The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Every time we see this, it makes us laugh.  We thought we would spend some time in this blog sharing some of the interesting things (odds and ends)  we have noticed (unlike the travelers above) over the last two months.  No...the lion is not one of them.  However, we have a crouching lion in our wooden manger scene...we will explain why he is there later.

 (This is an enormous billboard at one of the large intersections inviting everyone to this man's funeral)

                                       We have only seen one graveyard in Accra and the surrounding area.  This is a very large one back in the trees and it is not taken care of at all.  We understand that a Ghanaian funeral is quite elaborate. You dress in red, white or black.   The parties are world-renowned for their size and extravagance and often last for days.  They take place often months or years after a death so all relatives have time to travel.   In Ghana, “the most significant cost you’re going to incur in your life is not going to be your wedding — it’s going to be your funeral.” 

All the coffins in Ghana are handmade out of wood and they are beautiful.  Coffins here sometimes resemble Mardi Gras floats; an athlete’s might be shaped like a soccer ball, a fisherman’s, like a canoe.  You can actually commission one made how you want it in any shape or theme...car, fish, plane, etc. for about $500.00.  Found the photo below in a guidebook.

In  the Teshie coffin workshop. Giant colorful pink fish, crabs, cell phones and Bedford Trucks were proudly on display. In the back, a carpenter was busy working on a huge bible coffin.

Ghana is largely a Christian country with a variety of church types, but many have underlying beliefs that come from before the introduction of Christianity. They believe that a person after death goes to the land of the dead, this is in effect another plane or dimension, not the equivalent to heaven or other groups definitions. Although a lot appears to be based on tradition, costumes, what happens, and underlying beliefs, some parts are updating so its a live belief system.

                                                                                                             The hearts below are decorations for a casket.  They use these instead of fresh flowers.

We drove past these several times before we realized what they were.  This man is actually using a hand driven sewing machine on the ground.  He is making car covers.  He has a line of seven or eight hanging up and blowing in the wind.

 There are signs everywhere about keeping Ghana clean.  The general populace hasn't quite got the message yet.  Everything is put in black plastic bags and even water is sold in clear plastic bags.  They are thrown everywhere.  The trash that is picked up is dumped near the river and they burn it.  Every morning we drive past that area (near the ocean) and it is almost totally obscured because of the smoke. It often smells like plastic burning and that can't be good for the air quality!!  We are hoping the rainy season will clear the air somewhat.

President Mahama is proud of his Christian leanings.  This is a huge billboard with his photo on it also.

(Perhaps Luke Skywalker is presiding at this court?)

         









(The Bethany Church Mission International has a familiar looking picture to the LDS)

One of the things that is so different here are the signs.  Often we have to go back and read them several times before we understand them.  Sometimes we never understand them.  See below! ???
Really?  A flying cow??

This sign restricts the use of these type of carts because the street is too narrow for autos and the wagon.  Young men hire out these wagons and spend the day hauling stuff or selling just about anything that they find.

This is a pile of yams on one such wagon.  Neatly stacked and it must weigh an enormous amount.

Even with the huge steps forward that Ghana is making, there are still too many street children.  These young boys wash windscreens (not windshields here) at a red light for whatever pittance they can make during the day.  We always give them a little money and candy.






                                                                          This was one of those skinny cows we mentioned in an earlier blog.  Unbelievable.

These huge tanks are how the people store water. It opens on the top when it rains and otherwise they just fill with a hose if there is one handy.  It saves carrying water a long distance for smaller villages every day.  They fill it on one day and then get to rest for awhile.






This is some graffiti on a wall that we pass.  Apparently it's okay if you just include a Ghanaian flag!

We got stuck in traffic this week on our way home when a car caught on fire just ahead of us.  People ran quickly and put the fire out before the fire engine arrived.  No one was hurt, except the car was totaled!  Emergency vehicles put on their sirens and go through the middle of traffic lanes...Crazy!  Sometimes they are so close I could reach out the window and touch them.

Well,  we have survived another week.  Classes are going well for John, but we are beginning to feel a time crunch.  Our list of things to accomplish seems to be getting longer instead of shorter.  Our Internet is finally up at home, so we hope to be able to work there a little more efficiently.
We have required clinic meetings every Friday for the students, so we have named them "Cookie Fridays".  This week I made my chocolate chip recipe, but since there are no chocolate chips, we used one mm candy in the middle of each cookie.  At $6/bag of mm's, that's all we could afford!  Ahh, Africa!!