Xmas in Ghana

My best African Christmas yet!!

Very little was different from any other day in Ghana. I woke up, ate breakfast, drank tea, checked my Moringa, collected eggs. At around 8am I joined the family for church. I was expecting a large crowd but when I showed up with Dorothy and Raphael, we doubled the size of the crowd. More people trickled in as the mass continued. There were roughly 25 by the end of the 2 hour (90% Dangme) mass.

I was officially introduced to the Catholic community at the end of mass. My supervisor (Emmanuel) explained that I will be planting Moringa and helping to teach local mothers about ways to fight malnutrition. At the end of the introduction, Emmanuel brought out a bottle of wine for the group to share. Since most alcohol in Ghana is served in small 1 ounce plastic bags, nobody had a bottle opener. Since I'm the American with the gadgets and tools (VERY handy Leatherman), I was expected to save the day. I managed to open a bottle of wine on Thanksgiving by using a broken cork screw, pliers and a butter knife. For Christmas, I used two nails to push the cork into the bottle. This would be very taboo if I were in America but alas, I'm in Ghana and saved the day. You can call me African holiday MacGyver!!

From church, we returned to the house and sat around while food was prepared. I helped a bit in the preparation of Christmas dinner. I placed the freshly plucked chicken atop the open flame. Did you know that you peel skin off the beak and feet before cooking? You probably didn't know that since most people in American don't include the feet or the head of the chicken in the meal. Now you know. I let the chicken sit on the flame until any remaining pin feathers could be removed. I also peeled the skin from the beak and feet (Kua enjoyed her Christmas gift). The skin looks like fresh snake skin. During the preparation, the cooking crew took a few breaks to chase chickens around the bush. A few neighbors dropped by with the hope of buying 3 fowls for their Christmas dinner. The first fowl was caught with relative ease but the second led at least 10 grown adults sprinting and diving around the bush. This was a refreshingly ridiculous feeling and my mere involvement earned me points with the other hunters.

For Christmas dinner, we enjoyed Fufu with garlic and soy bean soup. We usually have a soup that includes dried fish, pepper, onion and tomatoes. I like the other soups but this was a special treat. I ate at 3:30pm with Emmanuel (he was too tired to wait) and again at 5:30pm with the rest of the family. I was inducted into the ranks of proper Ghanaians by eating all of the bones that I found in my chicken pieces. For those of you who don't know of my finicky diet as a child, eating a jam other than Raspberry would have been too adventurous two decades ago. I'm getting better!!

All around, it didn't feel too much like Christmas but it was a nice day all around.

As far as work in Ghana goes:

I gave Ransord his first assignment. He is to write a 450 word essay about why Moringa is a useful crop. A 450 word essay is part of his October exam so I hope to correct a mock essay each week to help him practice his composition skills and rid himself of any basic mistakes that can be easily avoided.

Emmanuels cousin recently bought a computer from a local internet cafe. He has NEVER used a computer. He initially bought an insufficient number of pieces for the machine but we've since gotten the computer to work and I'll give him typing lessons each Wednesday. He (Daniel) is in his mid-forties and lives close to the Sekesua market so each week I'll kill two birds with one stone by helping Dorothy at her shop and helping Daniel learn to type. We use Mavis Beacon and one game involves the conveyor belt of a grocery store. In order to place each item into your shopping bag, you must type the appropriate price as it's listed on the screen. Seeing Pizza, Ice Cream, French Bread and frozen vegetables move across the screen may seem normal to most Mavis Beacon users but I don't think that Daniel has ever seen any of these items. In fact, I don't think he's ever set foot inside a grocery store.

My first 100 Moringa seeds only produced 18 sprouts. I was overzealous and overwatered. I replaced the remaining 82 seeds so I can get additional results/plants before my next data collecting session starts at the beginning of the New Year!!

I have scheduled meetings at 3 local schools on January 13th and 14th so new projects will start around then.

It is now officially the dry season. To prepare for any borehole breakages, we in the Nartey household have been making many trips to the borehole in order to fill a large cement water basin at the house. When I first arrived, I would carry a bucket (maybe 3 gallons) in each hand. I kept a good balance and didn't drench myself. I've since upgraded to big yellow plastic fuel containers (maybe 6 gallons). For two days I would carry one in each hand for 3 or 4 trips. This has been great exercise but by the end of the last trip, I had to stop and rest. The walk is long enough for it to be difficult and I'm totally spent by the end of each trip. I've since made a few trips with one of these cas containers on my head. The weight is easier to handle but I have to make twice as many trips and have a very hard time ducking the clothesline when the top of the barrel is near 9 feet off the ground and the clothesline is less than 7. I'm not sure which approach I prefer. Either way, the borehole is the place to be at around 4pm. It's been a great place to kick a ball around and joke with/get laughed at by my neighbors.

Love to all. I hope this entry makes sense.