You’re Invited!

I love that Ghana is a very communal country, especially when it comes to food. Ghanaians love to eat! If someone you know or have met is eating around you they will always use the key phrase, “You’re Invited”, and allow you to take part in their meal. At home people can be a bit stingier at times lol. With that being said, I want to tell everyone about my Ghanaian friend Priscilla.

            Priscilla and I met in my Community Organization class. I sat by her on the first day and we immediately became friends. She was so sweet and accepted me as her friend right away. I told that I had a friend in the U.S. also named Priscilla and she said, “Well then we are already friends”. Ghanaians are also very hospitable people. Whenever someone is a visitor in their place of residence, they will always offer anything that they have to give. When I visited Priscilla’s dorm room for the first time she was sad that my friends and I had taken water with us because she wanted to offer it to us upon arrival. Instead she gave all of us fresh pineapple. :-)

            At the end of our visit she invited us over again to cook lunch together, and yesterday that’s exactly what we did. Unfortunately, I had to miss most of the preparation because I had class =/, so I’m a little jealous of my friends Brittany and Baindu for experiencing the fun part. The girls made Kontomere  (a local dish very similar to spinach) with egg and bean stew, boiled plantains, and boiled yam. It was extremely delicious! When we were all full Priscilla told us that we didn’t eat enough! Lol. She is such a sweet, wise, and fun person. I know that our friendship will go beyond my time here in Ghana.

            It’s so great the way food brings people together. Whether it’s for holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas or just enjoying a meal with some friends late at night or on a Saturday afternoon. In Ghana it definitely contributes to the overwhelming sense of community that is embedded into their culture. When someone that offers their food to me I know they have accepted me. I like the phrase so much that I know it will stick with me when I go home. So if you ever see me with some food be prepared to hear the words, “you’re invited!”

Sing Out For Peace

Saturday September 15, 2012 was the annual Sing Out concert at the National Theatre here in Ghana, and to coincide with the election, this year’s theme was Sing Out For Peace. I found the concert to be very unique and creative. The purpose was not only to celebrate the goodness of God and his grace upon the nation, but to also use it as an opportunity to let all the political heads declare peace throughout the coming election. The program consisted of peace messages from representatives of the different parties and different gospel or Christian acts: Selina Boateng, Kofi Sarpong, Monarch’s Praise Choir and America’s very own Deitrick Haddon as the headliner.

            
One important detail that surprised me the most was the amount of young people that showed up for the concert. It was great to see a large volume of men and women around my age at a concert celebrating Jesus Christ. Everyone was dressed veryy nice (they made me feel under dressed in my jeans and nice shirt). Once the concert began, the energy was amazing. The atmosphere reminded me of being at a Beyoncé concert. Only instead of singing “Single Ladies” we were rocking to “He’s Able” and Ghanaian Christian music. Everyone was up on their feet dancing the whole night (especially during the Ghanaian songs). I hadn’t heard too much of Deitrick Haddon’s music at home but I brushed up on it a little before the show. He is a very energetic performer. He was very similar to Tye Tribbet, maybe even more enthusiastic. However, I think it’s safe to say that a Deitrick Haddon concert in the U.S. would definitely be different. I feel like Ghanaians display a very unique kind of energy and he was able to feed off of that and just go crazy with it. I’m definitely grateful for chance to go and experience that.

            Overall, I really enjoyed the concert. Afterwards, I had some time to reflect. We are living in trying times, especially In light of everything happening with U.S. international relations and the current conflict over “The Innocence of Muslims”. We need peace around the world now more than ever. The sad part is that there’s not much we can do but sit back and pray about it. Pray for tolerance, love and protection. Ghanaian politics are still influenced by tribal and ethnic divides, but the country is still stable and people are trying to come together. We need to be respectful of other's practices and beliefs. I hope that one day we can all just get along.

James 3:18 says, “And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace”.

Time To Teach And To Learn..

So my internship has begun. I am officially a math teacher at NADAT Memorial School in the small town of Adenta. It’s about a 40 minute commute each way by tro-tro and a little bit of walking. I teach two different levels of math, four classes in total. Initially the last thing I wanted to do in Ghana was teach, but I’ve decided to accept the responsibility. There is a shortage of teachers at the school and if I had not come, the students would have to have math and science combined. On my first visit to the school, the math and science teacher was so happy to hand the math completely over to me, and now the students that I teach only have only math class on the days that I come. I found it funny that the headmaster and the other teachers trusted me immediately. They never questioned my knowledge or ability to teach. They are just thankful that I have decided to dedicate my time to the children and they have faith that I will do a good job.

                     

It is a known fact all around the world that education is the best key success, but from my experiences here so far, I feel that these students really embody that fact. In some respects, they have a much better grasp of the concept than many of the students I’ve worked with in the U.S. After only teaching for two days and volunteering with Beatrice (which I described in a previous post), I can honestly say that every student that I’ve worked with generally wants to learn. They are veryyy well behaved, they help each other in class, and they are not afraid to speak up when they don’t understand. I would love to walk into a public school like that in the U.S. I plan to look deeper into the comparison while I’m here, but here’s what I can say so far. A lot has to do with culture. Ghanaian culture and their way of life are very much connected to the level of poverty in this country. The opportunity to get an education is more of a privilege because not every family can afford to send their children to school. There is less of a competitive nature here because everyone is united by certain cultural elements and practices. We don’t have that in the U.S., I haven’t even really noticed it in many minority communities. An education is easier to obtain in the states, and many students take it for granted. There is also more pressure to be the best. While I’m here I definitely plan to look more into the comparison and I plan to share my thoughts as I go along.

On the one hand, I feel unworthy of my new teaching position because I’ve never handled a class on my own, let alone four…and I don’t want to fail my students. On the other hand, I see this as the opportunity to impact so many lives from now until December. Teaching will be a challenge and I’m excited and scared at the same time. But Galatians 6:9 says, “ And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not”. Not only will I be their teacher, but they will be mine, and I will learn in ways that no textbook could ever teach me.

Kumasi: Part II

House of Tradional African and Ghanaian Music

On Saturday, September 1st, we will had the opportunity to meet one of Ghana's national treasures and living legends in music, Agya Koo Nima. He spoke to us about traditional Ghanaian music and performed with his band. One style of music we learned about was palmwine. Palm wine music is a local drink from the palm oil tree. The music began with the introduction of the guitar. Agya Koo Nima gave us a few words of advice before we left. He old us that we should have fun, stay in good health in order to live long, and to leave a place in the western corners of hearts for ourselves.

 

Manhyia Palace Museum.

 This palace is an important part of history. It was built in 1925 for Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh I, by the British Colonial Government, as his private residence when he returned from Seychelles after twenty-eight years in exile. Prior to the Asantehene's exile, his old palace had been burnt down in the Yaa Asantewaa War. The war was fought between the British and the Asantes because of the refusal of the Asantehene to offer the golden stool to the then governor of the Gold Coast. The museum holds effigies of the past and present kings of the Asante Kingdom, and some gold artifacts and also tells the story of the Asante Kingdom.

Kejetia Market

Kejetia Market is also known as Kumasi Central Market. It is one of the largest markets in West Africa. As soon as we reached the main road I was in complete awe. Looking to my left and right it seemed as if the market didn't end. The rooftops and shops went on for miles. Walking through the market was an experience. It was very intense. There were so many different directions to go, a narrow walkway here, one there…everyone also seemed in a rush to get where they were going. My friend Baindu and I thought we had gotten lost at one point but we found our way back. The great thing about this market was that items seemed relatively cheaper than any place I had gone to in Accra. All in all it was a great experience and I walked away with a great pair of sandals for a very cheap price.

After all of the tourist sites, one of my favorite parts of the weekend was Saturday night. It was my friend J.t.'s birthday and we all went to out to celebrate. It was a great way to end our weekend in Kumasi!

Happy Birhday J.t.!

Kumasi: Part I

So this past weekend we traveled to a different region of Ghana, the Asante (Ashanti) Region. The Ashanti Region is the third largest of 10 administrative regions in Ghana and also the most populated region. The Ashanti region, which harbors the capital city of Kumasi, is referred to as the Kingdom of Gold. I loved just looking out the window as we drove down the rode. Te bus ride was about 6-7 hours each way , but the landscape along the route was very interesting and veryy beautiful at times. On Friday, we visited 3 locations:

The Home of Nana Yaa Asantewaa

Our first stop was the Traditional Ashanti Home in Ejisu. There are nine other such homes in the region and they are all marked as UN World Heritage Sites. These are the last material remains of the great Asante civilization in the 18th Century. Nana Yaa Asantewaa was the then Queen Mother of Ejisu who lead the famous Yaa Asantewaa war in the 1900 against the British when the British went to demand the golden stool which is believed to be the soul of the Asante people. They fought the war for a year and lost to the British. Nana Yaa Asantewaa was captured and exiled. The house was very cool, the walls are carved with Adinkra symbols that are unique to West Africa. There are over 200 symbols and they represent various proverbs or have philosophical meanings. It was great to go there and witness a sacred piece of history. There were many children an adults in the neighborhood there who greted us and were awed at the number of  "oburonis"  (twi word for “foreigners”) in there midst.

     

Bonwire Kente Village

We also stopped at the Bonwire Kente Village where kente cloth and articles made from kente are produced and sold. It is very popular because it is like a form of writing. Each design that is carefully weaved has its own philosophical meaning which in turn makes it important for history. The kente village was very cool but very chaotic. Taking 3 buses full of foreigners probably wasn’t the best thing to do. Salesmen will/can be very aggressive if they think you have a lot of money to spend. They will even inflate the prices. I bought a few things and then I had to get out of there lol. I ended up going back on Sunday with a very small group to finish up shopping!

FYI Bill Clinton and Barack Obama have their own Kente 

cloth design :-)

Ntonso Adinkra Village

We traveled this craft village to learn about the Adinkra symbols and how their deep philosophical meanings relate to the Asante. At this craft village, black dye is made from the bark of a certain tree where the bark is soaked, crushed and boiled. The black dye is then stamped on to cloth and sold. Visitors are also free to choose their own cloth and stamps to make their own.

Gone But Not Forgotten...

So I was in the process of posting about my weekend in Kumasi when I heard startling news. I was informed of the loss of a loved one and friend. Lauren Luzier. Lauren and I were not very close friends, but we were your average classmates. We had many classes together throughout high school and shared some of the same friends. To this day I still remember going to her graduation pool party.  Soon after graduation, she was in a very severe car accident and had to undergo several different surgeries. Through it all she was strong and she survived....but yesterday was her time to go.

Reflecting on her loss here in Ghana is probably different than it would be for me at home. In Ghana, death is truly a celebration. The passing of life is not death, but simply a transition of the soul…to a place far better than life here on earth.

Lauren was a very smart, bright, and beautiful girl. She was also hilarious and made me laugh :-).

Yes, she passed away at a very young age, but it was not without a purpose. Each and every one of us should choose life on this day, live right, and care for the ones around us. No one knows when it will be there time, so but be grateful and take advantage of every second.

There is an Asante proverb that says 

“Owuo atwereɛ, baako mforo” 

-Death's ladder is not just for one person to climb”

Yɛbɛhyia bio Lauren

(We will meet again)