A Slice of Africa

Here is a slice of Africa you'll find interesting, written by our mission physician, Dr. Stubbs...

Greetings from the warm sunny beaches of Ghana. Actually the beaches are warm, sunny and sandy. If you could just ignore the washed up garbage, clean the sewage from the water, and get the cattle and goats from running up and down them, it would be very beautiful.







You are not as likely to get a sunburn at the beach here as you would get hepatitis, cholera and a host of other nasty bugs. Africa hasn't much learned how to deal with human waste as is often the case in a third world countries. Accra is a city of 3-4 million people, all using the ocean as one big toilet bowl, which means that there is going to be an increased use for funeral coffins.

Their coffins continue to amaze us. Of course we have never been to a funeral and seen anyone in them but they are used as there are several small shops here in Accra that stay in business producing and selling them. There are also some on display in the art museum here. They all seem short so I am not sure how they get the body in them but that isn't my worry! I also don't know how you dig a hole deep enough to bury a rooster coffin. Please note they do have "regular" coffins as well...the kind we are used to.

You can't believe the variety and ingenuity of the coffins that you can get. Lions are great sellers even though no one in Ghana has seen a lion for several centuries. I guess it is all symbolic. I have no idea what the big yellow thing is but it is sure prettier than the coffins we use.

The little coffins are for babies which unfortunately is quite a common need here. Ruben on our floor lost his first child a few months ago after his wife had a hard labour. The baby lived for two days and when he went back the third day they told him "Your baby is dead". No explanation, no diagnosis, no warning.

It is quite common for the Africans to believe that they died from going to the hospital. How is that you ask? A man who had been married 37 years explained to me that his wife was feeling ill and couldn't walk. He hailed a cab and she was taken to the hospital where she died. So she died from going to the hospital. He doesn't understand that she died from the stroke and that going to the hospital was where she died not the reason they died.

This is so common as to be the norm. Most Africans will not expect a normal lifespan. Few have access to health care. The physical system was built by the British over 60 years ago and hasn't had even a new coat of paint since. The doctors and nurses are reasonably well trained, but I am surprised by the ideas they have that are so basically wrong.



The coffin salesman was so proud of the sports car convertible model. Don't you love the polka dots on the seats? However, the best feature was when he opened up the "hood" to show me the inside. He reached down around the back and flipped a switch. The back taillights started blinking. You could be buried with brake lights blinking forever into the future.

I told him that this was no good in Africa. He seemed puzzled and then a little put out. Well, I explained, "No vehicle in Africa has working brake lights so no one would understand what this means when you turn them on. What you really need is a horn that will beep until he has been dead and buried for 6 months because that is the only working and maintained part of African vehicles."

Which brings us to the topic for today: BPL

You might be aware that most African countries are based on ancient tribes the same way we base our society in North America. They have the Ashanti tribe, Fante, Ewe, Masaai, and Zulu. In North America we have the Toronto tribe, the New York tribe, the Boston tribe, and the Alabama tribes. Each speaks their own language and dialect. Usually one tribe cannot understand another so by default, they hate each other and make war as a form or social interaction.

Ghana alone has over 79 languages spoken. We can be in church and the lesson (supposedly in English) is being taught in Twi, Fante with a few Ewe visitors thrown in. Sometimes we just sit and stare at the floor because we have no idea what is being said. The Church puts on English as a second language classes (ESL) for members but even though it is an inspired program, they have missed the mark because there is already a common language that is understood in all of Africa. This language is Beeping as a Second language (BSL). Beeping as in car horn beeping. Horn blowing is not only a way of life in Africa, it is a sport, communication, a skill, and a product of advanced societal learning.

Beeping is understood by all levels of African society from the uneducated farmer to the university professor. Babies know how to speak beep. The guy on the right doesn't have a horn even though he is pulling a "man truck." He is a beepee, meaning he receives the beeps rather than gives the beep. All white people are beepees, because we really don't know how to speak African Beep.



Basic beeping can be used to let someone know that you are coming close. Motorcycles have a very wimpy tinny horn that they blow all the time when they cut down the middle between lanes of traffic.



The guy selling the cloth is usually warned by the motorcycle with a beep just before he hits him and he dives in-between the moving cars where it is really safe!



He guy in the red van is beeping to the passengers on the roadside that he can take "just one more" passenger.



The taxi driver just beeps because he wants all the world to love him.



This guy in the red van beeped as he pushed into my lane. He actually was pushing me away with his bumper. Do you think this is acceptable at home? Here yes. His beep was not to be rude but just to introduce his bumper to my bumper.



These bicycles have an irritating honkey squeak horn that cannot be ignored. They peddle by all day and night, beeping their little horns. I must assume that most Africans don't watch the Shopping Channel at night, they just wait for the beep guy to come around for entertainment.

Beeping might mean I coming where you are, get out of my way, you're too slow, the light has changed, the light will change or there is no light. It can mean good day mate, nice car, you may turn, you may not turn, or I am really bored. Remember I am only a novice at learning beeping so my interpretations are usually off.

One of the senior couples in Nigeria got pulled over for "reckless driving" in Nigeria. The policeman asked him if he learned to drive like that in his own country. The missionary responded by saying, "No officer, it took me six months of hard learning in Nigeria to learn how to drive this bad." He didn't get a ticket by the way.

I have taken my first beeping baby steps. I now feel qualified to beep when I know the light will turn green within the next five minutes, and when my bumper actually touches a tro-tro. Other than that, I know my skills are limited and poorly understood. I don't yet know, "I'm cutting you off without your permission," or the ubiquitous "why are you only going 40 kms an hour over the speed limit?" I know that with time, patience, practice and a certain amount of lack of concern about the visual appearance of my vehicle, I will be able to learn basic beeping.

Perhaps this photo of a very cute little girl will compensate for the lack of anything spiritual in this communique.

Baking Tricks and Tricky Produce Boys

With the last bunch of bananas being so ripe, I had to make banana bread. However, there was too much batter for my two bread pans. Because the oven doesn't work that well, I knew that it would take forever for them to bake. I decided instead to put the batter in an oblong glass cake pan. At that, it still took almost two hours for the knife to come out clean. But it made a nice and really good cake. I had purchased a package of cream cheese that was reduced to $6.00 (!!) and with it and some powdered sugar, I made the best frosting! I think I gained a pound last week! We shared it with the sisters twice and served it for dinner with the President and his wife for family home evening as well as eating it ourselves.

Today I think I will make chocolate chip cookies. We are going with the Sabeys tomorrow on an hour and a half drive to set apart a new missionary. Then we'll go in almost the same direction but up the coast to a meeting in the afternoon with the branch leaders and a man from Accra for some training. I suggested that maybe we could have lunch at our house inbetween the meetings, since our house is central to both places. Last night Sister Sabey went to dinner with us since President was out of town for the night. We had a good meal at a resturant overlooking the ocean. It was cool but humid and she seemed to be glad to go with us and not be alone in her big home. She says she feels safe because of the all night guards at the gate but there are still noses, etc.

I am waiting for the tomato boy to come this morning. He came in the evening earlier in the week wanting money for something he needed in school. Last week it was the onion boy! Word gets around. I didn't just give him money free. I told him that on Saturday he would bring me onions for the money that I had given him. So last Saturday, he gave me the four onions that we agreed on plus another small package. I asked Kennedy, the tomato boy, if I gave him $3 (that was my limit--he asked for $10) what would he give me in return. He agreed to ten tomatoes--large and good ones. So I said o.k. I usually have to pay him fifty pesuas ($0.50) a tomato so it isn't a bargain for me. But, I am curious to see what he brings me, if he brings me any at all.

Kennedy has asked us before to pay for his schooling but we refused. We were told not to do things like that. He like to bring up to that another couple has been paying for his schooling and implies that we should keep up with them in the giving department. We just tell him we can't do that. These kids know how to work you and try to play on your sympathy. They aren't always honest but it is hard to call them on it. I just want to be their friend and set a good example by being friendly.

-Sister Turner

Bananas Bananas Bananas

I want to tell you how bananas grow. The purple bloom hanging down is the flower that starts the stalk that the banana grows on. That bulb continues to sluff off petals until it is cut down. The bloom is connected to a long stem and it seems to grow longer each day. The banana bunches are connected to the top of the stem. The bananas here will be ready to be cut down before too long. When they start to turn yellow, you know it is time to cut them. To ripen them, I just keep them in a dark place and try to protect them from the heat. I found it interesting that the more ripe these bananas get, the thinner their skins become. A man named Daniel cuts the bananas down from the tree and then separates them into bunches like you would buy in the store. As soon as they are cut, liquid runs out freely from the cuts so we left the bananas on the walk to drain. The liquid is a little sticky so we make sure that they are through draining before we take them indoors.

Last Sunday, Daniel was called to be the bishop of the Cape Coast ward.

--Sister Turner

Branch Missionary Couples

These pictures are of three of the missionary couples that have just recently been called to serve in the branches.


The first couple is Elder and Sister Myers and they serve at the Kissi Branch. They have two returned missionary sons (unmarried), a daughter that is just finishing her last year of high school, and an adopted little girl. Sister Myers has her own business located right on the beach near us. She dyes fabric and paints designs on it. She sells the fabric in a little shop that she has at the Castle which is near her workshop. She also has a seamstress that sews for her and they put their things in a little consignment shop called Global Mamas. There are other artists that have their work there for sale but they all women. Elder Myers is retired.


The second couple is Elder and Sister Ingrah. They serve at the Mankessim Branch. They have a water supply business called Liahona Water. Here water is sealed in six inch square bags, frozen and either sold on the street or sold to larger distributors. But each bag has Liahona printed on it. It is great when the bags are cold or frozen. You just chew (that is the bad part) off a corner and suck out the water. You do have to set it down carefully or the water runs out!!!! I have even had them in eating places instead of bottled water. Elder Ingrah goes to the temple every Wednesday in Accra and does missionary work every Thursday in Mankessim.


The third couple is Elder and Sister Yemoah who serve in the Abakrampa Branch. Sadly, I haven't had much of a chance to get to know them yet. But I am sure I will as time passes on and we have more meetings with them.

There are seven more couples to report later on.

--Sister Turner

Sending Care Packages

Kim and Charla have had great success in getting packages to Elder and Sister Turner. In the past, packages have taken anywhere from two weeks to one month to arrive. However, recent packages have made their way to our favorite missionary couple in as little as eight days.

From Kim: The best method is to get the priority envelopes from the post office (don't get the boxes as they will be opened by customs). There is a flat rate of $11.95 to send the envelope to Ghana and you can send as much as you can possibly fit into the envelope (up to 4 lbs). Make sure you cover the entire envelope in clear packing tape. I've been writing "church missionary supplies" on the bottom of the envelope. If you send chocolate make sure you wrap it in a plastic bag as it will melt. (Nothing a little time in the freezer can't cure!)

Here is the address:

Elder Frank Turner
Cape Coast Mission
79 Nkanfoa Rd Third Ridge
Cape Coast, Ghana

If you'd like to send letters without all the restrictions of pouch mail, you can send them to this address for about $1.00 in postage.

--Kara

Music in the Making

Yesterday ten keyboards came so now there is something new for us to figure out how and where and when we are going to teach people to play. Along with the boards, came ten sets of conducting lessons--a dvd and a book. I haven't looked at that yet but the people can sure use it. They really need music other than rote singing in the branches. Now we just have to find someone that has an apptitude for music that wants to learn to play. This course will teach them rather quickly to play the simplified hymns. They learn the hymns to begin with in the simplified version.

Sister Turner

PS from Kara- Elder & Sister Turner's computer is currently undergoing repairs. They are able to briefly check emails during stops at the mission home so keep writing. They especially want pictures of their grandkids! They are doing well and hope to have their computer and be back in touch with you all after next week.