Sarah's Page

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Sarah's Page
(Updated 8:12 PM 4/28/2012)

September 1, 2011 News Release: Sarah’s Adventure
Sarah Kovacs has got a love story going on! This young woman, who graduated from Messiah College in May, has a special thing going on with the children of a village called Akoefe Avenui in Ghana. Sarah visited the African country with members of her cross-cultural class last winter. The smiling faces of the young and eager children etched themselves on her heart.
Upon returning to the United States, she knew she wanted to return to Ghana. She received an invitation to teach at the village school there and she longed to take advantage of that opportunity.
All summer long, Sarah worked hard to raise funds for the trip. She was supported by her church family at First Church of the Brethren, and by the kids and staff of Bible School there.
Brethren affiliated with Camp Eder chipped in. Friends and teachers from Messiah participated in fund raising.
Sarah’s hopes have turned into a reality and she is boarding the plane for Ghana on Thursday, September 1, to live there and teach until June 2012. She looks forward to seeing the faces of many who have become dear to her. She intends to make good use of the B.S. in elementary education she received from Messiah this spring. Her minor in French may be helpful because Ghana is surrounded by French-speaking countries. She feels grounded in her faith! She is going to live her dream!
Sarah Kovacs is serving as a teacher in Akoefe-Avenui, a little village that lies southwest of Ho, the capital of Asogli State, which is located in the Volta Region, Ghana, West Africa (see map below). She felt called to teach there after spending several weeks there in early 2011. Sarah raised the funding required and is supported by the Witness Commission and the entire First Church of the Brethren family.
Some of her emails and photos are included in this page.
Please continue to hold Sarah in your prayers as she ministers to these young children in Ghana.
We hope to update this page occasionally with her emails and photos as they become available.
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa (see map below). It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. The word Ghana means "Warrior King" and is derived from the ancient Ghana Empire.

Sarah's Emails to the Congregation

(NOTE: Click on the title to read her email).

1. Life in the village begins -September 6, 2011
2. An email from Sarah Kovacs - September 14, 2011
3. Meet my class!! - September 23, 2011
4. Prayers, please! - September 27, 2011
5. This is one Ghana email you especially need to read!
Please :) - October 4, 2011
6. Rainfall - October 21, 2011
7. A drop in the ocean - November 5, 2011
8. Life and death - November 17, 2011
9. A smattering - December 1, 2011
10. True Beauty - December 12, 2011
11. An update not centered on typhoid fever! - March 31, 2012
12. Aventures of the traveling Yevu - April 28, 2012

(NOTE: Click on any photo to enlarge it. The enlarged photo will open in another screen. After viewing the enlarged photo, return to this page to view additional photos.)

April 28, 2012

While in the North, our group went on both a
sunrise and sunset safari. We were lucky enough
to spot many elephants, including this one!

April 28, 2012

Kassim and Delasi, the newlyweds. A couple that
I look up to—both literally and figuratively, haha! April 28, 2012

Lucio, an incredible man from Switzerland who I became fast friends with. He is traveling the world for a whole year on his own, and among his adventures he has already climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and gone sky diving in various exotic locations!

March 31, 2012

Excitement! December 2, 2011

Esunam and Andy under the big tree.
My kids have no clue what sand castles,
but they can make a MEAN dirt castle!!
These two are just getting started.

November 17, 2011

Meet Andy
“RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA -
AAHHHHH! Me ne dzata!!” –(Ewe translation:
I’m a lion!) Andy is a flaming ball of
energy, mischief, and creativity.
(See #8 email above.) November 5, 2011

Pearl is about 13 and has never been to school until last week. One kiddo, Forgive, has especially taken to her (I’ll catch him teaching her how to write the alphabet all on his own initiative, for example).
(See #7 email above.)

October 28, 2011

Sarah says, "This is Class 1 (First Grade),
the class I taught while I was in Apam!"

"an updated picture of my class--I now have
25 kids!" What a happy group of children!

"Stephen eating!" Continue to pray for Stephen
as he struggles to maintain his health.

Sarah's photos prior to October 28, 2011

Ghana Africa Map
Ho is the capital of the
Volta Region, Ghana, Africa

Sarah along the road to Apam. Apam is the capital
of the Gomoa District, Central Region, and where
she met with friends from BuildingSolidFoundations.
Carlos is always bursting at the seams with
the biggest smiles and high-pitched giggles!

Mawaina is wearing a shirt that says
Time Girl!!). Mawaina is 9 years old,
and will be starting school this week.
She is especially interested in reading, and she is always wanting to give me a new hair-do. Between the random braids, floppy loops, and sometimes even flowers, I usually end up looking like a tropical Cindy Lu Who (which is totally fine with me!).

Allow me to introduce you to my students! Their Christian names are Racheal, Collins, Joyceline, Juniour, Delali, Vanessa, Albert, Richard, Andy, Nora, Carleb, Christiana, Melody, and Divine (They have 3 names that they’re used to being called by: their Christian name, their African name, and a name for the day of the week they were born on. I’ve made a new friend who stays in my room with
me! I will attach a picture of her (or him, I’m
not really sure) as well. Of course I have tried
to get her to leave, but she’s very good at
hiding when I try to do that. Go figure!

This is Stephen. He is two years old. Stephen is
suffering from severe malnutrition. If examined
up close, you can see sparse brown hair on his
head, swollen feet, and sores on his skin.
Along with his obvious lack of “meat on his
bones”,these are all signs of malnutrition.
When he walks he does so gingerly,
barely bending his knees and shifting
his weight back and forth. His immune
system is deficient, and the doctors
presume that he may have AIDS, but the
test hasn’t come back yet. Stephen is
a sweet, soft-spoken little boy.

April 28, 2012 While in the North, our group went on both a sunrise and sunset safari. We were lucky enough to spot many elephants, including this one!
April 28, 2012 Kassim and Delasi, the newlyweds. A couple that I look up to—both literally and figuratively, haha!	April 28, 2012 Lucio, an incredible man from Switzerland who I became fast friends with. He is traveling the world for a whole year on his own, and among his adventures he has already climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and gone sky diving in various exotic locations!
March 31, 2012 Excitement!	December 2, 2011 Esunam and Andy under the big tree. My kids have no clue what sand castles, but they can make a MEAN dirt castle!! These two are just getting started.
November 17, 2011 Meet Andy “RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA - AAHHHHH! Me ne dzata!!” –(Ewe translation: I’m a lion!) Andy is a flaming ball of energy, mischief, and creativity. (See #8 email above.)	November 5, 2011 Pearl is about 13 and has never been to school until last week. One kiddo, Forgive, has especially taken to her (I’ll catch him teaching her how to write the alphabet all on his own initiative, for example). (See #7 email above.)
October 28, 2011 Sarah says, "This is Class 1 (First Grade), the class I taught while I was in Apam!"	"an updated picture of my class--I now have 25 kids!" What a happy group of children!
"Stephen eating!" Continue to pray for Stephen as he struggles to maintain his health.
Sarah's photos prior to October 28, 2011

Ghana Africa Map	Ho is the capital of the Volta Region, Ghana, Africa
Sarah along the road to Apam. Apam is the capital of the Gomoa District, Central Region, and where she met with friends from BuildingSolidFoundations.	Carlos is always bursting at the seams with the biggest smiles and high-pitched giggles!
Mawaina is wearing a shirt that says Time Girl!!). Mawaina is 9 years old, and will be starting school this week.	She is especially interested in reading, and she is always wanting to give me a new hair-do. Between the random braids, floppy loops, and sometimes even flowers, I usually end up looking like a tropical Cindy Lu Who (which is totally fine with me!).
Allow me to introduce you to my students! Their Christian names are Racheal, Collins, Joyceline, Juniour, Delali, Vanessa, Albert, Richard, Andy, Nora, Carleb, Christiana, Melody, and Divine (They have 3 names that they’re used to being called by: their Christian name, their African name, and a name for the day of the week they were born on.	I’ve made a new friend who stays in my room with me! I will attach a picture of her (or him, I’m not really sure) as well. Of course I have tried to get her to leave, but she’s very good at hiding when I try to do that. Go figure!
This is Stephen. He is two years old. Stephen is suffering from severe malnutrition. If examined up close, you can see sparse brown hair on his head, swollen feet, and sores on his skin. Along with his obvious lack of “meat on his bones”,these are all signs of malnutrition.	When he walks he does so gingerly, barely bending his knees and shifting his weight back and forth. His immune system is deficient, and the doctors presume that he may have AIDS, but the test hasn’t come back yet. Stephen is a sweet, soft-spoken little boy.