Nana Kobina Tuwohofo II: July 22, 2013

Phoebe & Ben

This morning we awoke to yet another beautiful day in Cape Coast and enjoyed another delicious breakfast on the patio of the Fair Hill Guest House. All the girls dressed in their beautiful Ghanaian kaba and slits, with Ben and Robert in their traditional Ghanaian shirts. We loaded the tro tro and drove to Akotokyir village to get ready for Prof’s installation as Nana (chief) of Education Development for Tuwohofo-Holly International School.

As Prof was getting dressed (wrapped) in his traditional, handmade Ghanaian cloth (two 6-yard pieces of fabric sown together to form a long wide strip), the rest of us took time to visit and play with the children for what we knew would be the last time we got to interact with them. With kids crowding around every single one of us, we tried to soak up every last second with these beautiful faces, taking pictures every chance we could so that we will always have a memory of them.

As the time came for everyone to walk down the road to begin the ceremonial parade, hands had to be pried away from almost every one of our fingers so the children could get to where they were supposed to be. The celebration parade had the school children lined up by class first, then a group of students who were costumed and painted as ceremonial dancers, followed by us, and then Nana. Prof was dressed in his installation "cloth" and wearing his special chief sandals. There was an umbrella bearer holding a giant umbrella over his head and village women with small cloths walked alongside fanning Nana. 

A group of drummers followed Nana playing festive beats and everyone in the parade was dancing to the rhythm of the Ghanaian drums. The approximately 1/3 mile walk took about 45 minutes to complete. When it started there were maybe three women fanning Nana; but by the end of our walk there were about 20 women fanning Nana and his children (us), and laying their cloths on the ground for us to walk on as a sign of respect. All the women shouted and danced the entire time we marched to the school, and people from all over the village lined the dirt streets to watch.

As we looked toward the people lining the streets, we spotted our Fair Hill hosts, Ann and Ricki Hooper, and our hotel concierge Emmanuel. It was like spotting your parents in the crowd at a game or on graduation day. To all of us, they represented our family in Ghana.

We entered the area where the ceremony was to be held and were led to our designated seats in the front row under one of the canopies surrounding the open parade ground in front of the "platform" (the concrete patio of the village Catholic church. As soon as we sat down, each of us had one, two, and sometimes three children coming to up to us to either sit on our laps or just stand beside us and hold our hands.

The ceremony began with drumming by the Asafo men's organization, dancing by some of the school children, and a traditional Ghanaian flag-waving performance. From this point on, the twenty-two item Program Prof had received from Mr. Ato Baidoo and which he had typed out and printed 60 copies of last night somehow did not hold to form. Oh, well. this is Ghana.

There was a heart-felt introduction of Prof by Mr. Baidoo, a speech by the chief of Abura Village (an old classmate of Mr. Baidoo's and good friend of the school), and the traditional pouring of libation by one of the village elders as a sign of respect to the ancestors. It was then time for the installation of Prof as Nana. He stood before the elders, holding the ceremonial sword, and repeating the Abura chief's dictation, took his oath of commitment to the village elders in Fante, promising to always be available to the school, night and day, rain or shine. 

More speeches were given, more dances were performed, and even Ato's elder brother, Thomas Baidoo, got up and danced; and this beloved elder statesman showed us all some fancy steps. Near the end of the ceremony we were all called up to the front to be recognized by the school. We were presented with handmade bead bracelets as a token of thanks. Some of us were also presented with special gifts from individual students and their families.

We returned to our seats, and were immediately surrounded by our children. As the ceremony came to a close, some of the students became restless while others fell asleep in our arms. The ceremony ended with a song and prayer by our friend Pastor Koomson.

Dominic drove the Abura chief, the Akotokyir Village elders and a few other esteemed guests back to Fair Hill, which gave the rest of us some final moments to spend with the children. We treasured those moments like none before, not knowing when, if ever, we would see these kids again. Dominic returned and we knew our time with the children was over. Goodbyes were not said; but rather, "See you later." We only hope and pray that sooner rather than later we can return to our home in Ghana. With tears rolling down our faces, we again pried hands off of our fingers and climbed aboard the tro tro to take our final drive away from our beloved school.

We arrived back at Fair Hill just in time to join the chiefs, elders and other guests for a big luncheon. With forty-five honored guests on the Fair Hill patio, we enjoyed a delicious buffet-style meal consisting of several Ghanaian favorites. The guests ate and departed and we went back to our rooms to unwind from the morning’s festivities. 

Some of us used the free afternoon to take naps, but four of us bravely ventured out on our first Ghanaian taxi ride into town. Phoebe, Caroline B., Marlee and Courtney patiently waited for Prof’s private taxi driver, Kofi, who was coming all the way from Elmina. As we rode to town, we noticed that Cape Coast looked somewhat different from inside a taxi rather than from a huge tro tro. We drove through the city until we made it to our favorite supermarket, Melcom. We loaded our baskets with our favorite Ghanaian cookies and other treats and then Kofi took us back home to the Fair Hill and we made it just in time to eat our purchased ice cream before it melted.

For dinner, we enjoyed everyone’s favorite Ghanaian dish, Red-Red; and, as the beautiful full moon floats in the Ghanaian sky, we are all coming to the sad realization that we only have a few days left in this now beloved country.

Da N'ase: July 21. 2013

Ben & Phoebe

This morning, a beautiful clear day gave us the opportunity to enjoy a nice breakfast on the patio of the Fair Hill. We all dressed in our newly acquired Ghanaian shirts, dresses, and skirts and climbed into the tro tro along with Dominic and Samuel to go to their church, Calvary Assemblies of God, in the nearby village of Kakumdo, where we attended church on our first Sunday in Cape Coast.

This morning’s service was a little different than the one we participated in two weeks ago. We were much more involved this morning. After about an hour of singing and prayer, Pastor Komsoon called us up to the front to sing a song, in Fante, that he had only taught us yesterday when we stopped to visit the church's Kindergarten. 

Thank your God

Thank your God

Because He is Good

And His love endures forever more

Thank your God

Da n’ase

Da n’ase

Da wo Nyame ase

Efir se

Oye

N’ado ye so

Do so o o

Da n’ase

Da n’ase

Da wo Nyame ase

The congregation seemed to enjoy our singing. So, we assume our pronunciations were at least good enough for them to understand what we were saying.

As we mentioned in yesterday's blog, Pastor Komsoon had asked two of us and Prof to speak "a word" to the congregation. Chastity shared first. She read Luke 12:48 and stressed three points to the congregation: 1) we are not guaranteed tomorrow, 2) God has given each of us special talents and gifts with which we can honor him, and 3) God has also given us treasures. She summed her points up with a phrase from her pastor at home, “We are managers of everything God has given us. It doesn't belong to us but to Him.” She closed by reading Psalm 144:3-4.

Next, Ben stepped up to the pulpit to address the church. Ben’s message built off the topic Pastor Komsoon has been addressing in his radio broadcast--living in a time of uncertainties. He shared that many of us have come to Ghana for the first time, and when we came were uncertain of many things such as what exactly to expect over here and how it would be living in a foreign land for almost a month. He then explained to the church how with all these uncertainties, we have peace knowing that the Lord is our protector. He read Joshua 1:9 and summed everything up by explaining how God is with us when we are in America as well as when we are in Ghana. As followers of Christ, we all have peace knowing that God will protect us with every step we take. He concluded his message by reading Psalm 121.

Prof closed our portion of the service by reading from Psalm 27, David's song of confidence in the Lord despite the uncertainties surrounding him as he hid from his son Absalom. Prof finished his comments with an exceptional reading of the final verse of Psalm 27, reading it in Fante from a Fante Bible. 

Pastor Komsoon then shared a brief message of his own and then, not surprisingly, called us up to the front of the church again. We all lined up in front of the pulpit as Pastor Komsoon went down the line of us, anointing us with oil and praying over each of us individually. He thanked God for calling us to come and serve in his country and prayed that God would bless us in everything we do in the future. The congregation prayed over us as well. Then, as we were wiping tears (and oil) from our faces, we were presented with gifts from the church. They gave each of us a church sticker, gave the girls a matching bracelet, necklace, and earrings set, and gave Ben, Robert, and Prof a custom made Ghanaian shirt.

After church, we returned to Fair Hill for lunch. We then loaded the tro tro with the remaining bins of books, laptops, and boxes of school supplies and took them to Mr. Baidoo at Tuwohofo-Holly. Some of us spent time in Akotokyir village playing with the village children, while others went with Dominic and Samuel to a local professional soccer match featuring the Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs (Yes, that's the name of the team and it was explained to us that playing against dwarfs is difficult because they are so small and so fast.) The Dwarfs played a team from Accra. At the game we drew the attention of a group of young kids. We tried to talk to them but the language barrier was too great. They were fascinated by some of our facial features, especially Ben’s red beard. 

We left the game with the hometown team winning 4-1 and Dominic dropped us off at the Cape Coast Castle to do a little shopping while he went back to Akotokyir Village to pick up the rest of the team. Surprise, surprise, a few more purchases were made.

We returned to Fair Hill just in time for dinner. We sadly said our final goodbyes to Samuel since we will more than likely not see him again before we leave Cape Coast on Tuesday. Tonight Prof’s Ghanaian sister, Agatha, graced us with her presence for dinner. She is the head of Junior Staff at the University of Cape Coast, and oversees about 4000 employees. She shared with us how the role of Ghanaian women is gradually improving and that there are now several women in important government positions.

We spent the rest of the evening beginning to pack our suitcases to make sure all of our Ghanaian treasures will fit. We are also preparing ourselves for the big Durbar tomorrow where Prof will be installed as Nana, or Chief, of Education Development for Tuwohofo-Holly school. It will be a very bitter sweet day for us filled with lots of emotions since it will be the last day we  see the beautiful faces of the children we have taught and played with at Tuwohofo-Holly International School.

Breakfast on the Fair Hill Patio: July 21, 2013

Prof

The waking birds and cooing doves

Begin their songs before the morning sun

Has begun its rise over the sleeping village.

Their songs are quiet but constant

Insisting that life is starting up once again.

As the sky lightens

The sweeping begins,

Three double-bent backs moving slowly across the stones

Gathering the night’s deposits of leaves from the over-hanging trees

Quiet voices

Soft sounds

Slow, steady movement

The palm-straw brooms swish and whisper,

Swish and whisper

Virtual extensions of the sweepers’ arms

Efficient

Effective

And as Ghanaian as Akwaaba - “Welcome”

From the kitchen house come the sounds

Of quiet voices, dishes being collected

And breakfast being prepared.

Soon the oats, eggs, juice, rolls and fruit

Will appear on the serving table

Quietly demanding, “Come. The food is ready.”

On the hilltop birds pause on telephone wires,

Black against the early morning haze,

Living notes on a Fante music staff,

In an instant the music vanishes,

But the song continues.