All Hallows Eve

Following another beans and weenie breakfast, we organized ourselves for a day of important meetings and a large ceremony in Kyekyewere in the afternoon.

Our morning meeting was at the palace with Chief Nana and his well respected uncles. One of whom had lived in England for most of his life. During this meeting, we addressed who would be responsible for things being built in a timely fashion while we were in the states. The uncles, on who runs a contracting business, agreed to this role both for ease of communication and for the level of professionalism and trust they provide. Chief Nana seemed satisfied with this plan.

The afternoon ceremony was a village wide affair. The primary reason for the event was to celebrate the completion of two habitat homes built by the Northern Ireland group.

As typical of most outdoor events, there was LOUD music played with way to much treble through an aging set of speakers. When the music died down, several speakers including a district politician spoke through the crackling, feedback prone pa system.





During the ceremony, Mom was presented with a gold, pink and green Kente cloth. She was given an Ashanti name and made an honorary Nana (name for a tribal chief or queen mother).





After, there was more music and dancing led by a group of young women. They engaged the audience including the Chief and the Irish group.

October 30th: The latter half

Lunch, for me, was fried plantains and vegetable fried rice again. The architect introduced to us by Chief Nana met with us to discuss our building plans. We sought to emphasize, with the help of Edward, that we would like a drawing prior to our departure. It was another long meeting, but ultimately a very important one.


picture credit to Chris White

After our late and long lunch, we had some time to rest before heading to dinner at Sister Irene's home. Three nuns lived there and all work in education.

Just proir to leaving for the sisters' home, we had a surprise visit from a mildy juiced Chief Nana and one of his elders. The intent of that visit was to let us know there were "rumors" spreading that we had visited another village cheif to discuss another clinic site. He also wished to ensure our dedication to building a clinic in Kyekyewere prior to introducing us to his trusted family members and to the village in Friday's planned ceremonies.

We arrived early in the evening to a very welcome spread of appetizers and wine. The eldest in the group, was eager to have a beer that evening. I found this especially endearing.

For dinner, we had Jallof rice (beef, veggies in rice) prepared by their house help and lots of good conversation about their exceptionally interesting lives and Ghanaian customs that we found amusing. One of the nuns admitted that her favorite shop sign was for a hair salon called "Curl up and Dye."

I cannot even begin to do justice to describing how fascinating these women were to me. They educate Ghanaians both formally in traditional academic settings and informally by tutoring and hosting a library on their porch for neighbhorhood children to drop by and check out books. Ultimately, it was a fantastic evening and hopefully a home where Mom can stay on future trips.


Picture credit to Chris White