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Published: July 12th 2005
Ghanaian Woman
In a previous posting I mentioned the picture I had of Ghana was the Ghanaian woman carrying a tray on her had and the small baby attached on her back. Well..here she is! July 1st: HAPPY CANADA DAY as well as GHANAIAN REPUBLIC DAY!
Two holidays in one to celebrate on this day in Ghana, however I’m not much in the mood for celebrating. The last two weeks have been a little bit rough for me, nothing serious so please don’t worry but it is the reason why I have not written in awhile. To be honest, I don’t really know what happened but I become seriously homesick, anxious and a little bit depressed. Louis, my EWB partner in Ghana, came back from Northern Ghana where he had spent the last 5 weeks. It was the first white person I had really spoken with since he left and I think I had a weird form of culture shock, all of sudden it was extremely obvious that I was white, and definitely not a Ghanaian. I think I was trying so hard to fit into the culture here that I completely lost all sense of my own perspective, or else I transferred my perspective on to the people here. It’s a bit shocking to realize that not everyone has the same level of education nor the same background and thus can see the same
Funeral Attire
This was a weekend funeral I attended in a village in the mountains North of Accra. The cloth I'm wearing was given to me my Celasi, pictured two over from me in the photo. situation in a very very different way. I think I turned a blind eye to all the differences in an attempt to make myself feel more a part of the people I am living, working and interacting with an a daily basis. As a result, Louis’ reappearance combined with some reactions from fellow Ghanaians made me realize that there are many differences that separate the Obrunis from the Ghanaians. From someone who doesn’t like being an outsider this is a hard realization to handle. That’s when the homesickness started. I no longer wanted to try something new but was craving the normal and simple things I took advantage of every day back home. Little things like regular food that I don’t have to worry about whether it will make me sick or not and that actually contains a certain level of vegetable freshness! More important then the food or any other physical aspect of life here is the moments that occur with friends and family. I’m sorry to get a little sentimental but you realize how much the little moments mean to you when you don’t have them on a regular basis. Things like laughter because you said something stupid
Me & Gina
This is a small lunch break. I'm eating fried rice and chicken with Gina the secretary at EW. I think we are watching something funny on TV!! or danced in a particularly funny way and no one but your closest friends would ever understand. Family dinners where it’s not even about the food your eating but who you’re eating with. Coffee-time or any casual get-togethers to catch up with friends and share all important information that has happened since the last time we made a break in our schedule for each other. The hugs from those who love you, I’ve never felt since an intense desire for physical contact, and no please don’t take that the wrong way. I’m referring only to those caring hands who reach out when you’re down, the hugs that you can melt into when you’re so frustrated and upset that you don’t really know what to do with yourself, the late night cuddles with the roommates while watching some corny chick flick, or even just the pat on the back for a job well done. I think one of the most valuable things I’ll learn from this experience is to appreciate everything I have. To live content in my own individual existence, the niche I’ve made for myself and everyone involved in it. Part of that niche, now extends across the globe
Wedding at a Church
This is the service for the first wedding I attended a while back. The wedding was on sunday morning, in combination with the regular service so it was very long! Can we play "Where's the Obruni??" and I’ll be a different person because of it. From the Ghanaians I have learned a lot about relationships. Some key lessons are listed here:
1) Value your family over anything, no matter what. If a Ghanaian has any money he is responsible for the rest of his extended family, including his grandmothers sisters childrens cousin. It’s ridiculous. I still haven’t figured out where the line ends and a person becomes a non-member of your extended family!
2) Always have something extra cooking in the oven for frequent and unexpected visitors. Ghanaians always have extra food cooking in the oven every evening for the various friends or people who may stop by and need something to eat.
3) Appreciate the unexpected visits and make the person feel as welcome as possible. Ghanaians do not take offense to a random visit but will drop whatever they are doing to spend a few moments sharing their time with you.
4) Visit friends and family on a regular basis. Weekends in Ghana are spent making rounds of visiting people. Your family might get one weekend and next weekend you need to make sure you stop by this friend, and next time the other
Wedding Reception
This picture was taken at the reception for a wedding I went to this weekend. The small girl in front is Edel the flower girl and the women is Celasi. Edel's mother and a very good friend of mine! friend. It’s really encouraging to see how important people are to the Ghanaian way of life. It’s not uncommon for a friend to call you on Tuesday and then on Friday say…I haven’t spoken to you all week. How have you been? Or even I haven’t seen you since the day before yesterday…I missed you!
The extent of Ghanaian relationships and their social life is extremely apparent in the way they celebrate funerals and marriages. For funerals, everyone and anyone is invited and if you don’t attend the funeral of a close friend who is bereaved you can be rest assured that person will no longer consider you a close friend. Should two funerals happen to fall on the same weekend you have to spread your time between both. Fortunately, most Ghanaian funerals last the whole weekend therefore you can pick one day for each. I still haven’t decided if there are three funerals what you should do but I haven’t come across that situation yet. Please, I’m not trying to make it sound like I’m making a joke out of funerals, but to the Ghanaians it’s a part of the social activity for the weekend. Almost every weekend you
My Security Guards
These three Ghanaians represent the security guards who I spend a good portion of my time with apart from Gilbert who you already met. Now meet: Frank, Konadu, and Francis can find someone who knows someone who has someone who died and you will travel back to the village to celebrate their death, particularly if they are over the age of 70. Over 70 means the person has lived a good life and they celebrate them passing on to a better place. They do this by wearing white cloth instead of black. If you’re mourning you wear all black cloth and on any given weekend if you travel to a village you will see many people dressed in their funeral garb. Many of the educated Ghanaians who I know consider it funny that their social activity for the weekend consists of attending funerals! Aside from that if there is no funeral there might be a wedding and if no wedding then you are expected to pay casual visits to your friends and family as a mentioned before.
These events usually happen on Saturday because Sunday consists of going to church. Everyone goes to church and most of them are Christian, at least here in the South. It’s funny because whenever you hear about ministry you think of people working in Africa to spread the word of God to the people who have nothing and have never heard about Jesus. From my experience here the Ghanaians have more faith in God than most Christians I know back in North America. I’ve been pondering this conclusion for sometime and I’ve come to realize that it’s because in North America intellect has surpassed the need for something bigger to explain the cause of events. In short, North Americans don’t need God. Most of us have a comfortable life, food on the table, a decent paying job and are relying on our own strength and intelligence to get us places. Some Ghanaians may experience similar luxuries but there are still too many variables that are unexplainable. For example, the rains. So much of the family livelihood in Ghana depends on whether it rains or not. So at the start of every rainy season most farmers pray continuously for rains. When it does rain, they praise God for blessing their farm. If it doesn’t, they pray harder. In Accra where many people are no longer farming there are other things to worry about; like finding a future for yourself. Being able to get an education, or finding a well paying job that will support you and your family or even help pay for a small education are all things left to the hands of their God. Prayers of healing for all those that are sick take on more meaning when you are fighting things like Typhoid and Malaria. To the logical side of my brain their blind faith in God that trusts all aspects of their lives to him seems completely irrational. To my spiritual side there is power in their complete surrender that touches my heart. This said, as much as Ghanaians have a very strong faith they are also willing to work hard to achieve their dream of a better future. Some of my security friends are proof of this. Take one who has left his family and village last year to come to Accra to find a job that may help him get a better education. He has worked as a front gate security guard for an Obruni Man for the past year and he is only now starting to take some small computer lessons. He wants to find a better job in the realm of the computer world that might provide him with a better income. I have had the opportunity to work with him small amounts on the computer to assist in his understanding of the words being used and better the typing skills. His comprehension of English is lower then I realized, even just in the way he puts together his sentences and spelling. From what I know he has completed secondary school in the village but the standard for this school is definitely not in comparison to high school in Canada. Basically, he lives in the compound, eats minimally and only when someone prepares food for him so that all the money he earns can be saved for this small computer courses he thinks will make all the difference in the world. This aspect of him dedicating everything he has to better himself is his willingness to work hard but this willingness is spurred from the fact that he trusts that God will take care of him and answer his prayers. He is constantly thinking about the future and his mantra is, pray hard and do whatever is necessary to help God answer your prayers. I’m sorry to bring up this discussion of religion and I hope that no one will take offense, I’m simply trying to offer a certain perspective that is quite prevalent here in Ghana. The most obvious example I can think of is the names of all the local shops/stands where people work and sell whatever goods they can to make a living.
Some examples:
God is Faithful Hair and Beauty Salon
Trust in The Redeemer Electronics
I’m actually not joking. These name are found everywhere you go and make my laugh on a regular basis because they just seem so…..unimaginative! The list could go on and on and I’ll have to start compiling a more complete list for future reference. Even if you look at the back of the tro-tros and taxis they all have stickers relating to God, prayer or something to encourage those who are stuck in frequent traffic jams during rush hour.
Sundays are quite an adventure. You can’t find anything open during Sunday morning. Everyone gets dressed in their church wear and walks whatever distance necessary to their chosen place of worship. The church building themselves can vary widely between a typical modern structure you’d see in North America but with all sides open to allow for a breeze to keep people relatively cool, to a crumbling shack located in the industrial area where you wouldn’t even imagine a large church would be located. It’s fascinating! Basically you can’t walk anywhere on Sunday morning between 9 and 11 without hearing voices singing out praises to God. In fact, it’s not uncommon to find to churches side by side that compete against each other for the moments of silence and the moments of praise.
I think this is long enough for today. I’ve delayed in posting due to a crazy busy schedule as a result of a deadline for our quarterly report for the plastic waste project. I’m planning this week to spend some serious time writing more updates and journals even just for myself to remember exactly what it is that I’m going through so you can expect another update sooner rather then later. Please know that this week I am feeling much better from the way this update started and I’m once again looking forward to the work I’m doing here and the people I’m interacting with. I recovered from a bout of illness; I ate something not meant to be in my stomach that left me weak, tired and unable to eat for awhile. I lost some weight but nothing serious and I don’t think it will take too much longer to gain it back at the rate I’m eating the heavily starch filled dishes again. I have been extremely fortunate as far as health issues are concerned so far during my stay here, so thank you to those who are supporting me through prayer!
I look forward to hearing any comments and questions!
Blessings from Ghana
Lindsay
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Monica
non-member comment
miss you too...
Hey LInds... just a note to say that I LOVE YOU... and am sending you a huge virtual hug :). You ARE in my prayers... I love God's promise: "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you." -- especially when far away from home. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and your heart - thank you for being real. With love, Mon