"Under Arrest"

The other day we were walking into town with our friends Theo and Nelleke. At the T junction where the Accra road meets the main Ho high street – known as “Civic” – a huge, ancient articulated truck had somehow managed to overturn, spilling its load of hardboard and blocking traffic in all directions. Quite a spectacle!

Another lorry had arrived and a gang of young workers, sweating profusely in the midday sun, were transferring the spoilt load to the new vehicle. They were keen to pose and asked me to take photos – showing off and joking. After a few snaps I walked around to the other side of the overturned lorry as the others walked on, needless to say fascinated by the huge lifeless wheels, poking in the air.

I was just focusing when two policemen shouted – stop – come here – are you a journalist – do you have permission to take photographs – you should have asked us – sit down – you are under arrest – we are taking you to the police station. I am bemused, a little overwhelmed by the quick fire orders – all a bit surreal but sit down and keep a smile on my face – plead innocence. I explain that the workers had asked me to take photos – it is not against the law to take photos etc –my inner voice telling me to stay calm, but it cuts no ice.

The smaller of the two coppers, bloodshot eyes, mean looking in camouflage fatigues – really not very pleasant at all – keeps drilling me. He seems determined to take me to the station, muttering that he should confiscate my camera. It is all getting a little weird now and it begins to dawn on me that maybe they are serious and at the very least this is going to involve some cash. By now the others have tweaked what’s going on and Kiran arrives and begins to plead my case. How can you arrest my husband – I will be alone – she begins to build a bridge with the younger, junior officer.

Then Nelleke notices his name badge – he is called Evanz – an unusual name, which he claims to be Dutch. Ah ha, we are Dutch too, handshakes and greetings – a new conversation begins. His first name in Grunski – that really does seem to be beyond the realms of probability – Evanz Grunski. No matter – the ice is broken now. While Alex, the older, mean cop grimaces and makes angry grunt like noises, Grunski loosens up – soon we are all the best of friends – or at least Kiran, Theo and Nelleke are all getting on famously with Grunski.

We have won. Now it is a matter of time – I will go free – no dash. We exchange ewe greetings. I am to be let off this time. I am even invited by Grunski to take pictures – I decline. Finally after more endless handshakes, Grunski tells me about a visit to Scotland. A similar experience – being asked by locals what he is up to. I remind him though that he wears a uniform. We smile – one final handshake and a high five. I escape and catch up with the others, hoping that we do not come across Alex again somewhere down the road and wondering if I am dreaming. Grunski Evanz indeed!

The Start of Project Grace

Michael and I have been going to Adaklu Helekpe for the past 18 months and within a few months of our first visit, we discussed the possibility of building classrooms for children with learning disabilities and a resource centre for adults with learning disabilities. It feels like we have been talking about it for such a long time that nobody believed that we would actually begin the work on the project. Well, it is actually happening now. For more information about Project Grace visit http://www.careducation.org and look in the projects folder and then to Ghana.

Signing of the Memorandum of Understanding:

Last week we went to meet the “Community” and I nearly cancelled the meeting as nobody from Helekpe would confirm it. However, Dr. Amable (Ricky) who is supporting us with the building work said we should go. The reason for no contact from either Vincent or David was that they had no electricity for 4 days and the mobile phones could not be charged! One forgets how much we depend on electricity. Well due to the time of the meeting (3.00 p.m.) only elders of the EP Church ( whose school land we will use for the new buildings) and members of Amenuewe group were present. However, they were the people we needed to be able to sign the MOU so we reconciled ourselves to the fact that we needed to make another trip to meet the “Community”. This project is going to be a community project where the labour is provided by the community. Careducation grant provides all the materials. The subject of “soap money” was raised and Ricky explained it as – when people provide free labour, their clothes get dirty and so they need soap money to enable them to wash their clothes. Michael and I had been discussing whether to pay the artisans or not for some time. A previous project in the same school was a community project as well and the Project Manager, Joe Archana, used to provide bags of corn flour, yams, plantains on a regular basis to the people who provided skilled labour. We had been planning to do the same, however, on discussion with the Careducation team in London concluded that the artisans needed to be paid a little sum of money.

Meeting the Community:

















The time of the meeting was 7.00 a.m. a shock to our system as we would have to make that horrible trip to Helekpe with a 6.00 a.m. start. Horrible, because the state of the road is appalling and our car (Kofi) has no suspension. The reason for the early start is that it is a farming community and this enables the farmers to attend the meeting and then go on to working on their farms.
Our early morning trip was very trying – the new horn - got shaken about so much it would not stop! – and in the end I pulled off the connecting electrical wire. I knew where it was because the previous week both Michael and I had taken turns in sitting with the mechanic to get the electrics sorted and of course they found a huge problem and so we ended up spending the whole day sitting around. The only advantage was that both of us found out where the hooter is located in the car.
Then the police decided to take a keen interest in where we were going and why etc all the time trying to find a fault with which to ask for money or else they would take us to court. Michael managed to sweet talk his way out this time but there were moments of panic as the policeman would not let go of my licence and then my VSO ID card.
We were only 10 minutes late in the end and surprisingly the meeting had also just started as a man was saying prayers as is customary for all meetings. There were more women at the meeting but only men sat at the top table (of course). Michael and I shared the task of informing the community about the project and a few questions were asked. With the success of Project Grace who knows what might follow next. With that we asked for permission to leave as this is the protocol and said our goodbyes with the children loudly shouting out their goodbyes to the two “Yevus”.

The Assembly representatives come to visit us at home:
We were expecting representatives from the Assembly and the Education department to attend the community meeting to show that we were all working in partnership. We did nt see them at the meeting so assumed that maybe they could not make the meeting. Around 11.30 a.m. I got a call from a man saying he was from Kpetoe Assembly and that they had arrived late for the meeting but had met with David. Now they were on their way to Ho and would like to visit us. I agreed they could come home and then waited until 1.30 p.m. before making a call asking where they were. They finally turned up and so we exchanged names and purpose of their visit, which was to inform us that they had wanted to attend the Community meeting but had some mechanical challenges so got there very late. Michael and I thought well at least they are showing they want to work in partnership.

A Moment In Time

So – at last the day has finally come – well almost – eleven hours to go - sitting here thousands of miles away – this election, the whirlwind campaigns, all seem very remote and very much not a ground breaking moment of history judging by the bits and pieces of news that have reached us in sleepy Ho.

The big thing – resisted so long – televised debates, US style – the initial excitement and suddenly it is a three horse race as Clegg (described to us by a visiting friend from the UK as a “nobody, a hopeless nonentity”), the underdog takes the nation by storm. Not difficult I suspect – the thought of Brown and Cameron slogging it out against each other – anybody with a half a brain must look better. By the end of the third debate, the overwhelming sense is one of boredom – please no more from these tired, clapped out half wits.

Some other gems – the case of Brown and the Bigot – as he is caught off guard slagging off a life long labour supporting pensioner – Cameron dithering over gay rights – what will play best and to who – tactical voting, that old chestnut – didn’t we always have to resort to that, best of two evils and all that – put forward by three senior labour mps and then played down. A creeping sense of desperation, scrabbling and scratching around in the dust as the spectre of a “hung” parliament looms – one is tempted – hang ‘em all I say.

So what happened to the big issues – the big questions – opportunities to reflect on our hell bent ride into Armageddon/eternity, come what may? A chance to really make a change, a ground breaking historical watershed – nah – no, more of the same, same old tired clichés, same old economic claptrap (prudence!!!?), same old wars, same old corruption, same old, same old. Perhaps it doesn’t really matter anyways – it all feels a bit like fiddling with the deckchairs on the Titanic.

Another image comes to mind, plucky brits stranded on holiday, being ferried back to blighty in a flotilla of small boats, dunquerke style – that’s one we like! So what of these big three leaders? Brown – clapped out and bankrupt in every sense of the word and not to forget the war. Cameron – smarmy, chameleon – you do not get what you see, beware the wolf – compassionate Tories? Bah! Clegg – who? So who would you trust – each one of them desperate not to say anything that might upset or challenge their constituencies – or then again willing to say or promise anything that might win a vote – all things to all people. Power to the people!

So there you go, sitting here – another afrikan night – down the road they are talking in tongues – will it mean anything –or just another roll of the dice? “I love big boobs” scrawled in big letters on the sea wall at Margate (thanks Teddave) – the state of the nation – depressing!

Voodoo chile

VOODOO CHILE
The boy was no more than seven years old. The crowds pressed in against him as three initiates rushed him through the Palace forecourt. The dead goat was slung around his neck, crimson blood dripping everywhere. The priest encouraged the boy to drink the blood, the crowd urging him on. Not a great start to another Monday morning and far, far away from the realities of a daily commute into town. Two days earlier we had seen a woman bite the head of a chicken and then run screaming through a crowd spraying blood and then drinking from the severed neck – the weird (and sometimes wonderful) world of voodoo.

I found myself increasingly drawn towards these dark and secret rituals as we travelled down through Benin but the sight of the young boy really threw me – in my romantic notions – colourful spirits and ghosts engaged in the struggle of good against evil, I had chosen to gloss over the more dubious and abusive practices. We encountered much discussion and debate about the place of voodoo in modern development and indeed Benin is the only country in the world to officially recognise voodoo as a state religion. They claim that the complex set of beliefs and obligations help to ensure social order. But the initiation of such young children into the voodoo covens has to be not right (or am I being ethnocentric imposing my woolly liberal views on another cultural heritage?) and there is evidence that poor families sell their children to the priests. Here in Volta Region voodoo is very much hidden from the eye but young girls are still “given” to the fetish priests. This debate can run and run but surely there is no defence of such practices just because they have always been there in the same way that female circumcision is wrong – end of story.

Voodoo runs through every thread and fibre of everyday life in the villages. As an outsider passing through it is possible to get only an inkling of the elaborate rituals and fetishes which guide people but it does mean that it feels that something strange or magical (or disgusting and distressing) is going to happen at every turn of the way. Legba is found all over – the all seeing messenger between the human world and the world of gods and spirits. He is usually represented by a giant erect penis and it is crucial to keep him happy otherwise he will not pass on your messages to the gods. We encountered the Zangbetos on more than one occasion - spirits of the dead that take the form of cone like stacks of coloured raffia, that often come out at night to keep the peace. They spin and twirl at high speed, have high pitched voices and are chaperoned by initiates who prevent them from causing too much mayhem. The atmosphere is electric and villagers dance ecstatically to the beat – and then – here’s the thing – suddenly the Zangbeta are upturned – they are empty inside! Another trick of theirs is to turn stones into sweets or even terrapins – the stones are passed under the Zangbeta and lo and behold suddenly there are sweets – wow – loved this and the whole spectacle but am still trying to understand what is going on here.

In Passotome we stumbled upon the Egunguns – ghosts who have returned from the realm of the dead. They come for a short time to pass on advice to the living. They take on the bodies of members of the Egungun secret societies – the person falls into a trance and the spirit enters his body. They are dressed in elaborate, bright costumes with masks made from sea shells. Their word is a direct communication from god and final – they are used to mediate disputes and give instructions – if you fail to take heed you are punished severely. They are considered to be very dangerous and have minders – if you touch their robes you die or at least you will need to perform many sacrifices and rituals to come through (so they say). As the night progressed Kodjo our guide was getting increasingly agitated about our, and possibly his, safety – so we were soon on our way.

The kokou are the real hard core - this is the cult of the warrior god – followers fall into deep trance – dance feverishly to pulsating beats and mutilate their bodies with knives and shards of glass. At one point some started to set themselves on fire as the endless incessant rhythms drove them on. Acolytes wear grass skirts and smear their bodies with yellow paste. Powerful and disturbing – you begin to realise that you really are out of your depth here.

Most towns seem to have a head honcho voodoo priest and in Porto Novo we managed to get an audience. Having negotiated our way through several gateways, dead chickens hanging from the doors and various fetishes (paying along the way of course – the practitioners also use their religion as an income generation scheme – much in the same way that the Christian pastors here in Ghana do – you pays your money and take your choice). The priest or as in this case the Minister of Voudon culture was a portly urbane man who welcomed my questions. He was identified at birth as the successor in the voudon line and spent three months being initiated in secret coven. He tells me that my questions are clever, laughing, diverting me away from the more esoteric and secret tricks of his trade. This man is responsible for all the voodoo priests and rituals in the region. In Ouidah we saw a film made by a German, Bettina, about the High Priest there and the secret initiations and practices. It was shown at the Quintessence Film festival and we were also lucky enough to later meet her as well as seeing the Priest at the voodoo festival.

So what to make of it all? The fetish stalls in the markets selling all kinds of grossness – body parts of local wildlife, snakes, owls, stinking heaps of goodness knows what and of course voodoo dolls – do it yourself spell kits - the magicians, the healers, the sorcerers, the witches and fa diviners. Weird and wonderful at times – downright scary at others and clearly way out of line in some of its practices.

New Year celebrations with fishermen in Porto Novo

It was the first weekend in the New Year and we went walking towards the sea in Porto Novo. We walked towards the place where we heard music and saw people dancing under a huge canopy.

As soon as we got there we were offered seats and asked to join in the fun. There were men dancing in the centre and women dancing at the edges. Michael asked permission to take photos and they agreed but in exchange they asked him to join in with the dancing.

Well, I was very surprised when he did join in. There were smiles all around and high fives everywhere. Michael danced the local dance and that got a lot of laughs for two reasons, one that he joined in and for his energy but the second because he had such difficulty getting the movement.

In the course of this dancing we found out that it is one family of fishermen who are celebrating the New Year. We were introduced to the elders and leaders in the family and offered trips around the lagoon, of course at a cost. It was good to be able to join in the fun with this huge family although it was just for a short while.

Michael complained about aching legs for days after that, a reminder of the muscles he did not know he had!

Experiences on the way to a Yaka Shrine in Dassa Zoume, Benin

Guest appearance in a religious video!

On our way to the shrine on a hill in the centre of Dassa Zoume, we came across a group of people with videoing equipment and men and women dressed in traditional clothes. We stopped to gawp at them and although they had finished filming their sequence, we were asked to join in. At first I thought it was only the dancers but then another woman also joined us and we found out that they were making a religious video. The group was called “Princess Toyissa” and we both joined in the dancing. The body movement which they do so well is alien to both of us so everybody patiently showed us what to do but nobody told us we were rubbish at it! Regardless of this, we were both filmed dancing with the group and singing with Princess Toyissa. So somewhere there will be people watching a religious video and suddenly these two foreigners will appear making fools of themselves.

Preparations for Arachid sauce:

On our way back down from visiting the Yaka shrine (Michael will tell you more bout the shrine in another blog entry soon), we had to go through a small community. There I was invited by a woman who was grinding pea-nuts on a rock which had a natural shape to allow women to use another smaller stone to grind whatever they need to prepare food. What was really good was that this was a communal grinding place for the community so women would take turns in grinding spices or pea-nuts for lunch or dinner. I was thanked for my help and asked if I liked Arachid sauce (spicy peanut sauce) and my response was I love it but my difficulty was not being able to eat it as usually people put fish or meat in the sauce.

Another interesting thing about the woman was that she was carrying a doll stuck in the waist band of her skirt. Twins are revered in many countries in West Africa and are said to have special powers. Twins never die their souls always stay within the families. The reason why this woman was carrying a doll was because her twin had passed away but she would dress the doll in the same clothes as herself every morning and get the twin to taste food before she took any and generally treat the twin as if s/he was still alive. Failure to take care of the twin would bring bad spirits into the family.

So not only was the shrine interesting but getting there and back was a great experience and we found out more about the beliefs of the community.

Rita and Osmond get married

We have never met the couple and yet in a typical Ghanain way we were invited to Rita and Osmond’s wedding. The wedding,which also included an engagement ceremony, took place at Grace and Perry’s house as Rita has "adopted" Perry as her father, although her father was there at the wedding as well.

Grace said the wedding would start at 11.00 so we got there an hour late to find we were one of the first guests. So we got ready to sit and wait. One would think by now we have got used to this, but no, all I could think about was what I could have been doing in this time! The only consolations were sitting under a mango tree so we were cool and a little girl adopting Michael as she suddenly appeared and climbed into Michael’s lap and then just looked at him. Make note of Michael's shiner! He got it trying to fight the bouganvilla in the garden but of course he does not say that to everyone.

Grace and daughter Selase were busy hosting the event so we chatted to Perry and his friend Richard. After nearly two hour’s wait, the engagement ceremony started. The groom’s side and the bride’s side were sitting facing each other and the groom was already in his seat. Rita’s sisters were sent to fetch her from inside the house. One of the sister’s made a big thing about how far it was and that it would cost the groom’s side some money for her to fetch her sister. So the best man gave her some money and then she repeated this trick twice and got more money. Rita was then brought by her sisters and sat down facing Osmond. Then there was a debate about whether Rita is the bride Osmond was looking for so there was some checking out to do. Rita’s brother got up at this stage to say that as he is going to loose the woman who does his cooking the groom has to compensate him before e can check his sister out. There seemed to be a deadlock as Osmond or his family could not agree on what Rita’s brother should get so the Pastor intervened. He speeded up the process by getting Rita’s brother to negotiate with Osmond later. So then Osmond checks Rita out and agrees yes that is the woman he wants to marry and invited her to join him. Some family members from both sides were then sent back in to check the presents and see whether this matched the list that had been already made. In the meantime we had a DJ playing popular songs.

Yes the gifts matched the list so then rings were exchanged and the engagement ceremony was over. We were informed that now Rita and Osmond would go to church and get their marriage registered. So more waiting. What neither of us realised was that Rita had gone back inside the house to change. She came out half an hour later with this amazing dress and a pink hat and was driven to church. More entertainment by the DJ and refreshments for the guests, many of them started dancing. Perry danced with his two dogs (Perry said they hated the noise as they are used to a quiet life). We were to go hungry some more as snacks were not suitable for vegetarians.

On the return from church, Rita and Osmond sat at the head table and a chairman gave a short speech followed by prayers from the pastor, and more music and dancing. As the only yevu guests, we had to be introduced to the guests, which was most embarrassing and we waved self-consciously when our names and what we do in Ho were announced. Nobody went to talk to Rita and Osmond and they did not talk much to each other either. Michael said Rita looked bored just like Indian brides at their weddings! The wedding ceremony ended after closing prayers and then food was served. Grace had cooked for us as she knew the caterers would not have prepared anything vegetarian.