(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Ghana Update- John's Trip to Visit Sick Child [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-05-16 I’ve been delaying writing about John’s trip to visit little Gofred until the situation was more settled but in the meantime other things are happening and I thought I should make some effort to keep everyone informed on those as well. John is my friend in Ghana who works to help people in need. Originally in the Buduburam Refugee Camp, he is now living in Accra. About a year ago he found a five year old boy named Gofred abandoned on the beach by his father. The father had left to work temporarily in a neighboring country and hadn’t come back. John took the little boy in and took care of him for several weeks. The father then returned and left with Gofred for their village in the interior of Ghana. A few weeks ago now John received a message that Gofred was ill. John wasn’t able to visit them immediately but last week he finally made the trip to check on the little boy and see the situation for himself. They are staying in a village that is apparently a suburb of a town called Koforidua. When John got there he talked with the doctor, who told him that the child had been infected by mosquito bites. (John was originally told that Gofred has the measles but I’m not sure that was any more than a guess by the person who told John of the situation.) John bought some mosquito netting for Gofred and did what he could with the resources he had on hand. (He gave away so much money he had trouble getting back home.) I’m not sure if there are any more medical bills but John said he would send what was needed to the ‘caretaker’. I’m not sure who the caretaker is, specifically, but obviously that would be the one who is caring for Gofred. (I’m not sure if the father is even around. John didn’t mention him and he isn’t in any of the photos John sent.) He also said that schooling there only requires paying for meals so John is thinking of getting that taken care of. I don’t know if Gofred is attending school right now. Well obviously not while he’s sick but of course I mean in general. We will try to get that taken care of but so many of the others are still in desperate need…. Sorry if I haven’t been able to go into much detail on this. As I said, I was waiting until I had more information but it’s been slow in coming for various reasons. As for the others, Anabel, our five year old orphan who is staying in a care center and attending school there, is hanging on. John hasn’t mentioned her in the midst of all of his travelling but the madam who runs the place always contacts him when there is a problem (or a bill to pay) and I am sure he would have heard if anything had come up. I am getting a bit concerned about the silence but then I always worry anyway. I also have no new information on Favour, the now-eighteen year old Nigerian girl who is living in Accra with her baby Donald. I don’t want Favour to turn into another of the many young women who are forced to support themselves by prostitution but I worry that she may be headed that way. In the photo above Gofred is the boy in gray standing next to John, of course. He always seems so sad…. I did want to show this photo, though. the children are holding up gifts John brought for them. It would never have even occurred to me to bring gifts. John is something of a Pied Piper when it comes to kids. Everywhere he goes they always just flock around him. I apologize that this diary isn’t very detailed. Everything is very much in flux right now but I thought I should update y’all before too much time had passed. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/5/16/2241017/-Ghana-Update-John-s-Trip-to-Visit-Sick-Child?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/