More exactly, the U.S. Marines, Air Force, Army and Navy have landed…in Daboya! No, this is not an invasion to take control of Daboya’s amazing smocks, although our guys in uniform did purchase some smocks, jackets, sack dresses, hats, wall-hangings, and even a hammock made from Daboya’s famous textile cloth to take back home with them. This was entirely a mission to help out Ghana and it was a huge success. It was a combined effort of the Marines 23rd regiment, 1st battalion, Alpha / Bravo / Charlie companies, Air Force 404th Medical battalion contingent, Navy field medical personnel, and a 5 man Army Med Cap Vet Tech team (apologies to the Army and Navy – I didn’t get their Regiment numbers). It consisted of a mix of reservists and active duty guys and gals under the joint command of Lt. Colonel Kindorf (reserve) and Lt. Colonel Leonard (active), both of whom represented their country and their outfits exceptionally well. Well………except for that attempt at cultural dancing by Lt. Col. Leonard!!! (Just kidding – he actually did pretty well) The word “Marines” conjures up thoughts of an elite fighting force and indeed they are that but they also do much more in the world that usually goes unnoticed. Since I have now noticed, I wanted to spread the word. Part of their mission here was to help train Ghanaian soldiers at the Ghanaian military training camp just outside of Daboya. But in addition to that, this was a humanitarian mission (I found out that they do a LOT of these around the world). The Air Force doctors who accompanied them set up shop for medical, dental, and optical care and saw hundreds of people from Daboya and the surrounding villages absolutely FREE OF CHARGE! This is the type of medical attention that these people would have absolutely no access to in any other way. But they did not stop there. By special arrangement with the Paramount Chief of Daboya, they brought over specialized veterinary equipment and treated a great many goats, sheep, and cattle while in the midst of a downpour! After all, the motto of the Marines is “Adapt and Overcome”. And to top off the medical aspect of their service here, they donated about $15 – 20,000 of left-over medical supplies to the Daboya Medical Clinic which serves about 45 villages. This included pre-natal vitamins, reading glasses, drugs, bandages, and many other items desperately needed in this area. This part of the mission also required Marines, working shoulder to shoulder with Daboyans, to be out in pouring rain racing against time so the cardboard boxes wouldn’t fall apart completely before they got delivered to the clinic. One Marine, Cpl. Jacob Pillion, was soaked to the bone as he taught Daboyans how to form a “bucket brigade” to get the supplies from the truck to the canoes (yep, we had to haul it all across the river in canoes!), the canoes to a tractor, and the tractor into the clinic. And he was not required to continue with us once the supplies were delivered across the river. He chose to stay with it and see the job completed. But you had to be here to see how much further this visit went toward creating understanding and friendship, which is the foundation for peace and the Peace Corps. mission. Many of the Marines and the Ghanaian soldiers have formed close friendships and the Marine, Navy, Army and Air Force personnel who got to visit Daboya and some of the other villages were enthralled with learning about another culture. You had to see the smiles as they watched the joy of the children RUNNING to have their pictures taken with U.S. military personnel. Or Marines carrying supplies on their heads like the Ghanaians do. And you CAN see Capt. Rico Reyes learning a new dance from the children (video attached)! The trip was wrapped up with futbol (read “soccer”) games between the U.S. military personnel vs. the Ghanaian military and then the Daboya Town Team vs a combined U.S. / Ghana military team. Speaking of soccer, one of the officers (Larry Cox of Pearland, Texas) is arranging through St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church to send 200 soccer balls to me to be distributed among the villages in our area. That will bring HUGE smiles to the faces of sooooooo many children (and adults!) in an area where “futbol” is second only to breathing as a requirement of life. Thank you for your generous heart. I could detail who won the war games and soccer games, but it really doesn’t matter. Everyone was a winner as a result of this interaction between U.S. military personnel and Ghanaian soldiers and villagers. Especially ME since I got to enjoy some American food (even if they were MRE’s) including chocolate cake and chocolate chip cookies! A very special Thank You to Capt. “Bud” Colby who spent a LOT of time shepherding me and Musah around the camp making sure we met the right people, stayed fed and watered, and generally had a ball while also making it possible for us to make the right connections to help our Daboyan friends. I got to meet a bunch of men and women (including Col. Rick Hirsch of my home town of Phoenix!) that I am proud to say serve my country. Thanks guys and gals. A big salute goes out to all of you.
