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| Yie, me, Kendra and Yetsa. |
All I can say is that this was by far the highlight of my Ghana experience. We attended 2 more funerals, and witnessed shrine rituals involving animals and sacrifices. I cannot go into detail on these events as anyone who read this would most definitely get a negative idea about what happens at the shrine.
In the village, there were many children all wanting to look at my camera, or for me to buy them candy. Once they discovered I would not buy them candies, they did not ask anymore. Leaving the lodge at anytime of day, I was sure to be able to hold the hand of a child for the distance of wherever I was walking to. It was unbelievable how friendly everyone in the village was!
Feel very welcome in Dagbamete. It's a calmness that is difficult to describe. When Kwasi said if we have any questions or problems and he is not around, to ask anybody else, and truly, everyone was willing to help. Walking through the village was nice a nice change from the busy city of Accra.
After we were led on a tour of the village, we sat with Kwasi and were offered drinks of “Red”. It was pretty awful tasting, but had a strange sense of familiarity at the same time. It burned and kept my insides warm for a while.
Speaking to the children, they all have excellent English and grammar! I have learned to speak in complete, grammatically correct sentences, as it avoids any confusion with the people I talk to, as sometimes they do not understand if I end the sentence with the word ‘it’. I have also tried to cut down on my use of the word “like”, as it is unnecessary and I feel that it confuses everyone I have encountered in the previous weeks.
On July 30, we were told that in the afternoon we would go to community drumming. We finally left (in the late afternoon), after having to hurry and go buy a piece of cloth from Angelina, as we needed a wrap to wear. It turns out that were attending a funeral. What a surprise. We danced and I felt like my aba dza is improving, but I still have a long way to go before people will no longer laugh at me while I do it.
While at the shrine on August 1, while witnessing the rituals, Akpenii’s (a lday that invited me to sit with her) son was crying, and the lady in front of her gave him a swift smack to make him be quiet. It truly does take a village to raise a child. I just thought, in Canada if you laid our hand on someone else’s child, you would be in serious trouble. But here it is common, if your child does wrong, discipline is needed. It makes sense to me!
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| Atsu and his mother |
Godsway took us to meet two-month old twin boys. Twins are very special, in the Ewe culture. After approximately one week, they were given their names (Atsu and Etse). The mother was unaware that she was having twins, as she delivered the first child and "the womb did not come out", and then the second boy arrived, and then the womb came out. We found out that there is no (or very little) medical intervention. The babies were born at the house, and there were no "scans" completed throughout any portion of the pregnancy. As the children get older, and are able to be carried on their mother's back, the mother will have to find a helper as they are not able to carry more than one baby on their back at a time. God's Way asked us which twin we thought was older. I guessed the 'bigger' baby was older, as many people have told us that Kendra looks like the Kakra (in the Twi language) or Yetsa (pronounced Yet-cha in Ewe) because she is a bit bigger. Sure enough, it is true: the 'smaller' baby was the older one. The babies also were not wearing diapers as they had recently been circumcised, which occurs at any time the parents choose it to happen.
On the topic of diapers, Godsway said that children wear diapers until they are approximately one year old, or a little bit older. It made me wonder why 2 and 3 year olds in Canada still need diapers. Looking at the differences between Africa and Canada, if a child needs to use a toilet, it is more acceptable in Africa to go wherever, where in Canada you need to find a toilet to use. Also the amounts of clothing children in Africa wear is much less than what is required in Canada. Many wear shorts and a shirt, or a dress with underwear, whereas in Canada many children wear much thicker and heavier clothes, requiring more dexterity to remove prior to using a toilet.
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| Children carrying the books and slates into the school. |
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| The table of books we donated to the school. |
After our morning drumming and dance lesson on August 4, we presented the books we donated at the school. It feels so good doing that, after hanging out with the kids for the past week, it is good to know that them or their siblings will be able to learn and hopefully achieve a higher education. It’s something I take for granted. It’s amazing how inexpensive the books seem compared to what it would cost in Canada. The managing committee of the school was present as well as the assistant supervisor of what I understood to be the school district. Seeing all the books laid out on the table, and how excited the kids were to carry them into the school made my day! As good as it felt to donate, it feels even better to know that we were able to make a difference in hopefully many children’s futures.