October in Ghana

Fall has come to Ghana, but it is not the kind of fall weather we are accustomed to.  It actually gets hotter in the fall and winter for winds blow down from the northern deserts.  I've decided the weather here is hot or hotter.

So much has happened this month that it has been difficult to decide what to include in the blog.  However, the first thing I decided to include was a video of our apartment to put to rest any concerns that the Church doesn't take care of its senior missionaries. 

As you can see, Elder Call and I are living in a very safe and comfortabe enviroment.  Infact, I believe I mentioned in the video that Elder Call has nick-named our apartment, "the bungalow". 

Institute class members in the Christianborg Stake

We continue to enjoy the training we do with the "Come Follow Me" program and the young single adults.  As mentioned before, we also teach an Institute Class entitled "Preparing For An Eternal Marriage".   I think Elder Call would have prefered teaching a more doctrinely based class, but he is enjoying these young single adults.  Last week we had them play basketball with a small hoop which hooks over the door.  They played without rules and then with rules, to compare living the rules in sports with living the rules of dating.I think Elder Call enjoyed it as much as the youth. 

Since we have been assigned to do training throughout the whole country of Ghana, we traveled 3 of the 4 weekends in  October.  It has been great meeting with more of the friendly and happy Ghanians while also having the opportunity to see some of the beautiful country side.  Once you leave the city, the country is green and fertile with many many small villages.  Some of the people in the villages walk great distances to obtain water.  Thus, the Church has been involved with drilling hundreds of wells,called bore holes, for the people here.   Also, since Ghana achieved independence in 1957, the railway system built by the British has gone into disrepair.  Therefore, most commodities are transported by truck and it is not an uncommon sight to see a truck  filled to the brim and overflowing. 

In doing some training we were able to go see the Volta Dam built on the Volta River in eastern Ghana in the 1960's with the help of some U.S. engineers.  Since that time they have done some updating in the 1970's.  The Dam provides most the electric power for Ghana and has the distinction of creating the largest man-made lake in the world.

A view of the Dam from our hotel.

 

 

Our travels also took us to the city of Cape Coast on the western ocean front of Ghana.  Cape Coast was the initial area where the Portugese built a fort and living quarters which they called a "Castle".  Initially it was used to  trade supplies in exchange for gold and other commodities found in West Africa.  After awhile, the largest commodity for trade became the African people themselves in the form of slaves.  The rooms built for the storage of supplies became converted to dungeons for holding slaves.  It is not known exactly how many slaves were "exported" around the world; our guide said somewhere between 4 and 8 million.  It was an interesting but sobering tour.  We did learn that many African chiefs also had slaves and sold them for supplies to the Portugese and later the Dutch who attacked and took over the Castle. 

The building in the middle was the church.  Many of the dungeons where the slaves were kept were underneath the floors of the church. 

The cannons used to defend the Castle are still  in place along with many of the cannon balls. 



The harbor where the slaves were transported from the dungeons to the waiting boats.  The water used to be closer to the Castle but has since receded.  Today the harbor is used for many fishing boats.  The fishermen go out at night, catch their fish and come into shore in the early morning.  Around breakfast time, you can see numerous boats coming in from their nightly excursion on the ocean.  The boats are of the same type used for many many generations in Ghana.  They are made by the fishermen themselves and are primarily "powered" by rowing with oars. 

While there, we saw a group of school children that had come on a field trip to the Castle. I began taking pictures of them on my iPad, and showing them their picture; which thrilled them.  They came around us and wanted more and more pictures.  As I was taking a picture of their teachers, they flocked around Elder Call.  He asked them questions about how old they were etc., but they were most fascinited with the hair on his arms.  It seems they don't have hair on their arms like we do.  When we returned home, I printed the pictures I took, including the one of Elder Call, and sent them to their school.






One Sunday we drove to downtown Accra to Independence Square.  This is the place the Ghanians built to celebrate their indepence from Great Britain.  It was also the place where President Hinckley announced the building of the Accra Temple which was recieved with much rejoicing among the saints in Ghana.  The 10 year dedication of the temple will take place this coming January 2014.

On the monument is the "Black Star of Africa" repensenting that although they are black, they shine.

On the other side of Indepence Square, is a local beach that we took the opportunity to also visit.  Elder Call refrained from taking off his shoes and stockings, but since I was wearing sandals,  I did take the opportunity to get my feet wet and I would like to report that the water was nice and warm.

The trip did have an additional advantage.  As we were overlooking another area of the beach, we met some young Ghanian men who were looking at the eclipse of the sun.  They shared their paper dark glasses so we could also have a look at the eclipse.  The conversation led to why we were in Ghana, which of course led to a discussion on religion.  I felt it fitting that they shared their dark glasses with us so we could see the eclipse, but we shared a Book of Mormon with them so they could have a chance to see the true Light.

Besides the wonderful people in Ghana, we have enjoyed understanding and learning about some of their unique cultural customs.  I thought I would share a couple of videos.  (I am loving my iPad)

 

 

One of those customs is the way the women carry their children.  Using just one yard of any fabric, the women are able to carry their small children happily around with them where ever they go.  I have been intrigued with how they "tie" the fabric to support the child on the back.  Come to find out, they don't tie it at all; they simply roll and tuck the fabric.  One day in the Ancillary building where we live, a young girl gave a couple of us missionaries a demonstration.  The girl's name is Mavis, she is 14 years old and the baby used for the "demontration" is her little brother. 

Another fun custom in Ghana is the weaving of cloth named Kente cloth.  It is an ancient way of weaving that has been done for a very very long time.  While we were in the city of Ho, another missionary couple, the Cosgraves, took us to a "factory" where they make Kente cloth.  Each weaver makes his own loom.  Most of the weavers are men, but there are some women weavers. 

 

I could go on and on, but I am afraid most of you are already wondering when this  blog is going to end.  I won't do it, but...I could tell you of the three wonderful young people we have met that we have been able to share the Gospel with.  All of them are reading the Book of Mormon.  One of our contacts, Benedicta, had dinner with us last night.  We just "happened" to meet the missionary today who is responsible for teaching in the area where she lives.  He has already contacted her and will be teaching her the discussions.  Another one, George, has been reading the Book of Mormon.  He called today and wants us to come by to answer some of his questions.  It looks like we will be referring him to the missionaries soon.  The other contact, Christina, works at a favorite shop of mine in the Accra Mall.  She lives with her mother who does not read English.  However, she reads the Book of Mormon to her.  I could tell you about them and include pictures, but I won't.  Instead, I will include a picture of a billboard here close to the Accra Mall. 





The billboard is advertising wedding rings and the caption at the top says "Til Death Do Us Part". As I saw read it, I was reminded of plaque in one of the offices at the MTC in Provo. It read, "The definition of a Missionary: someone who leaves his/her family, so other families can be eternal."