Fathaaaaaaaaa.......Michael

Both Michael and I have got used to being called Obroni (white man in Twi) while in Accra and other parts of Ghana and Yevu (white man in Ewe) in the Volta Region. You will remember that Michael had mentioned in one of the previous blogs that even I get called Yevu or Obroni!

Recently, on our trip to Northern Volta Region, on our way from Nkwanta to Dambai, we kept hearing the word Fathaaaa..... called out by young children when we passed villages. It took a while to realise that they were calling Michael Fathaaa... as probably their only exposure to white men were men to do with church.

On these trips there were 7 Ghanaians, Michael and myself in the car. The children would spot Michael, ignore the rest of us and with big smiles call out Fathaaaaa.... Of course Michael made the most of the attention, he would wave at them at every opportunity and bless them. All of us got a lot of enjoyment out of this and would wait for the children in villages to spot him. On one trip we counted the number of times the children had spotted him and shouted after us. In all the villages the way they called out was in the same tune as if they had all been coached by one person. So we would be leaving villages with the ring of Fathaaaa... Michael started thinking of how he could be more entertaining and was thinking of getting a sceptre to wave the next time we go on that road.