Coincidence? You Be the Judge...
Alberta Aisne, elegantly dressed this Sabbath day, arrived in church a few minutes late but walked confidently into the chapel and sat down next to Sister Turner and I. We were delighted and relieved to see her, hoping that she would come but not really certain that she would. We had dropped by to see her in her little pharmacy shop in the village of Mankessim three times, and while our visits were cordial, getting her to commit to attending our church had been an iffy proposition.
Alberta came to us by way of referral from Elder and Sister Miles, the office couple in our mission. While in the post office picking up mail for the mission one day and waiting for the postmaster to complete his calculations of duty owed, Sister Miles apologized for the delay to a woman who was waiting her turn at the window. The woman was Alberta. The postmaster introduced the Miles to her as being missionaries for the LDS Church and then to their astonishment, told Alberta that she should listen to them, that he had been reading the Book of Mormon online and believed it to be true. Alberta gave her name and telephone number to the Miles who in turn gave it to Sister Turner.
The Relief Society sisters gave the talks at Sacrament meeting and did a good job. To the dismay of Sister Turner, however, Relief Society meeting turned into a loud argument between the sisters as to what should be done and discussed during visiting teaching. Alberta suddenly stood up and with a commanding presence announced: "Well, whatever you do, don't gossip. Just ask the sisters what their needs are." Everyone was taken back a bit and the remainder of the meeting was calmer.
As we were walking to the car afterwards, a man came up to Alberta and said hello. She introduced him as her "father" which in this case meant that he was a good friend. Sister Turner said to this man: "If you are her father you will see to it that she goes to Church next Sunday." He said that he would if it was ok with her. She smiled and nodded her head yes.
Missionaries Learn to Expect the Unexpected...
After taking Alberta home, we picked up the District Leaders in Cape Coast and drove an hour and a half to the village of Kissi to conduct a baptismal interview with Brother Dadzie, a sixty year old man who had missed only one Sacrament meeting in two years and who had requested baptism. Sister Turner and I had taught him a week earlier and learned quickly that he was truly golden and ready to be baptized.
While one of the district leaders conducted the baptismal interview, I asked the branch clerk if there were any inactive members nearby whom we might talk to. He said that indeed there was, that in fact, one was right across the street standing in front of his house. The man was polite but obviously not comfortable with our being there. We soon learned why. He and his wife had stopped going to church because of bad feelings with the branch president, and his kids were attending a pentecostal church down the street.
We asked him if he was still praying. "Sometimes," he answered, his shoulders slumped, his eyes cast downward. He looked defeated. We asked if he would be willing to offer a prayer for us at that moment. His words were nearly inaudible and in a stumbling voice he started, then quit, and asked the elder who was with us to finish the prayer for him. The elder then gently segued into a mini lesson on the plan of happiness. What happened next was delicious to behold. His posture straightened, his head held higher. Light came into his eyes and his countenance began to glow.
We invited him to return to church next Sunday. He said he would. I felt inspired to advise him not to try to force his children to come back right away, but rather to let them see him and his wife return first and to hold regular family home evenings with them, and then they would want to go, too. We invited him to say a closing prayer, which he did confidently and with the Spirit obviously in attendance. It was beautiful.
You Just Never Know...
We took the district leaders with us back to Cape Coast where one of them gave the discussion on the Restoration to Agnes (whose last name I cannot remember). Sister Turner and I first came into contact with Agnes in her shop when purchasing some artificial flowers to give a little life to our living room. She was friendly and spoke English well. We stopped by and said hello a number of times in the next two months, and then one day Sister Turner asked if she would allow us to teach her about the gospel. She said we could and I almost said: "You would, really?" It seemed too easy. I wondered to myself why, if it was truly this easy, had we not asked the question sooner.
The lesson went well and Agnes agreed to go to church next Sunday and to have a second discussion thereafter. She was relaxed, warm and receptive from the moment we arrived and asked thoughtful questions while we were there. The Spirit was strong and I felt that Agnes was feeling it, too. While we were there a man walked in on us and sat down to listen to the lesson. It turned out that he was Agnes' father and a member of the church. Catholic artifacts adorned the walls. Her mother, whom we met afterwards, is a practicing Catholic. I told the mother she should join our church so that she and her husband could be together. She said she would rather that he join her church. We shall see. I'm going to ask her next week if she would like to know a little about the church to which her husband belongs and which her daughter is investigating.
As we were leaving, the father thanked me for being there and asked if I would visit his friend one block away. He said he had been talking religion to this man and that he was interested in knowing more about our church. In a future article I will tell about meeting this other man, who in turn invited still another man from across the street to join us in a first discussion.
As James Ewudzie, first counselor to President Billy Johnson in the early days of the church here in Ghana ("Billy's right hand man, second in command," he likes to say) and the fourth person to be baptized in Cape Coast, said to me at least a dozen times recently:
The Church is true!
-Elder Turner
Friday, March 27, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Trucks and Trotros
In our travels, we see some of the most interesting things on the road that you would not see in the United States. If you did, you would see these people stopped at the side of the road by the police. Here is a trotro carrying people plus goods on top. We were talking at dinner with the other senior couples about items that have been seen on top of a trotro: a goat tied to the railing, three cows tied up and stretched across the top, mattresses piled high, gallon jug containers tied together at the handles and under a net, furniture, and the whole inside of one trotro was full of oranges!
This is an overloaded truck. It is not unusual to see one of the back tires flat. They really block traffic especially when there are two in a row. Sometimes it is hard to get around them. We traveled behind a similar truck and it drove right down the middle of the road straddling the white line. I think it was so loaded down that it didn't dare get to the edge of the road and chance that the wheels might slip off into the dirt. We have seen overloaded trucks on their sides when they get into the dirt or a small drop off the pavement.
This is another trotro trying to get a chair secured on the top. It is common to see a chair tied onto the back door.
-Sister Turner
This is an overloaded truck. It is not unusual to see one of the back tires flat. They really block traffic especially when there are two in a row. Sometimes it is hard to get around them. We traveled behind a similar truck and it drove right down the middle of the road straddling the white line. I think it was so loaded down that it didn't dare get to the edge of the road and chance that the wheels might slip off into the dirt. We have seen overloaded trucks on their sides when they get into the dirt or a small drop off the pavement.
This is another trotro trying to get a chair secured on the top. It is common to see a chair tied onto the back door.
-Sister Turner
The Road to Takaradi
When we travel to and from Takaradi, we have to stop here and pay a toll - 8 pesua (like 8 cents). They give you a little ticket and take your money. The ticket is probably to keep the person in the toll booth honest and accountable because we never have to show this ticket anywhere. There are always people there trying to get you to buy what they are selling. We try not to look at them because if you make eye contact, it signals to them that maybe you are interested in buying and then they will come and knock on the window trying to get your attention. They sell everything from breakfast in a bag (a cooked cereal tied up in a plastic baggie that you chew the corner off and suck the cereal out) to newspapers, oranges, cookies, you name it.....even cold water in a plastic bag.
This tree in the background we call a Fan Tree. I hope you can see how each leaf grows to make the branches look like a fan. Dad spied this tree and I took the picture. We go past this tree when we drive up to a dumping ground for our garbage. The temple grounds in Accra are full of these beautiful fan trees.
These next two pictures are of a church being built that we pass by on the way to the mission home. I am taking pictures so I can show you how it is coming along during our stay in Cape Coast. Notice how they use the bamboo sticks to help hold up the second layer before they get the cement bricks for the walls laid.
The pieces of pipe are welded together to make the supports for the roof which will probably be tin.
This is the Takaradi stake center. It is always open and it becomes our rest stop when we travel north of this city. It is open all the time because of an agreement made with the city when the church bought the land. The city wanted people to have access to the church so there is usually someone always there to explain about the church.
I look forward to this stretch of the road after a long day of teaching keyboard lessons. It is just outside of Takaradi. You can see that the branches reach clear over the road and touch each other. It so beautiful and restful to drive through. It's a short distance but oh so beautiful to the eye and the soul!!
-Sister Turner
This tree in the background we call a Fan Tree. I hope you can see how each leaf grows to make the branches look like a fan. Dad spied this tree and I took the picture. We go past this tree when we drive up to a dumping ground for our garbage. The temple grounds in Accra are full of these beautiful fan trees.
These next two pictures are of a church being built that we pass by on the way to the mission home. I am taking pictures so I can show you how it is coming along during our stay in Cape Coast. Notice how they use the bamboo sticks to help hold up the second layer before they get the cement bricks for the walls laid.
The pieces of pipe are welded together to make the supports for the roof which will probably be tin.
This is the Takaradi stake center. It is always open and it becomes our rest stop when we travel north of this city. It is open all the time because of an agreement made with the city when the church bought the land. The city wanted people to have access to the church so there is usually someone always there to explain about the church.
I look forward to this stretch of the road after a long day of teaching keyboard lessons. It is just outside of Takaradi. You can see that the branches reach clear over the road and touch each other. It so beautiful and restful to drive through. It's a short distance but oh so beautiful to the eye and the soul!!
-Sister Turner
Monday, March 16, 2009
Keyboard Lessons
Saturday the 14th was the second day of our keyboard lessons. We try to leave the house about 6:30am to make it to our first lesson at 10am. Yes it is a long ways away but we travel through a rubber tree plantation and cross two toll bridges to get there and see beautiful sights all along the way. Our first group of lessons is held in a school where the branch meets on Sunday. There was one young man there when we arrived this week. We took advantage of the time and started reviewing with him. Before long, two of his brothers and one sister came (they are children of the Branch President). Then a mother and her son came with their keyboard. The Branch President's family was sharing a keyboard with a young man who had one but spent a lot of time at their house.
Well the first week, they had very little time on the keyboard so we decided to give one to that family so all (mother, two daughters and three sons) could practice without sharing with the other young man. Some of them are quick learners and you can see the excitement in their eyes when they put their hands up to play. Next week we are going a half hour earlier and perhaps divide the group into two--each of us taking a corner and teaching. That way, there will be more one on one time. That was the Nkroful Branch. We also delivered materials to the clerk and he stays and watches the lessons!
Next we had peanut butter sandwiches on the road on our way to the next town of Axim where we were to deliver materials to the clerk. However no one was there because of a funeral so we just took the materials to the missionary couple assigned to that branch. We are setting up lessons there too. However there is a person capable of teaching there so we are working the details out for that branch.
Next stop is at Agona Nkwanta where we meet in another school. We ended up there this time with two brothers, their friend, the Branch President's daughter and son. This time I taught the class mostly myself as Frank was taking a rest! He is so good at teaching but he encourages me to get more involved. He is such a natural at teaching and the kids all love him. He makes them laugh. We have left two keyboards with this group but they really need a third. We will see if they keep coming.
Then we were on to Takoradi to hand out branch information. It didn't take long but is still off the main road. The missionary couple there wants lessons in their branch as well. We have encouraged all of the Branch Presidents to identify one person they think would be willing to learn to play. Only one of the branches has music! The rest all sing a capella with a leader.
Our next lessons were in Daboasi at the Branch President's home. We taught his son, two daughters, a granddaughter, plus three other young men. That totaled five homes and we only had two keyboards! All of them were eager to learn and paid attention. We left one keyboard with the President for his family and granddaughter to use and the other keyboard went to another home which was central to the remaining students. We will see how strong their desire is by how much they practice. When the routine is new everyone is excited. We hope they will continue when they find out how much effort it takes. Then we can get more keyboards.
By this time, it was getting dark and we had two more deliveries to make. We had another peanut butter sandwich on the way home, got gas for tomorrow's trip to Numakrom for Elder Turner's temple prep. class and headed home!
The next day we planned to be on the road by 7am in order to pick up the elders in Praso. But to our surprise, the truck's battery was dead. The assistants came and jump-started the truck. All of the lights, horn, locks, etc. worked--just not the battery. Anyway we got it going and figured all would be well because the battery really wasn't that old. It was the last temple prep class for this group and they would be looking for us. We got off to a late start but we made it in time to teach the class. Just in case we might have trouble starting the truck again, we parked on the dirt road facing home instead of inside the gates at the building. Well it was a good thing we did that because when we went to drive home the battery was dead again! There were four young men that gave us a hefty push to get the truck started and we made it home without any trouble. When we got home, we tried to start it again and it was dead! We were watched over. Tomorrow we will take care of the battery!
We are finding our way around Ghana and enjoy meeting, teaching, and visiting the lovely people that live in this country. Their testimonies are strong and they want the blessings of the temple for their families. It is a joy to see the excitement on their face as they realize their goal is about to be completed. Just another weekend in Ghana.
--Sister Turner
Businesses in Ghana - Part 2
This is an example of just one furniture store. They are all almost every town the road passes through. They are very popular and it is amazing how good their work is. It is all done by hand--no electric saws or sanders. This is overstuffed furniture (I guess that is what it is called) and they build the frame, cut and sew the fabric and put it all together. The sets sit outside until someone buys them. There are places where they make dining room sets and the chairs have padded seats and backs. There are places where they make bed frames with carved headboards--very artistic. Some places make the items in mass and others made make one or two bed frames and set them by the roadside for sale. When we first came here, I wanted some bedside tables so we went shopping with a local lady. She told them what I wanted and then she bargained. She could get a better price than if I was doing it because I am white and they think that we have a money tree. Plus she speaks the language. Anyway we got these two tables with a drawer and a little cupboard beneath with a door that locks for $35 total. They look nice for the type of furniture they are.
I thought this shop was decorated so cute. It caught my eye as we drove by with the colorful fake flowers. We see a lot of flowers like that. They brighten up the plain places and makes you want to smile. One of the first things we bought here was a bunch of bright flowers for our living room. I thought this shop was decorated to make you want to stop and shop! Isn't that success?
There are lots of places--almost in every little village along the road--that make caskets. Some are very fancy with beautifully carved tops and sides sitting behind glass windows. Others are in different shapes--animals, airplanes, cars, etc.--not the usual casket. One day we drove one of the branch missionary couples home. We drove up this steep hill to their village and dropped them off at their humble home. On the way out, I noticed this man's business. He had on overalls, no shirt, and he was working on one casket. He was carving and sanding and watching him were some little children. I could just picture him talking to those children and taking the time to explain what he was doing. He had a kind but tired face. The next time we took the missionaries to their home, I was able to take a picture of the casket as no one was around. Remember, we have to be careful when we take pictures as most people here don't want their own picture taken.
This is a little shop not too far from where we live. Notice the name of the shop: "God's Mercy". It is a bra shop!!
Frank stopped the truck for me so I could get a good picture. As I was taking the picture I heard "Move on, Move on." Inside was the owner and she wasn't happy about me taking her picture. I didn't know she was anywhere around. Almost all of the little shops that have signs refer to something in the Bible.
We were driving home and getting ready to turn off the street to our house, when I saw these two girls walking along. Dad slowed the truck down so I could get a good picture. They were so busy chatting, they didn't even realize we were behind them. How would you like to peddle your wares down the street like this? I have seen women with stacks of pieces of materials on their heads, large bowls or bags of water, flour, fruit, toilet paper, shoes--you name it. If they can carry it on their head, they will sell it! It is not uncommon to see small children carrying water on their heads. One morning we were walking and two little girls were carrying water. The smallest girl had a gallon jug in her hand and a pan of water on her head. The water kept slopping out. It was a little too much for her to carry. So I took the jug from her and held on to one side of the pan on her head and walked with her to where her mother was. She had a business preparing fast food for people on their way to work. These little girls were doing errands for their mother before they went to school. These little places were across from the hospital and near a Montessori school where these children go to school. We walk by and we see children washing up, getting dressed and eating their breakfast and also playing instead of getting ready for school. We hear their mothers encourage them, coax them and scold them! I guess it is the same all over the world!
This is a young man selling belts. I wonder just how many he had--at least so many that we couldn't see his face! I have seen men like this carrying stacks of soft pillows, palm branches, or stacks of greens (small leafy branches that people chop up and eat called "greens". The sisters tell me they are sweet potato leaves???) Anyway it just looks like a person with a head of pillows, etc. No face! Just a head of their wares!
--Sister Turner
Businesses in Ghana
I would like to share with you some of the businesses we see along the road as we travel. The people here in Ghana are hard working people. Sometimes their business isn't exactly what you might think it would look like compared to America. This first picture is of a place where you can buy used freezers, refrigerators and/or ovens. I don't think that they have much overhead!
This business was in Tacaradi but around the corner from where we live, we pass something very similar on our walk in the mornings just out in the front yard of a resident.
The next three pictures are of different types of lumber yards. As you can see from the last picture that this man's business is very organized. Sometimes we see lumber just dumped on the side of the road and men are trying to sort it into piles according to length. We pass a lot of trucks overloaded with huge trees on their way to the mill. Sometimes one of the back duel tires are flat! If the truck brakes down and has to stop, several branches of leaves or piles of leaves are put on the ground as a warning for the approaching traffic.
You can buy rebarb wire here! I know what they use it for in America but I am not sure what it is used for here. Perhaps they put it inside of the cement bricks that they make for the walls of buildings to reinforce them.
This is where the cement blocks are made and sold. (One of many as it is a popular business.) When most structures, like our home, are built, The corners are cement pillars as well as the cross piece. When these pillars are dry, the forms are taken off and supported by bamboo poles. Then the empty space between is filled with these cement blocks. So it takes exact measuring to leave just the right amount of space to put the blocks in. They stack them every other one on each other so they aren't in straight up and down lines.
The next picture is of a more decorative cement block used to enhance the beauty of their buildings or for walkways. Sometimes we will see them in the windows instead of glass. Who needs window glass here...it never gets cold!
More to come...
Sister Turner
This business was in Tacaradi but around the corner from where we live, we pass something very similar on our walk in the mornings just out in the front yard of a resident.
The next three pictures are of different types of lumber yards. As you can see from the last picture that this man's business is very organized. Sometimes we see lumber just dumped on the side of the road and men are trying to sort it into piles according to length. We pass a lot of trucks overloaded with huge trees on their way to the mill. Sometimes one of the back duel tires are flat! If the truck brakes down and has to stop, several branches of leaves or piles of leaves are put on the ground as a warning for the approaching traffic.
You can buy rebarb wire here! I know what they use it for in America but I am not sure what it is used for here. Perhaps they put it inside of the cement bricks that they make for the walls of buildings to reinforce them.
This is where the cement blocks are made and sold. (One of many as it is a popular business.) When most structures, like our home, are built, The corners are cement pillars as well as the cross piece. When these pillars are dry, the forms are taken off and supported by bamboo poles. Then the empty space between is filled with these cement blocks. So it takes exact measuring to leave just the right amount of space to put the blocks in. They stack them every other one on each other so they aren't in straight up and down lines.
The next picture is of a more decorative cement block used to enhance the beauty of their buildings or for walkways. Sometimes we will see them in the windows instead of glass. Who needs window glass here...it never gets cold!
More to come...
Sister Turner
Sunday, February 15, 2009
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.
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.
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