Village Stay
It's very difficult to figure out how to describe the last couple of weeks. As usual, Ghana is full of surprises, every moment something unexpected and new. I've been living in the village of Ampento with 6 other students. Here, I've been lucky enough to be stationed at the chief's home, so I got to experience being an African Princess first hand, very exciting. Housing here was no where near the dirt floor no electricity/plumbing I had prepared for. Granted, there was an out house, but my room was painted a lovely pink color, had a blue light which worked the week we had power, and was just off a court yard where the cooking and laundry is done.
I felt right at home :) The chief and I had a few long conversations about religion. Apparently, he wants to give up his chieftancy because there is too much pressure for him to go to a fetish priest, which being a Seventh Day Adventist minister he is not willing to do. Because of his refusal to follow traditional Ghanaian religious practices, he is being blamed for causing all the village's problems. That's a lot of pressure for one man.
While in the village, we were required to take on a small research project, so I chose to study the traditional religion of the area which, yes, meant talking to fetish priests, some of which channel spirits, others which see and talk directly to them, all of which are herbal healers. Turns out the chief's elder brother is actually the village "spiritual dealer" or Okonfuo, as they refer to him. Interesting family tension there. Anyway, this man worked with Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first president as a sort of bodyguard. He claimed he could have the spirits grant me ever-lasting protection as well, so that bullets and swords would never harm me. Sounded tempting, but I passed.
I visited two other Okonfuos, both of which were fascinating. One of them, a woman, is actually Catholic now, but she says in her prime she served the village as an herbalist, receiving her knowledge through dreams or possession. My next visit took me on a 45 minute hike along a ridge overlooking the mountains of Ampento. (Or at least from my flat-land upbringing they seemed like mountains.) This third Okonfuo was actually possessed when I arrived, which means a spirit of some sort had embodied him. When the spirit takes over the body the Okonfuos claim they do not remember the experience. The spirit asks to dress a certain way, speaks differently, etc. This one in particular was from Northern Ghana and didn't speak the local language very well, so a translator had to tell my translator what was being said. The spirit smoked a lot, smiled a lot, and periodically beat its back with a club. Through the double translations, I made out some of what was being said. He asked me what my mission was, I simply stated it was to learn more about his work. After giving thanks to God, he threw a hand full of pebbles on the ground and told me about my life, family, etc. Juicy stuff. He then threw a raw egg on the ground. After examining how the broken pieces fell and how the yoke splattered, he told me that God has paved the way for me, that on my journey all I need will be provided. As I left, the Okonfuo collapsed onto the ground as the spirit departed. Never a dull moment in Ghana.
The rest of the village stay was interesting. Lots of sitting around and being stared at by crowds of Ampento village children, who congregated at our windows. If you want to know the hassles of being a celebrity go live in a small village in West-Africa. Every time I left a building, I would be mobbed by small children yelling "Abruni!" Even brushing my teeth in the morning was an adventure, since this was done outside under the close examination of surrounding villagers. There were times when this was wonderful though. I had a small clan of little girls that followed me around, and we spent a large amount of time putting forget-me-not flowers in our hair. I taught a few of them how to draw as well.
There was a host of characters in our village. Our headquarters was at a deaf man's home. Probably one of the happiest and hilarious people I've ever met. There was also a mentally handicapped girl who the other villagers threw rocks at occasionally, and who we tried to take in. The highlight of the village stay, however, was being able to just walk into the bush to pick fruit right off the trees. Everything from oranges, to avocado, bananas, and papaya were right at your finger tips. Unfortunately, a lot of my classmates, myself included, ended up getting sick for part of the stay, probably from the water somehow even though we took great measures to avoid it. It wasn't much of a problem; after a day of flu symptoms I was fine. Although no matter what, the second you get sick here they take you to the hospital to get tested for malaria, which I didn't have. Good to know I guess.
Well now I'm in Cape Coast. Incredible city. I'll have to write more later. Hope all is well at home in the States! Much love.
I felt right at home :) The chief and I had a few long conversations about religion. Apparently, he wants to give up his chieftancy because there is too much pressure for him to go to a fetish priest, which being a Seventh Day Adventist minister he is not willing to do. Because of his refusal to follow traditional Ghanaian religious practices, he is being blamed for causing all the village's problems. That's a lot of pressure for one man.
While in the village, we were required to take on a small research project, so I chose to study the traditional religion of the area which, yes, meant talking to fetish priests, some of which channel spirits, others which see and talk directly to them, all of which are herbal healers. Turns out the chief's elder brother is actually the village "spiritual dealer" or Okonfuo, as they refer to him. Interesting family tension there. Anyway, this man worked with Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first president as a sort of bodyguard. He claimed he could have the spirits grant me ever-lasting protection as well, so that bullets and swords would never harm me. Sounded tempting, but I passed.
I visited two other Okonfuos, both of which were fascinating. One of them, a woman, is actually Catholic now, but she says in her prime she served the village as an herbalist, receiving her knowledge through dreams or possession. My next visit took me on a 45 minute hike along a ridge overlooking the mountains of Ampento. (Or at least from my flat-land upbringing they seemed like mountains.) This third Okonfuo was actually possessed when I arrived, which means a spirit of some sort had embodied him. When the spirit takes over the body the Okonfuos claim they do not remember the experience. The spirit asks to dress a certain way, speaks differently, etc. This one in particular was from Northern Ghana and didn't speak the local language very well, so a translator had to tell my translator what was being said. The spirit smoked a lot, smiled a lot, and periodically beat its back with a club. Through the double translations, I made out some of what was being said. He asked me what my mission was, I simply stated it was to learn more about his work. After giving thanks to God, he threw a hand full of pebbles on the ground and told me about my life, family, etc. Juicy stuff. He then threw a raw egg on the ground. After examining how the broken pieces fell and how the yoke splattered, he told me that God has paved the way for me, that on my journey all I need will be provided. As I left, the Okonfuo collapsed onto the ground as the spirit departed. Never a dull moment in Ghana.
The rest of the village stay was interesting. Lots of sitting around and being stared at by crowds of Ampento village children, who congregated at our windows. If you want to know the hassles of being a celebrity go live in a small village in West-Africa. Every time I left a building, I would be mobbed by small children yelling "Abruni!" Even brushing my teeth in the morning was an adventure, since this was done outside under the close examination of surrounding villagers. There were times when this was wonderful though. I had a small clan of little girls that followed me around, and we spent a large amount of time putting forget-me-not flowers in our hair. I taught a few of them how to draw as well.
There was a host of characters in our village. Our headquarters was at a deaf man's home. Probably one of the happiest and hilarious people I've ever met. There was also a mentally handicapped girl who the other villagers threw rocks at occasionally, and who we tried to take in. The highlight of the village stay, however, was being able to just walk into the bush to pick fruit right off the trees. Everything from oranges, to avocado, bananas, and papaya were right at your finger tips. Unfortunately, a lot of my classmates, myself included, ended up getting sick for part of the stay, probably from the water somehow even though we took great measures to avoid it. It wasn't much of a problem; after a day of flu symptoms I was fine. Although no matter what, the second you get sick here they take you to the hospital to get tested for malaria, which I didn't have. Good to know I guess.
Well now I'm in Cape Coast. Incredible city. I'll have to write more later. Hope all is well at home in the States! Much love.
posted by Lisa | 6:44 AM
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