You have to remember you too

During my time in Ghana, one thing that was very apparent..

was how hard the women worked. 

From sun up to sun down they were constantly doing..

Preparing food.

Cooking food.

Serving food. 

Cleaning up after the food was eaten. 

Doing laundry. (by hand). 

Hanging up the laundry to dry. 

Folding laundry once it dried. 

Oh would you look at the time!

Preparing lunch. 

Cooking lunch. 

Serving lunch. 

Cleaning up after everyone ate lunch. 

Did I mention this was all done while..

feeding babies.

Carrying babies.

Putting babies to sleep. 

Oh look! 

It’s time for dinner. 

You get the picture. 

And then the weekend.. 

The family reunion. 

Have you ever cooked for 100+ people? 

No stove. No oven. 

All outside. 

Wood. Sticks. Matches. 

And at the same time you’re still cooking breakfast for everyone at the house. 

And serving. And cleaning. 

ok..

Finally, after all that work..

The reunion..

and they served all the food. 

And here comes the next day..

maybe the most telling. 

It was full of the type of giving and generosity that is often overlooked.

The women stopped all the doing..

all the cooking. 

all the cleaning.

They stopped being the hardest working women I had ever seen.

Instead..

They took a break. 

They got some blankets, laid them out in the backyard, and had a picnic. 

They gave a gift to themselves. 

They refilled their cups. 

And that's when I knew..

These women really know how to give.