Kente Festival, and new baby Torie

Since we arrived, people have said that we should attend the Kente Festival in October if we have the chance.  

Kente is a woven fabric, usually woven in 6" wide strips that are then sewn together. It comes in all colors, usually bright.

 A couple of the men in our group had nice cameras and were given tags that designated them as "photographers."  They were able to get up close pictures that we wouldn't normally take and the people were all fine with it. Most of the pictures here come from them. Thanks to Brent Belnap and Elder Bob McCullough.

 So while we waited for things to get started, which is usually later than they say things will start....the photographers took some awesome shots of people who were also waiting.

Cooked eggs for sale. They are coated with something white that is supposed to keep them from going bad.

 This is either Fufu or Banku, not sure which. They are both staples.

 Snacks?? 

 Might as well have a seat in the shade. It may be a while.

Alas the parade begins to our relief, smiles!

It started with a parade of just a few scattered groups and people in                             the village of Agotime-Kpetoe.  

This chief and the little girl who would occasionally wipe his forehead and give him a kiss were a hit, except to the guys carrying him I imagine.

 More people joined in as the parade moved down the main road to a large open field where everyone congregated under canopies.

There was a lot of "bling" going one, so the only way we could tell who were the real chiefs was to look for those sitting on the front row with a mat at their feet and attendants nearby.

This couple who sat right in front of us were either a queen or chief and spouse.

 They didn't usually acknowledge other people who came up and gave them money or knelt down in front of them to take pictures or adjust their Kente shawls.  I also noticed that their Kente was one very wide piece of fabric, not sewn together pieces. It really was lovely!

Everyone found a place, whether seated or standing on the sides. 

Then more parading got underway as most everyone except the real chiefs got up and paraded around in front of the canopies.

Dancing  to the beat of the drums.

There were several prayers from different groups.

And more dancing.

And more talking.

A favorite dance of the women involved bending over and shaking the booty, often with extra padding added.

 And more dancing. 

Since they were running 2 hours behind schedule, one by one, the couples wandered out and headed back to the hotel in Ho where we cooled off in the swimming pool and waited 2 hours for dinner, most of which they exchanged without notice for other things because what we asked for was "finished."  Gotta love Africa!!

Beautiful sunset though!!

Most definitely the highlight of the week-end was the branch we had arranged to visit on Sunday. (Anderson's with us from Cape Coast who came to see the Gospel Literacy Program in action.)

We met the branch President earlier in the mission, so we called and asked if they were interested in learning more about the Gospel Literacy program since we would be in their area.

He invited the whole Sunday School to come listen instead of just those who could be in the class. And before we were finished, they explained all the reasons they should get involved and had a man step forward asking if he could teach the class. 

How cool is that?!!?

Notice the lady in blue and white on the far right.

With some help from the kind ladies next to her, she raised her hand at the end of the class and said, "I can, I can."  She then read the reading pages of the first lesson with the help of the pictures for the other words she hadn't learned yet.  "I am a mother, I am a father, I am a trader, I am happy, I am a child of God."

Then she held the book to her heart and broke out in a big smile while the others clapped and cheered for her. 

It was a good as it gets!!

Back in Accra we received invitations along with the Yeates, a welfare missionary couple to attend the launching of the Learning to Read, Reading to Learn program by the First Lady of Ghana, through the Rebecca foundation. 

We entered the event to this fun welcome. 

That's the First Lady two rows in front of us, obviously security is much less of a problem here.

They have a two fold approach. Building libraries and providing a TV program which will air weekly to teach children literacy. (I have to wonder how many who really could benefit from this have access to televisions?) This will come through an NGO.  They expressed appreciation to LDS charities for their contribution. The only libraries here come through NGO's not as public libraries which our communities build.   

Although it's nice to see this effort, I couldn't help but reflect on how many libraries are with 15 minutes of our home in Puyallup.  It's very sad what has been denied the wonderful people of Ghana because of corruption, things we take for granted every day.  I'm not saying we don't have plenty of our own problems in the US, but developing nations need leaders with integrity or the people suffer.

The week ended with the wonderful happy news of the arrival of Torie Kaye Temus, our newest granddaughter born to son Joe and his wife Jessica.

Labor was long, but their midwife was awesome and Jessica is one determined, remarkable lady to say the least. 

We don't really know who is cuter, Torie Kaye or her two adorable, love smitten new parents. 

Her little cousin Hannah, who celebrated her third birthday on the same day remarked during the prayer in Sacrament Meeting, 

"I'm being sooo thankful in my praying, but now I need to play."  

We are all feeling sooo thankful!!

The "still small voice" and the "road less traveled."

A while back, we received an invitation from a security guard at our complex to come to his graduation in the ministry.  

Even with the invitation we couldn't find the place and finally had to let a man we flagged down on the street for directions to get in the back seat and direct us there.

Although this was not a revival, it felt very much like I have imagined one to be. Very loud!!

This man in the pink suit with the purple shirt had the ability to really ramp up the enthusiasm and volume.

We were the only obrunis, white dudes there and were invited to sit in the section with ordained ministers. 

At one point a group of new Elders came forward and knelt in a circle and were surrounded by the ministers who placed their hands on them and ordained them.

After we passed the 5 hour mark and they began to preach heavy about the law of sacrifice and we saw the trays coming out, we asked Thomas and his lovely wife Esther if we could get their pictures and took our departure.  We do admire their devotion and desire to follow and serve the Lord.

The next morning we attended a couple small branches and met with branch presidents to share information about the Gospel Literacy Program.

In their meetings, we felt the strong stirrings of "the still small voice" of the spirit. It can be quite a switch for many people when they come into the church, to leave behind the really loud "worship" and begin to appreciate the wisdom in the scripture, "Be still, and know that I am God."  

That is surely one of the reasons we both have loved the mountains so much, to get away from all the man-made distractions.

 One of the classes in the Adenta Stake with a great teacher.

 Thomas (gardener) and George (security) are making good progress reading as we meet with them Wed. evenings at our apartment. They are inspiring and wonderful men!!

 We traveled out to Takoradi on the coast about 5 hours west of here for a week-end training.

We often see this warning. It seems that speeding isn't a problem, but overspeeding will surely get you!

 Here are a few pictures of the villages and shops along the way.

We saw a lady carrying a hug pile of bras in a pan like these on top             of her head. Just one of the many pictures I didn't get. 
                                 Not sure how fittings work?  

Electronics anyone??

This is the Best Western where we stayed.  It doesn't look like much from the outside.

 But the view from our window was gorgeous!

And because they didn't have hot water until the last day we were there, the showers by the pool came in very handy.  

 Being at the beach makes up for a lot of things and we took time to enjoy the ocean that evening.

 Then we were on our way to the Mpintsin Stake the next morning for training.

 Do you remember the poem by Robert Frost about the Two Roads that Diverged in the Woods?

 Well, this isn't the woods but we did have to choice between two roads running side by side and we chose the one less traveled.

This time however, it didn't pan out so well as this is how the road  less traveled ended, for a very good reason, which we don't fully understand. 

So we went over to the muddy red road where people drive on both sides of the road, any direction and livestock is irrelevant!

The moral of the poem is still the same. We have usually taken the road less traveled and it has made ALL THE DIFFERENCE!

The stake training went really well, a really awesome group! These are the leaders and teachers who will now turn around and share Gospel Literacy with their wards.

Smiles of appreciation for the reading glasses.

 On Sundays we follow up with at least one class to see if the training made sense to the teachers and if they are able to teach their classes well. This can be tricky when the group doesn't speak enough English for us to help out. (This group had 13 learners! In meeting with the Bishop afterwards, he's going to split them into two groups.)

 In which case, we resort to the back up plan which is to let the teachers do their job and I hold fussy babies so at least the mothers can learn. It's a rough job but must be part of the job description somewhere in the fine print I'm certain.

It's funny to see babies all bundled up when we're sweating like crazy, but it's cooler than the hottest season, so mothers here bundle their babies.

The next morning we headed back towards Cape Coast where we met up with some of the other missionaries for a retreat at the ocean for a few days. (General Conference week again.)

We stopped first to tour the Elmina Castle, just one of some 50 odd in Ghana alone. 

This is the oldest and largest in Ghana. I'll never understand why there were called castles! Slaves were kept for up to 3 months in dungeons like these until ships arrived to take them to Brazil, Caribbean, East Indies and the US.

These castles each have a "door of no return" through which slaves entered the ships in chains, leaving behind their homes, families and country, never to return.

 Elmina is a quiet fishing village now, one with a sad history.

 Not far away is Elmina Bay Resort and Coconut Beach where several missionary couples stayed and enjoyed each other's company while taking in the beautiful, clean beaches.  

 

The next morning, we drove out to Kukum National Park

for the canopy walk.

. 

 I never get tired of seeing children walking to school in their bright uniforms. 

 The roads were worse than we remember, perhaps it's the season.

 

 Notice the smiles on their faces.

Sampling some coco beans, the white coating around each bean is quite sweet. The beans need to be fermented, dried and roasted before they taste good.

 "In the leafy tree tops the birds sing good morning"

 What you do when there aren't mountains high enough!

 This would not be complete without a few critters for the grandkids to see. Christian, our guide with a millipede in hand. 

Ants on the move. We did fine getting around the ants when they were in a close group. But when they spread out and covered the trail, those who didn't step quickly had "ants in their pants."

Cute flower eating monkey, another for the grandkids.

On the way back we saw lots of coco beans drying in the sun. This is harvest season.

 Mud huts are common and probably help keep things cooler in the heat similar to adobe.

On the way home through Cape Coast, Melania Trumps motorcade crossed in front of us, sorry no picture.  

Cape Coast was lovely, but near or far, there's no place like home. 

Back home in Accra, we were able to watch General Conference sessions on the internet from our apartment.  Oh so wonderful!!!!