbs, roots, and medicine out of his bag and explaining what each did. He had at least 3 stories to go with each medicine that he put on the table. Stories with people in them that we could go to today and get their testimonials. He was giving up names and houses if we doubted him. I LOVE THIS GUY!!

I noticed that he has those outlined eyes…GONJA people. My people up in SALAGA. I didn’t give it away that I knew his people until he made me aware that he is Muslim with the last name Ali. That’s when I told him that I know his people. I named all of those major towns and villages around his area in the Northern region. He was impressed and was even happier when I told him how close I am to Elkhana (Donald Williams). Crazy, huh? He treated Elkhana and stayed in touch with him over the years. What was even more intriguing was the fact that he didn’t speak English that well. That was another giveaway for where he is really from. How are you down in Fante land for over 35 years and you can’t speak English that well? GONJA man. So he gave me a bunch of medicine to try while I am here and has agreed to be my Medicine Man for as long as we will have him. And then it was time for the REAL TEST. “How much for all of this, Uncle?” He gave a long story about his experience with charging for his meds and work and told us that he recognizes my spirit and intentions. He remembers us both very well and knows my family. He said, he cannot charge me for this stuff. He wants me to try it all out and let him know what I feel from them. But he would like ANYTHING small from my heart for transportation or whatever. NO PROBLEM. We hit him harder than “something small” and then took some flicks.

I kept noticing a caretaker walking around the property…in and out of the house. Short, older man in his 50s. Before we were about to leave, the Rootman told one more healing story. It was about this man. He said that he made medicine to help the man with his eye problem. I thought it was maybe a weak eye or vision issue. The man got closer and then I noticed his left eye. He has one of those eyes that looked like someone performed some torture treatment on it. He told the man to go get something to show us about this eye. I was wondering, what is this man about to bring back in this house to show us about the condition his eye USED TO be in? WHEW! He came back with OLD OLD photos and some of the Rootman’s medicine. Nice. I was so glad he didn’t come back with a popped out eye or something. Anyway, this man showed us photos of him in Togo on the Togo National Futbol team. He was Togo’s number one Goal keeper in the 80s. WHAT?!!! This man traveled the world playing Futbol and was offered deals from at least 4 Countries at his prime. He showed us a photo of his team in Gabon where they were playing a playoff quarterfinals game and as the teams walked in, there was an old man that led the Gabon team and this gentleman, Ahmed Kweku led the Togo team. He said, “The old man walked up to me with something in his hand and blew it in my eye.” He said it bothered him, but he was able to play. His team won that game against Gabon, but after that game he was not able to play futbol anymore because the Juju acted like acid in that eye. The tears swelled up in my eyes family as this GIANT told his story. He told me that “You can go ANYWHERE in Togo and tell people that you know Ahmed Kweku and watch what they do and say.” I was just writing this man off as an old man working on the grounds at this house. He had his dreams shut down on him from one breath of an old man. I hugged him strong and long and told him that “I am honored to know him and thank you so much for sharing your story with me.” We all had glassy eyes as we let go of each other. Then we took flicks and we gave him a couple Cedis. He was so appreciative. I just thought. This man was probably on his way to becoming a rich man in his country and he is thanking me with such appreciation for a couple of Cedis. I guess when I woke up this morning; The Most High was preparing me for this MOVING encounter. It was one of the most touching moments I have experienced with my peeps over here. If I had not been prepared with that feeling when I rose in the am, then I probably would have lost it while that man was telling his story. Thank You Most High for sparing me by preparing me. LOL!!

“I’m awake, I have worked, and I’ve been blessed. It’s Time to Take Me Home!”

Love Family.

School Is In!

September 22, 2010

Day 6 – School Is In!

FIRST OF DAY OF SCHOOL!!! Since we still do not have a wall up at Ocean Breeze, the children pass through the yard here to go to school. So we share in all of the excitement early in the am on the first day of school as the youth pass through to school; even though they can take the main road to school. Quiet as it’s kept, we know that word got around that OYC is meeting today, so the youth make the trek up the OB hill to be recognized by “Kojo Bey!” Everywhere we move around you hear young people from 5-25, shouting “KOJOBEY! KOJOBEY!” It annoys Kofi and some of the other Brothers out here; because they say that the youth know that they should be saying “Uncle or Mr.” It is partially my fault because there was another Brother that used to move around the village here with locs and a beard. We don’t favor at all, but to a young child…RASTA looks like RASTA. So, they used to call me “Japhiya! Japhiya!” and I would say, “No, Kojo Bey…Kojo Bey!” So, I guess in a way, it was Japhiya’s fault. He should have corrected them back then to call him “Uncle or Mr.” LOL!!

So today we are to pick up Yuhanna and his Queen, Rosalyn at 9 am and bring them back here for a 10am OYC meeting. The youth and some of the parents started coming up as early as 8:30am. Esi and Kofi came to me at about 7:30 to go over the plan and I decided that I would coach Esi through making the Continental breakfast in case Yuhanna decided to stay over. Since I HAD to be the one to play the guest that would eat the breakfast, I told Kofi to take the taxi that we called and pick up Yuhanna without me. Whenever I shock him with certain duties or orders, he stands there frozen and repeats what I told him to do like 2 or 3 times. Most of the time I just cut him off and say, “Yes, I want you to go….” LOL!!

So I ate my toast with strawberry jam, paw paw (Papaya), pineapples, apples, and orange juice. Very good. We have coffee and tea if they need that as well. Our Continental breakfast is ready for the menu. I told Kofi to call me when he reached a certain place on the way back so that I could call Esther to start on her way here since she too had to be at the first day of school to prepare her classroom. Kofi called from 3 different places on the way back, but I gave him a pass, since I know he was making sure I knew that our guests were fine and the driver was doing well by moving the travels along.

They arrived and I was IN IT with some of our children on their way to school. Hugging my little girls and fussing my boys out for not wearing the uniform; or wearing dirty, beat up uniforms. I know that it was a nice sight for Yuhanna and Rosalyn to see as they stepped out of the taxi. We greeted and immediately they asked, “Is there still beach front land available out here?” LOL!!! I love it! Everyone loves the view from up here and is immediately pulled by the beach and Mommy Waters. I had to go finish putting my crown on, because Yuhanna made it VERY clear that this was the FIRST time EVER that he has seen my locs. WOW! That said something to me. But I’ll hold onto that for another time.

I took them next door to meet Mama Adjoa like I promised her and they loved the vibes of her home. She was so happy to be entertaining them. I got my call from Esther that she is in and everyone is ready for the meeting. So, I had to cut the visit short and was surprised that Adjoa asked “Do you mind if I join, Kojo?” I didn’t actually play it out like Kofi does it, but in my mind I paused and asked, “You want to come to an OYC meeting? Why? Oh, I mean SURE?” LOL!! But my mouth immediately said, “Sure, let’s go Mama Adjoa.”

The meeting was great. I told the community that I was going to be brief and would have them up for another meeting to discuss at length the changes that OYC is bringing to the program. I felt the honor and pride pouring out of Yuhanna and Rosalyn’s pores as I spoke and Esther translated. I finished and gave the floor to Yuhanna. He gave a beautiful message about Pan-Africanism and his role as a Board Member of OBey. They received him and his message with plenty of love. He praised OYC and OBey and promised to do his part in providing resources and support to help with more progress. I asked Rosalyn to speak and she also gave a beautiful message to the community. She is a retired Nurse, so she came from that perspective. She reiterated my point about the parents doing their best to maintain holistic wellness with the youth so that they could have a chance at excelling in school. They loved her message as well. I then told Esther that she could close with the prayer. Then she looked over at Mama Adjoa and asked if she wanted to speak. I did the Kofi thing in my head again…”Oh, you want to speak?” LOL!! I know family, but you know how our children get when a guest comes by the house? They want to get all special and do things that they don’t normally do? Alright, enough said, you get it. But it’s all good in the hood.

We were finished in about an hour and took some pictures and video. Now I asked Yuhanna and Rosalyn did they want to walk down to the beach now or hit the school for a visit…Just chill here? They looked at the beach and then up at the school and said we’ll go to the school. Everyone was a bit shocked. Even Esther said, “You have time for the school you can go to beach.” Now Family, EVERYONE that comes to Brenu walks that beach. It is so mesmerizing and pulling. I was even surprised that they said school, because I knew that they were taking it as EITHER OR. That means that they are in a different mode than most on this trip. So, they answered Esther by saying, “Oh, WE SEE the beach from here Sis, we’re GOOD.” Hmmmmmm. Off to the school. We had a great visit at the school with the Teachers and students. I was told that they have a small farm and animal breeding pen there now, sponsored by a UK school that has adopted the Brenu School. Very nice. While Rosalyn took a seat outside the school to rest, Yuhanna and I had a chance to talk a bit. He asked me some questions that made some things VERY clear as far as his intentions and agenda. He spoke of the Rwanda mission that he is really passionate about and he finished by saying that one of his motivations to be a part of OBey was to learn how I have been doing what I do here in Ghana so that he could duplicate that in Rwanda. That’s flattering and very good insight. Then he asked me, “So what’s the relationship with you and The Kohain?” Alright, here we go! I told him how close our families were BEFORE I knew Kohain through Abishai and the Israelite order. Then I went into our relationship in Ghana. I told him that we have different roles. Kohain is high profile and political. (I know that if Councilman Yuhanna, President of the City Council I Mount Vernon, heard from my mouth one more time “I’m not really into all that political stuff” he was going to jump out of his skin. LOL!!) I told him that I do what I do and when I need to see Kohain I go and pull him away from his fans and call on The KOHAIN. He always answers my call and then he goes back to being Mr. Kohain to the people; and then I glide on off the yard and into the sunset. Yuhanna overstood. And then I told Yuhanna to do me a favor. I want you to ask Kohain to take you to their village, Iture. He was puzzled. I said, “Have you seen the village? “ He said, “Yes, after the bridge and down the road? I said, “No, not Cape Coast, but the village that is right down the road from the house with the people that gave Kohain his land.” He looked at me and said, “Oh, I wonder why he hasn’t taken us down there. Shouldn’t that have been the first place we should have been taken? Come to think of it Kojo, I don’t really like the way they treat their workers, especially the way they talk to them.” I just listened until he was finished. I gave him a brief history about how Kofi and his Brother Papa Mensah helped them get that restaurant going by working there for FREE. They weren’t even paid money for school supplies. He was a bit taken back. Then I explained to him that you see what I am all about, “Do you think I could really be around that energy too long? The only time that they and One Africa would see the warriors and the young people of that village was when I came around to drum.”

It was a good sharing and in the end we agreed that Kohain and I should work together whenever the opportunity presents itself. I told him that “Kohain is family, and I honor, respect and sing his praises for his gifts and follow through. There is no problem with us working together when it is harmonious for us to do so.” Cool, it’s all Good in the Hood! I told Kofi to call the car and we were off to OB to grab some food. I knew that Yuhanna and Rosalyn were anxious to get home, but I wanted to offer them some lunch since Esi had cooked for them. I asked, “What about some fruit?” They said, “We’re good.” They told us that they ate breakfast and that they were good. I had Esie and Kofi bring some water out to them and then some sugar loaf pineapples. I soon went out and that bowl was just about empty. Rosalyn said, “For folks that said they didn’t want some fruit we sure nuff ate this up, huh?” Brenu Pineapples are THE BEST! You can’t refuse it! LOL! So, I pushed it more and asked if they wanted some plantains to go. Yuhanna said, “YES!” Plantains in a bag, to go. Then I brought out some of Kimberly’s homemade vegan oatmeal raisin cookies. I asked them if they ate those types of cookies and Yuhanna smiled and said, “We do now.” I’m not saying that they didn’t feel comfortable enough to chill and eat, but I think I would have had to hold their hands a bit to relax them at OB. I didn’t have the ‘hand holding vibe’ on me because I had to get to some meetings in Cape and Elmina. But we’ll get the great Yuhanna back to OB again in the future. Overall family, it was truly an honor to have Yuhanna and Rosalyn visit OB. I love my family.
So off to drop the family off and then onto these meetings. First we went to KEEA office to pick up our new Board member, Mr. Kwofi. We walked into his office and he immediately ran down our list of runs and said, “Ok, Are we ready?!” Closed his windows and pushed us out the door. He said, “There is no need to waste time.” I LOVE THIS GUY!!! He walks like 3 paces in front of us but constantly looks back for us. You know I have to maintain my cool stride wherever I go; especially when I go to new places. When you don’t know the ins and outs of a place and you rush, you end up bumping into people, tripping, or bumping your body into something, etc…I have experienced that too often in the past, so I learned how to control my pace when walking. But, Mr.Kwofi is already down the hall and around the corner. But he keeps looking back for us. We went to the Director of the Agriculture Department to talk about testing the soil at the farm land that we are considering purchasing. We want it tested to see if the proper type of Mangos will grow there as they do in other parts of Ghana. Cool, he has our mission and is on the case. Mr. Kwofi is OFF and RUNNING. WE’RE OUT! Onto the next meeting in Cape Coast. We traveled to a chop shop (restaurant) where our next contact is having lunch and meeting with someone. He is the Head of the Sociology and Anthropology Department at the University of Cape Coast. He told us to go back to his office at the Univ. and he will join us very soon. While we were at the chop shop, I called our Government man, Mr. Appiah to ask about the type of mango that we should be growing. He’s another one that is very direct and all about getting the job done. He told me Kent and Keitt are the choice mangoes that are being exported out of Ghana to UK. Cool, I’m on it. I will pass this information onto the Director of Agriculture so that he can test for those specific type of mangoes.
We went to the University and met with the Head of Sociology, “Doc”. Doc is cool and somewhat favors Dr. Hayford, for those of us that knows him. In fact, Doc knows Dr. Hayford well and said something about him losing his Wife or something. I wonder if that is why we have not been able to connect with him. Anyway, I’ll search him out when I get back to the States. We were meeting with Doc because we needed recommendations for a Psychologist and Medical Doctor for our OYC program. Particularly, for the rehabilitation program for the child slavery rescue component. He called in one of his staff members who specializes in Psych and she heard all that we had to say and agreed that she would like to be a part of the program. Doc is very interested and agreed to call a well know medical Dr. in the area to be on board as well with us. Nice. Doc even took us to the DVLA equivalent of our DMV to inquire about me getting my driver’s license. Everything went well there and I will go for the license tomorrow. Doc drove us in his car and I am so DONE with public transportation. I move around too much to STILL be relying on public transportation to get me around. I HAVE TO GET ME SOME WHEELS.

So, we left the Doc and headed to Ayensudo, where Kofi and Mr. Kwofi will meet with the Chief and negotiate for the land for the OYC Youth Complex. Hopefully, they will get to view the land. I am still not showing my face in hopes that they will keep the price very low. Not long after I arrived at OB, Kofi comes in asking for 30 cedis for the Chief and Elders to show the land to them. WOW…here we go. “Didn’t we just stop and pick up Snaaps for them?! Alright, so what are we paying for now, Kofi?” Kofi says, “They want to show us the land, but want something for their time.” INCREDIBLE…but what can we do. This is their backward Ass corrupt and beggin’ way of doing business over here. Yeah, you can tell that I don’t do well with that dashin’ bullshit. So, Kofi headed back out with my 30 and don’t you know this guy returns not even 30 minutes later?! I looked at him and knew that we were in for “Another Episode of The KOJO AND KOFI show!!!!” I said, “What happened, Son?” He told me that when he returned the men had gone back to the village and left a boy to take the money to them. They told them that they will show us the land early in the morning. “Oh and Dad, my Uncle said that you should come too.” “Now wait Kofi, we have been avoiding showing my face so that the price will stay down, why would I show my face now BEFORE they have given us a price?” He’s giving me that look like, ‘I don’t know what you just said Dad, but this is how we do things in Ghana’ look. I asked him, “Don’t you think that if they see me, then they will bring the price up?” I SWEAR TO YOU ALL, this young man nodded his head yes but said no out of his mouth. You know I almost grabbed his face. I said, “Son, this is the stuff that I have been telling you that goes on between you and I when you are listening to your Ghanaian peeps instead of me. Why is it that ANY OTHER TIME if I decide I want to go along BEFORE we negotiate a price you tell me that Dad they will bring the price high if they see you. But TODAY you are telling me that the price will NOT go up?” He said, “Because my Uncle assured them that we are doing a community project so they can’t bring the price up now after seeing you.” I told Kofi that he should have stopped at, “Because my Uncle”…..STOP!!! I said, “Because your Uncle told you that I should come see the land so you have changed up your philosophy and the way that you know OBey handles business of this nature.” I told him to call his Uncle and tell him that I WON’T be going with them in the morning and any other time until they come out with a price first. He called and his Uncle agreed and assured me his intentions was so that I could see the land for myself to decide if we should even go further with negotiations or not. I overstood, but keep it moving. So, you all know that now since his Uncle agreed with me Kofi is in for a long night of lecturing and attitude. LOL!!

Isn’t it interesting that right at this point Papa Mensah came in from Kumasi with Kofi’s FIXED laptop and money for me. Family, you know when your mate disturbs you and if you didn’t get that energy off with them then you end up taking some of that frustration out on the children? Well, Papa CAUGHT IT from Kofi. He didn’t thank him for the repair. He just started right in on him about how late he was and how he sat the broken screen of the laptop on the top of the cover of the laptop and didn’t admit that he did the wrong thing. I let them go back and forth because I was doing some research on-line and then I had to get in it. I said, “Kofi, what the hell Son! Did you thank him for riding 4 hours up and 4 hours back and FIXING your laptop?! And he brought back some money for us! Damn Boy, relax.” He told me that it was I that gave him a job and he should have returned straight to me instead of taking on a couple of other jobs on the way home. I said, “Are you listening to yourself?! If it is about me, then let me decide if he did the wrong thing or not. He apologized as soon as he came in for being late, then gave you your computer and me some money. I’M GOOD !!!” He’s complaining that the lighting on the screen is dim and not as clear. The hood is scratched…I was looking at him like, you Damn Baby. His Brothers kept laughing at him and walking in and out of his wrath. It was kind of comical, but sad that he didn’t know how to redirect his embarrassment of the earlier incident with me in another direction besides his Brothers. He continued with the tight energy through pictures that I made him take of me and some of the boys. And you know I had him taking them over and over again. “No, that’s not clear enough…No, that’s the wrong angle…No, you didn’t crop it right.” Then I laughed and said, “It doesn’t feel good, huh? You’d better chill with your Brothers.” I also told him that I wish he would bring some of that fire and attitude when dealing with my business affairs instead of being such a nice guy out there. He tried to tell me that he brings the same fire, but through A LOT of smiling and laughing. So we know the deal.

We ended the night right with our nightly planning meeting. I showed him more family photos, which always gets him thirsty to see them and be in the U.S. I let him go early tonight since we have to start early tomorrow.

There were a LOT of dynamics to this day today that I couldn’t possibly fit in this entry, so I will find ways to bring them throughout the future ones.

Time to reach out to the family and get my dose of HOME.

“I’m awake, I have worked, and I’ve been blessed. It’s Time to Take Me Home!”

Love Family.