Recent Games, Events, and Outings...

As we wrap up our time here with church functions and responsibilities, we have also attended and participated in several community events and outings over the past couple of weeks. The town of Akropong Wins their Soccer Match! Approximately three weeks ago we were invited to attend a football (our version of a soccer game) tournament which Christ Church and other churches helped to sponsor. (Football(i.e. soccer)is very popular here in Ghana. In fact, on our flight here from Germany the Ghana Football Team was sitting next to us and one of their coaches said they had just came in 2nd place in their game in France. The trophy they had with them was at least 3 feet high). Anyway, Papa Nyarko as the District Minister was asked to kick the first ball to start the game. The game itself was very exciting. Since I am staying in Akropong I of course was rooting for them and was very excited when they won their game. But at the same time the soccer game was going on-- behind us was a girls volleyball game, a pick up basketball game with some of the guys, 2 other guys playing table tennis, the drill team practicing their marches up and down the street and hundreds of onlookers and vendors selling food and other items --wherever you turned there was screaming, laughing, children running around and just people having a good time. If you have a hard time concentrating this might not have been a way to spend your Saturday! My head was spinning when we left but it was definitely a very entertaining day. The King participates in Holy Communion! The chief King in Akropong expressed his desire to Papa Nyarko(the pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church and the District Minister for the area) that he would like to partake in a holy communion service. This was a historic occasion because due to the traditions that chiefs have which don't always line up with the Christian faith, the King was unable to participate in Holy Communion until he recanted some of his traditional beliefs. We don't know all the details about what was recanted, however, about 40 church and community members were specially invited to this historic event at the King's palace. A lot of the ceremony was spoken in Twi (the local language) but Papa Nyarko said that he would explain what happened later when we meet for Theological Reflection. Our Trip to the largest man-made lake in the world! Akosombo, Ghana is the location of Lake Volta which supplies Ghana and the Ivory Coast with electricity. Papa Nyarko used his connections to allow us to visit the inside of the Power Plant (which is not normally open to visitors). It was fascinating to actually go inside the plant to see how the water is transported through the pipes and eventually make electricity that residents use everyday. The lake is formed by the Akosombo Dam, which, began in 1961 and was completed in 1965. It is about 250 miles (400 km) long and covers 3,283 square miles (8,502 square km), or 3.6 percent of Ghana’s area. In addition to electricity, the lake provides inland transport, and is a potentially valuable resource for irrigation and fish farming. After touring the plant we parked the van in the nearby park and had a delicious lunch that Gifty and Anoni packed for us of jollof rice, chicken and the popular drink Alvaro-which comes in Pear, Passion Fruit, and Pineapple. While we were eating and talking some young boys around 9-12 years old on a school trip decided to entertain us with their latest dance moves (everything from break dancing to their robotic and snake moves) since they saw I had the camera on them. They were too funny! But it was another enjoyable afternoon on a beautiful sunny day. On the way back, Momma Beatrice and Uncle George wanted to buy some fish so we stopped by a local fishing community near a lake, where adults and children were either selling or cleaning the fish they had just caught. When Uncle George beeped the horn to get the attention of one of the vendors at least 20 people came running to the van seeing who would be first to sell their product. The reality is that only a few of them will sell some of the products that they are carrying around all day in the baskets on their head. It is definitely not an easy business to do day after day but this is one way that vendors in Ghana try to survive-by working hard to sell their products whether it is fish, jewelry, sandals, jeans, mangoes or whatever else they can find to sell. Several arguments did break out between those trying to be the first to get to our van or any other cars where they had potential customers. My prayer is that God supplies all of their needs... A Graduation Like No Other! One of the kindergarten schools we visited invited us to come to their end of year graduation ceremony. It began at 10am and I thought it would just be your typical graduation ceremony- a prayer, a song, a few comments from administrators, a time to give out the certificates and go home. But it was more than I could have imagined and lasted for at least 5 hours. This graduation included a beauty pageant with 13 contestants including 5 boys and 8 girls, with a dance contest, and a question and answer session. There was also a praise dance group, traditional African Dancers, and a choir. The Master of Ceremony was one of the administrators at the school who we had met a few weeks ago. He was the perfect choice to be the MC and did his job with such charisma and energy that you would have thought you were in Hollywood or at the Apollo Theater in NY and these were professional contestants! You would actually have to have been there to see them do their cat walks down the runways with their suits and dresses and earrings and other accessories. Then when he told them to dance for the crowd and show their best moves--you couldn't help but clap for their enthusiasm and unique personalities. The added bonus was some of the questions they had to answer--(remember they are only 5-6 years old)-but they were asked what is your mother's name (one said mommy -which was not the correct answer) and another question was name two animals that you have as pets in your home- one answered ants and frogs --well it depends on whose home it is(smile)! We clapped for all of them but at the end my classmates and I were called out of the audience to come crown the King and Queen and their runner-ups. We had no idea we would be a part of this--we just came to be spectators. But overall we are all glad we came out to be a part of this graduation. We took many pictures and videotapes of these superstars in the making! And yes this was a graduation so many received commendation awards and recognition for behavior, attendance and performance. We left before it was over but we saw many of them in town later with their parents smiling from cheek to cheek. Now they can get ready to enjoy their summer break...until next year when they will begin primary school in first grade.