Fishing at Cape Coast

     The fishermen in Africa fish much the way their great great grandfathers did centuries ago, using nets. It is the main occupation of the people in Cape Coast.    We saw men fixing their long green nets as they sat in their boats preparing to go out to sea.  There were many  pastel colored fishing boats lining the beach. It takes over 60 strong men to pull the catch in. As they pull them in you can hear them heave ho as they chant or sing in unison to get the rope going the way they want it to go. Their hands are worn with rope marks. There are two men (younger ones) who wind the end of the rope around the trees on the shore to keep the rope from going back the wrong way with the strong waves in the water. As I was down getting a closer look, I accidently got too far out and a big wave came and got my skirt all wet. After hauling them in they are divided the catch. The owner takes most of the fish but the workers are given some fish to eat. It takes hours to pull the catch in and it is hard work.  

A good head on your shoulders

     Every time you drive down the street in Accra you see people carrying things on their heads. They are everywhere, at every intersection, in every traffic jam, at every toll booth. They are on the side of the road and in the road. Some are selling things to the passing vehicles but others are just carrying their stuff. For every person you see carrying  something large in his hands you see two dozen with a bundle on his head.  Loads which would  put me in bed for a week are no problem. They can carry very large, heavy and awkward loads. One of our favorites is the peanut ladies who spend time arranging the peanuts in order before they start to work and then just grab them by the handful and put them in the small black plastic bags which are everywhere after they makes a sale.

The cloth vender

The fried plantain vendor

The peanut lady

If you look down the street about half the people on the sidewalk are carrying their wares on their heads.

It is not just plastic and aluminium pans.

Another peanut lady. Notice how neatly they ares stacked, like pieces of a 3D puzzle. 

This girl is carrying oranges which have had most of the rind removed so they can be eaten  while riding in a tro-tro. The blue van is a tro-tro.

Another peanut lady. I have decided you can probably carry more nuts if they are stacked rather than just piled up.

Carrying things on  your head  is a learned skill. Not everyone  can do it equally well.

Harmattan

        The harmattan is a cold, dry, dusty, trade wind  that blows the Sahara desert over the West Africa region. People here say it starts the end of November and lasts until March.  It looks like smog and makes you feel like you are inside a cloud. You do not want to drive at night when the air is thick and dark. It is a lot cooler and the humidity is much lower than it would otherwise have been.
The harmattan was present in Ghana during the dedication of the temple January 10, 2004. The dust from the harmattan blew in and shielded the people from the sun. 

                                  The dust is everywhere. On cars, on buildings and in the air.

People live and work in the dust.

                                       The hazyness makes it difficult to drive at night.

                                            You can also see it from an airplane window.

                                       Hiking in Shai Hills you could definitely see the haze.

This is a picture of the dedication.  Behind the temple you can see the dusty sky.

Mormon Helping Hands

All Africa Day of Service 

One of the most memorable activities we have done here was with the Dodowa branch. The entire ward brainstormed activities to do a month in advance and then planned the day. “If you want to stand in holy places, you will be there”, said Branch President Yingura. This is his family.

  

 Three couples came with us, the Berretts (Denny and Lorene) from Liberia (and from our home Stake),our new friends the Kirkhams,(Jan and John). and the Watsons, (Ed and Pat.)  We left at 6:00 am to get to Dodowa by 7:00a.m., and then drove to the town further north to work at the police station there. We whacked weeds, cleaned gutters, washed furniture, and swept and cleaned up garbage so that the new police station could open it’s doors soon.  The weed whacking champion was a lady named Gifty. She spent the whole time bent over and whacking the weeds down to the dirt. They use a knife or machete here called a cutlass to cut the grass.

Sister Watson

                                              Everyone helped.

Priscilla is going to school and works really hard.  Being the only member of the church in her family, she has learned everything she knows from the scriptures and from attending church.  She shines. The light of the gospel shines in her face.  She is wearing the helping hands vest that we all wore for the All Africa Service Day.

 I got an ant sting that felt like a bee sting but it did not damper the joy of working with such good people.  The desks and chairs inside the station were ones that you might just throw away – and no one at the DI would even buy them, but they were the ones they would be using. We wished that we had some furniture to give them or at least some furniture polish or shoe polish or something to help them out, but all we were able to do is to wash them and get the wasp nests out of the drawers.

                                                   "It is finished"

 Two little neighbor boys passed by us on the road, taking their homemade stick controlled car with them for a drive.