Adventure Day!!!

This morning, I woke up to the sound of a heavy rain. It really made me want to stay in bed, but I started getting texts and other things; so, I decided I might as well start my day. I read my Bible, got ready, then came downstairs. Bro. Ruckman and Mrs. Angie had left for the airport at 6:15; so, I was the only one in the house. I ate a few muffins, took my vitamins and medicines, and then went back to my room.

I rested until Pastor Prince came to get me. I really did need the rest because I am still not feeling up to par. When I woke up, I was feeling pretty well; and I felt okay for most of the day, but I guess my energy slowly drained throughout the day. Anyways, I’ll get back to that latter.

Pastor Prince and I rode around in his taxi for a while. He has been trying to get permission to preach at a school since before Covid, but they have never even given him a chance. Today, we were able to sit down and talk with the head mistress. She was very kind and said she will call Pastor Prince and give him a chance to preach at the school. As we were walking out, she even offered me the opportunity to preach. I have never really preached much in my life; but this coming month, I am going to get about four opportunities to preach. I have a few sermons on the back burners, but I need to refresh my memory on them. I will most likely be working on a few more; one can never be too prepared.

After we finished at the school, we drove to Pastor Prince’s church. Here, I was able to fly my drone around for a good little while. After we finished there, we drove to a nearby slave fort/castle. When we first got there, we did not see anyone; so, we walked through and explored the areas we could. After a little walking around, we were able to find someone who would be able to give us a tour of the place.

The guide said the name of the building was Fort Orange. It was built in 1640 by the Dutch. The larger slave buildings are called castles, while the smaller buildings are called forts. He was able to walk us through the entire building and explain each room and the horrible things that happened there. Of course, I took a lot of pictures; so, I will put the pictures up and explain each one of them.

These two very small rooms held between 200 and 400 men who were to be loaded on a ship and sold into slavery. You may be able to see the small holes that are filled in. These two small holes served as the only ventilation and oxygen for these poor men. The windows that you see opened were not there. They were opened for the sake of getting the stench out of these rooms. This is one of the few slave forts/castles in the area that has been able to get rid of the stench from the times of the slave. The other forts and castles are stuck with the smell of men and women who suffered and died in these cells.

This is one of the women’s cells. There were two, but I only got pictures of this one. These rooms would hold close to 200 women who were bound for slavery. Only one of these women would not suffer with the women in the cells; that woman would be chosen out by the headmaster. Once he had chosen her, she was prepared and brought to his room to be his property. She may not have been treated any better, but at least she was not crammed into a room with 200 women.

These rooms served as holding cells for those who chose not to obey the rules. There is one small vent where they could breathe. They were held in these cells until they either died from the heat or chose to listen to their cruel masters. (One for the women and one for the men)

This is where the slave master would stand to give the orders of the day. He would also choose his woman from the top of this staircase where he could overlook and see which one best suited him.

This fort also serves as a lighthouse overlooking the Takoradi port since 1940. We were able to get an amazing view of Takoradi from this height although the climb up was a little sketchy.

Once we had finished up at the fort, we drove to Pastor Prince’s church where I recorded a few short videos for him. Then, I asked him to drive me to a place that was on our way where I thought I could take some pretty cool pictures with my drone. The spot turned out to be everything I imagined, but unfortunately I do not have any pictures edited.

Once we finished up there, we went to the mall where I got my haircut. Once we were done with that, we went to Pizza Hut for lunch. From there, we picked up Pastor Prince’s son, Matthew, from school. Once we had picked him up, Pastor Prince brought me home.

The big storm we had this morning has really affected our power. I have had to get the generator going. We have thought the power was back to normal a few times; but every time I turn the generator off, it goes back to low power. The strange thing is that I have full power in my room, but the downstairs has little to no power at all. I was able to take a nice cold shower because we cannot run the water heater with the generator on.

I am now about to make a little supper; then, I will head to my room and hopefully turn the ac on. It is currently 8:05 P.M.; so, I need to get supper going. 🙂 I have been trying to relax today because I am still not feeling the greatest. Mom and Dad were able to tell me what medicine to get. I was able to get that and started taking it. Hopefully it kicks in quickly.