I am a Peace Corps Volunteer, and one of our goals is to educate Americans about our local culture. I want to address an issue my mother raised with me a few days ago. It seems an article was published in my hometown newspaper about how two men came to Ghana and rescued some children from slavery in Lake Volta, Ghana.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/02/18/2074161/rescued-from-slavery.html
While I do not dispute their facts, it is impossible to say that this is representative of all of Ghana. I have a student who was living in a fishing village, similar to those boys rescued, but at the age of 10 or so realized education was important. What did he do? He stopped fishing and left the lake. I have never heard of slavery in Ghana outside of this article. Ghanaian and Ghanaian culture have been fantastic to learn about, and while children are required to help around the house, farm, and fish, it is a neccessity in some areas: if the mother is doing chores all day, raising small kids, and the father is out at the farm making money, who will fetch the water? Who will go to the market to buy food? And, most importantly, when the family is spending all its money on food, clothes and shelter, who will pay for school books, pens, and pencils? If there is a choice between food and paper, children here will go and work to make money to purchase a notebook.
As for voodoo here in Ghana, most people I meet are Christian. In fact, I have never met or been involved in a conversation about how traditional beliefs trump monotheism. Muslims in the North (not on Lake Volta) and Christians in the South alike may believe in a small amount, but as a Ghanaian told me, its best not to discount any religion or traditional belief because: it just may be true. Better to play it safe.
The article describes a Ghana that I have never seen, heard, or even knew existed. It is easy for us Westerners to come in and decry "Aha! Kids are doing work! Child Slavery!" and be done with it. To gain a deeper understanding and obtain true meaning, you have to dig below the surface to distinguish simple poverty from slavery. I was extremely distraught to see this article was 'Liked' by many people, and comments were Ameri-centric with disparaging remarks about Africa, Ghana, and the character of people here. If I find a certain part of the US that is involved in sex trafficking, do I decry all Americans, North Americans, and Westerners as enslaving innocent young people for sex? Absolutely not, as there is an overwhelming majority that have decent, moral values and uninvolved in the trade. Ghanaians are similar: a simple, kind people that have a reverance for God (regardless of religion) and enjoy foreigners. I've been extremely happy and welcomed in my time so far here, and look forward to the future in my village. I think the lesson to take away from this article is that there are always two sides to a story, a people, a country, and a continent.Please do some research before making snap judgements about a culture based on a single source.
But let me move onto another topic: March 6th is Independence day for Ghana, and to practice for the parade all the students are doing marching drills for an hour each morning. An hour during school time, which coincidentally, is the entirety of my time teaching mathematics. I scrambled like eggs to get my classes taught and students learned, but for two and a half weeks there is marching. Why not do this marching outside of school? Perhaps I'm not experienced enough in Ghanaian culture to understand the answer, but as a teacher I've been conscripted to join the celebration.
I've been decoding some student names, and having a grand time with it. "God knows I will love him", "God loves", "He loves", "He touches me". He, of course, is God.
Alright, I'm going back to the bush tomorrow, but I do NOT want to see a cobra like last week! Also, as I was typing this my Rasta-man Mensah just came over and gave me two pineapples and three bunches of bananas. Great hospitality.
Also, I wrote a brief expose about the rest of the funeral that happened last month, and it should be just below this post.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Funeral, part 2
Continuation of Funeral from a month ago! So on saturday at sunrise people parade around town from the wakening, and then go back to their houses to sleep (staying up all night has its downsides). At 9am (so, 10am Ghana Time) the church service starts for the eulogy and finally burial. Everyone wears their funeral best – meaning black and brown everything. I had a traditional Ewe funeral garb consisting of a fuzzy brown with black spotted fabric, draped about in a toga-esque fashion with the material used for my shirt and short (if spotted in the US in just my shirt and shorts, people ponder which mental asylum I had escaped from). Needless to say, so I will say it anyway, my townsfolk were pumped to see me decked out with a cape and undergarments; all day I heard "Mike! You are looking cute." from all the elders of the town (please remember cute is synonimous with handsome, and English is not the primary language here, and words take a different meaning here). Also, as being the village white person, I attracted a large amount of people from out of town who just wanted to talk to me – I view it as a game. Elders and out-of-towners want to monopolize my time with talk such as "Oh you just relax here in my house until the evening, then I will walk you back", even though it was only 2 in the afternoon. I can't spend 5 hours talking to one person; the game part comes in when I'm trying to leave... hmm which excuse can I give to not give out my phone number, avoid committing myself to visit someone a few hours away next weekend, and still get out of the conversation and back to my Ghanaian family. I digress.
Eulogy/Burial service was nice, even though they didn't talk in English (but in Ewe with a Twi translator). Afterwards, I heard of a buffett being held by some members of the Asafo family and like a ball rolling down a hill I naturally made my way over there with minimal interruptions. I ate one meal that day – and it was HUGE!!! So happy. Fried chicken, jollof (spicy) rice, cole slaw= yummy. During my personal waist enlargement procedure, elders met at my house to drink palm wine and help pay the family for the funeral. Fast Forward to Sunday with a brief recap – I went to my friends house and just relaxed for the night.
Sunday: Thanksgiving church service was at 9, but I had to wash clothes so I didn't go. I took a nap because I had some sweet palm wine (deha vivi in Ewe), but when I came out to go and bucket shower, the church had relocated the entirety of their sound equipment to my house. From 3 until about 7, singing, dancing, and one exceedingly loud keyboard pumped out the gospel jamz in my courtyard area. I ate some fufu during this time at another house, just to get some respite from the constant barrage of musical notes entering my ears.
End of funeral.
One of my students, 12 years old, favorite word is: focking. But he doesn't know what it means, and neither do other Ghanaians. I tried to give a rough estimation of the American English translation (replacing the O with U), but my plan backfired: my students then asked what other words meant: bullsheet, sheet, and damn, to name a few.
Eulogy/Burial service was nice, even though they didn't talk in English (but in Ewe with a Twi translator). Afterwards, I heard of a buffett being held by some members of the Asafo family and like a ball rolling down a hill I naturally made my way over there with minimal interruptions. I ate one meal that day – and it was HUGE!!! So happy. Fried chicken, jollof (spicy) rice, cole slaw= yummy. During my personal waist enlargement procedure, elders met at my house to drink palm wine and help pay the family for the funeral. Fast Forward to Sunday with a brief recap – I went to my friends house and just relaxed for the night.
Sunday: Thanksgiving church service was at 9, but I had to wash clothes so I didn't go. I took a nap because I had some sweet palm wine (deha vivi in Ewe), but when I came out to go and bucket shower, the church had relocated the entirety of their sound equipment to my house. From 3 until about 7, singing, dancing, and one exceedingly loud keyboard pumped out the gospel jamz in my courtyard area. I ate some fufu during this time at another house, just to get some respite from the constant barrage of musical notes entering my ears.
End of funeral.
One of my students, 12 years old, favorite word is: focking. But he doesn't know what it means, and neither do other Ghanaians. I tried to give a rough estimation of the American English translation (replacing the O with U), but my plan backfired: my students then asked what other words meant: bullsheet, sheet, and damn, to name a few.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
The Bush!
This post was supposed to finish up my blog about the megafuneral at my house, but I've decided to throw every convention out the window and talk about: THE AFRICAN BUSH!
For those of who don't know or might otherwise misconstrue the word bush, it means anything that is far away from towns, roads, and semblence of civilization. Now, sit down and let me regale you with tales from the Bush.
The first time I went to out, I woke up at 5:30 to meet my friend Gazale, or Rasta-man (the name probably arises out of his religion, Rastafarianism) at his house. We went out to the bush to collect some palm wine (for teetotallers, palm wine in the morning is only about 1-2% alcohol) with a few guys and a hunter, complete with rifle and hunting dogs. I tried my hand at harvesting and setting up the palm wine collections, but it turns out I was only good at standing around and watching the other guys do work. Why standing, do you ask? In fact, walking in the bush is difficult because you have to look where your feet are going, look up to see where you are going, and look around from the dirt path for mushrooms (quite a tasty treat!). I almost fell several times, and ended up with some nicks and cuts on my feet from walking around. After we had collected some palm wine, I saw where they make apoteshi (moonshine), and of course I promised to come back when they were distilling it in a few weeks. As we were returning to town, the hunter's dogs found some grass-cutters, rodents about two feet long that resemble giant rodents of unusual size (ROUS). It was great to see the dogs herd the animals toward the hunter where he shot two dead. Later, they made a stew and invited me over to enjoy it with them. End of Trip 1.
Trip 2 – This trip started the same way; collected palm wine (and by collected I mean I stood there and walked around with them while they did the work), found some mushrooms. I collected some cocoa pods to eat later, ate some palm fruits and bananas. So we were coming back from palm wine watching, and my friends stopped and pointed at a hole. It turns out there was a hole in the ground that they covered with leaves: if the leaves were disturbed the next day, it meant a rat had its den underground there. The rats here are clever; maybe its the tropical climate, but a rat has two entrances to its lair so that if a predator comes through one way the rat runs out the other side. Fine. So the hunter gets a machete and starts digging to find said rat, while the other guys are clearing the area to find the other entrance to the den. They find the other entrance, and the dogs are still sniffing around the hole and trying to dig and find the rat. I should pause here and say that this is not your black stereotypical rat, but a large white rat maybe two feet long including the tail: it provided enough meat for a good size meal for all of us. Back to the story – we finally dug (I watched with rapt attention) enough for Rastaman to cut off a branch and use it to push the rat out of the hole, like a pushrod used on cannons to pack gunpowder. So he's pushing the branch as far as he can and the rest of us gather and gawk at the other end for the rat. Dogs are waiting, ready to pounce; the hunter has his machete's dull edge ready to pummel the rat to death; I'm waiting 5 feet away to see what this suppossed rat looks like. Does the rat come running out to its doom? Nay, my dear children. Instead a black spitting black cobra snakes its way out, hood flared and fangs ready. Everyone, myself included, screamed and ran away into the bush. The video documentary of this would have provided some nice entertainment and showing that yes, in fact, I do get scared – next time I'll bring the camera men.
Later in the day, we found another rat, killed it, at some fufu with rat soup, drank some nice sweet palm wine, then went to sleep like a baby. I think I dreamed of cobras, like Raiders of the Lost Ark-style, but the palm wine and heat make it hard to recall specifics. Needless to say, I will be going back to the bush next weekend if possible!
Live snakes seen: 1
Dead snakes seen: 5
Electronic devices broken in Africa: 3
Average high, according to my thermometer: 94
Rats eaten: 2
For those of who don't know or might otherwise misconstrue the word bush, it means anything that is far away from towns, roads, and semblence of civilization. Now, sit down and let me regale you with tales from the Bush.
The first time I went to out, I woke up at 5:30 to meet my friend Gazale, or Rasta-man (the name probably arises out of his religion, Rastafarianism) at his house. We went out to the bush to collect some palm wine (for teetotallers, palm wine in the morning is only about 1-2% alcohol) with a few guys and a hunter, complete with rifle and hunting dogs. I tried my hand at harvesting and setting up the palm wine collections, but it turns out I was only good at standing around and watching the other guys do work. Why standing, do you ask? In fact, walking in the bush is difficult because you have to look where your feet are going, look up to see where you are going, and look around from the dirt path for mushrooms (quite a tasty treat!). I almost fell several times, and ended up with some nicks and cuts on my feet from walking around. After we had collected some palm wine, I saw where they make apoteshi (moonshine), and of course I promised to come back when they were distilling it in a few weeks. As we were returning to town, the hunter's dogs found some grass-cutters, rodents about two feet long that resemble giant rodents of unusual size (ROUS). It was great to see the dogs herd the animals toward the hunter where he shot two dead. Later, they made a stew and invited me over to enjoy it with them. End of Trip 1.
Trip 2 – This trip started the same way; collected palm wine (and by collected I mean I stood there and walked around with them while they did the work), found some mushrooms. I collected some cocoa pods to eat later, ate some palm fruits and bananas. So we were coming back from palm wine watching, and my friends stopped and pointed at a hole. It turns out there was a hole in the ground that they covered with leaves: if the leaves were disturbed the next day, it meant a rat had its den underground there. The rats here are clever; maybe its the tropical climate, but a rat has two entrances to its lair so that if a predator comes through one way the rat runs out the other side. Fine. So the hunter gets a machete and starts digging to find said rat, while the other guys are clearing the area to find the other entrance to the den. They find the other entrance, and the dogs are still sniffing around the hole and trying to dig and find the rat. I should pause here and say that this is not your black stereotypical rat, but a large white rat maybe two feet long including the tail: it provided enough meat for a good size meal for all of us. Back to the story – we finally dug (I watched with rapt attention) enough for Rastaman to cut off a branch and use it to push the rat out of the hole, like a pushrod used on cannons to pack gunpowder. So he's pushing the branch as far as he can and the rest of us gather and gawk at the other end for the rat. Dogs are waiting, ready to pounce; the hunter has his machete's dull edge ready to pummel the rat to death; I'm waiting 5 feet away to see what this suppossed rat looks like. Does the rat come running out to its doom? Nay, my dear children. Instead a black spitting black cobra snakes its way out, hood flared and fangs ready. Everyone, myself included, screamed and ran away into the bush. The video documentary of this would have provided some nice entertainment and showing that yes, in fact, I do get scared – next time I'll bring the camera men.
Later in the day, we found another rat, killed it, at some fufu with rat soup, drank some nice sweet palm wine, then went to sleep like a baby. I think I dreamed of cobras, like Raiders of the Lost Ark-style, but the palm wine and heat make it hard to recall specifics. Needless to say, I will be going back to the bush next weekend if possible!
Live snakes seen: 1
Dead snakes seen: 5
Electronic devices broken in Africa: 3
Average high, according to my thermometer: 94
Rats eaten: 2
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Second FUNeral
So a few weeks ago there was a funeral in my town. Maybe, thats not quite correct: the funeral was in my house for someone who died about a month prior. Being at the epicenter of the funeral action was an event in itself, especially being the white person in town. So let's begin the recap!
Friday: The body arrived at about 6:30 via ambulance to the town from the morgue. The ambulance stops on the outside of town, to 'ask permission' from the chief to enter the town with a dead person. Also, a large number of people (150?) escorted the remains to our house amidst much (select three of the following) singing/dancing/rejoicing/mourning. Then, the dress the body for viewing. Viewing in America? In the casket. Viewing in Ghana? Well, in order for the person to look as lifelike as possible they put on what appears to be a wedding dress (all white and very large) and sit the person up in a chair like they are still alive!! I wonder how one applies to be a dressing consultant for dead people: is it an inherited profession? The experience of seeing someone upright, clothed, not in a casket, but still very, very dead was like finding out people in Ghana, eating with no utensils, wash their hands with soap and water AFTER they eat – it doesn't make sense to me and in both instances is fairly disturbing. There were viewings from different families coming to pay their respects, but the most interesting part was the aftermath of what I'll call 'Deceased Dressing'.
Tradition here dictates that the body arrives on Friday and buried Saturday, so from when the body arrives in evening until the next morning, they have 'wakening', which is essentially an all-night party of music, food and dancing to keep the corpse company until it is buried... analogous to a going away party, just for a dead person. The music they play is LOUD; I'm talking KISS-concert wattage with a DJ blaring gospel music for 12 hours – in my courtyard. I tried to sleep for a bit from 12 until 6, but in every dream I dreamt I was in either at a bar, or like Inception there was background music warning my dreaming consciousness that I was about to wake up due to ear-drum damage.
Hmm, I won't be able to post all of this in a single day, so to conclude, at dawn on Saturday the party is over. At sunrise everyone left at the party goes and parades around the town with music. In my dream, I dreamt that every living person disappeared and, once again like Inception, I was stuck in a place like limbo where I was the only living person in my dream; I felt very alone so I woke up.
Continuation will occur next week: Same Ghana time, Same Ghana Channel.
You may have noticed me always talking about music. Present everyday (especially Sundays), music may occur from a soccer match, singing at school assembly, church, funerals, weddings, and when the boys from the schools play football (soccer) the girls then proceed to run around the field singing and clapping tunes from church.
Some of my colleagues want me to teach them how to talk like an American, so I've started to use larger words (draconian, ginormous), slang "What's up?" (A common misperception here is the response to "Whats up" is "Cool" – I dont know why either), and interjections of various expletives into my Ghanaian speaking style. Funnily enough, little kids as small as 5 know "sheet", but my students haven't figured out any other bad words through age 18.
Final Notes:
I read "Stiff: The life of human Cadavers" about the same time as my funeral. Great book.
About 60 students from my school were caned (google if unfamiliar) for attending wakening.
Punishments given out by me are now to carry water ¼ mile to my house, on a bucket on their head.
Two other teachers and I ate an entire box of Oreos in one night.
Book Count Since September 15th – 53 books completed. Next up: Animal Farm, 1984, Sphere.
Friday: The body arrived at about 6:30 via ambulance to the town from the morgue. The ambulance stops on the outside of town, to 'ask permission' from the chief to enter the town with a dead person. Also, a large number of people (150?) escorted the remains to our house amidst much (select three of the following) singing/dancing/rejoicing/mourning. Then, the dress the body for viewing. Viewing in America? In the casket. Viewing in Ghana? Well, in order for the person to look as lifelike as possible they put on what appears to be a wedding dress (all white and very large) and sit the person up in a chair like they are still alive!! I wonder how one applies to be a dressing consultant for dead people: is it an inherited profession? The experience of seeing someone upright, clothed, not in a casket, but still very, very dead was like finding out people in Ghana, eating with no utensils, wash their hands with soap and water AFTER they eat – it doesn't make sense to me and in both instances is fairly disturbing. There were viewings from different families coming to pay their respects, but the most interesting part was the aftermath of what I'll call 'Deceased Dressing'.
Tradition here dictates that the body arrives on Friday and buried Saturday, so from when the body arrives in evening until the next morning, they have 'wakening', which is essentially an all-night party of music, food and dancing to keep the corpse company until it is buried... analogous to a going away party, just for a dead person. The music they play is LOUD; I'm talking KISS-concert wattage with a DJ blaring gospel music for 12 hours – in my courtyard. I tried to sleep for a bit from 12 until 6, but in every dream I dreamt I was in either at a bar, or like Inception there was background music warning my dreaming consciousness that I was about to wake up due to ear-drum damage.
Hmm, I won't be able to post all of this in a single day, so to conclude, at dawn on Saturday the party is over. At sunrise everyone left at the party goes and parades around the town with music. In my dream, I dreamt that every living person disappeared and, once again like Inception, I was stuck in a place like limbo where I was the only living person in my dream; I felt very alone so I woke up.
Continuation will occur next week: Same Ghana time, Same Ghana Channel.
You may have noticed me always talking about music. Present everyday (especially Sundays), music may occur from a soccer match, singing at school assembly, church, funerals, weddings, and when the boys from the schools play football (soccer) the girls then proceed to run around the field singing and clapping tunes from church.
Some of my colleagues want me to teach them how to talk like an American, so I've started to use larger words (draconian, ginormous), slang "What's up?" (A common misperception here is the response to "Whats up" is "Cool" – I dont know why either), and interjections of various expletives into my Ghanaian speaking style. Funnily enough, little kids as small as 5 know "sheet", but my students haven't figured out any other bad words through age 18.
Final Notes:
I read "Stiff: The life of human Cadavers" about the same time as my funeral. Great book.
About 60 students from my school were caned (google if unfamiliar) for attending wakening.
Punishments given out by me are now to carry water ¼ mile to my house, on a bucket on their head.
Two other teachers and I ate an entire box of Oreos in one night.
Book Count Since September 15th – 53 books completed. Next up: Animal Farm, 1984, Sphere.
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