Crocodiles and the Slave Castles

This is really part II of our Cape Coast trip, but it comes before part I on the blog.
We stopped for lunch one day just outside Cape Coast at a crocodile sanctuary. It had a restaurant that offered a variety of meals, but not crocodile, thank goodness. What an interesting place to spend the hour it takes to get food prepared after it is ordered.
Brenna Brockbank watching one of the employees urge a crocodile out of the water using some chicken meat.
Here he comes! We were all glad he wanted the meat and not us.
He just rested in the sun while we ate our meals.
They needed a warning sign for adults. I had to monitor my companion who wanted to get closer than I thought was wise.
This was an interesting place to visit and the food was good.

SLAVE CASTLES

We visited both Elmina Castle and Cape Coast Castle. Elmina was built in 1482 by the Portuguese as a trading warehouse for gold, diamonds and other exports. It later played a heavy role in the slave trade. Cape Coast Castle was the headquarters of the British merchants and the seat of government until 1877. The dark underground dungeons were changed from storing merchandise to holding slaves until the boats arrived to take them to the New World.
This is the view inside the castle from the commanders sitting room. He lived in a three room apartment at the top of the fort.
Down below in the dungeons with their small windowless rooms were at any given time as many as 600 - 1000 black men and about 400 black women. They were kept there for two months waiting for ships to arrive. Many died from lack of food or from illness. Some had been forced to march as much as 100 miles through jungles. They died from exhaustion or were killed by wild animals.
The feeling inside these cells can't really be described. Haunting is about the best word I can find. Horrible crowding, no light, one meager meal a day, no sanitary facilities.
These are the cannons on Cape Coast Castle. I took this photo because one of the elders told me his house was the one with the three coconut trees if I stood in this spot and took a photo. Can you find his house?
When the ships arrived, the healthier slaves were forced to walk down this passage to the boats.
This is the door where they would walk to the beach and to the waiting boats. The small boats took them to the ships. Above the door read "Point of No Return." Since that time on the outside of the door they have placed a sign that says, "Point of Return." Some remains of slaves who died in America were brought back here and buried at the castle, symbolic of returning all to their homeland.
Very sobering experience.

Cape Coast Retreat

What a beautiful place to spend a couple of days. Our retreat with the other senior missionaries was in Cape Coast, Ghana.
It was so relaxing to listen to the waves and walk along the beach. The ocean is impressive here and reminded us of the north shore of Oahu.
We watched the fishing fleet leave in the morning to go out in the ocean. They fish with nets and stay out for about two hours. Catching the wave just right to get into the water was quite a chore for them.
In the evening we were entertained by a local band and traditional dancing group.
The tree stump is a drum with a very deep sound.
The dancers were amazing as they did their moves on the hard cement. They danced over and over and never seemed to tire.
What great company we had with (Elder and Sister) Moody, Meeks, Mattinson, Sidwell and Sister Brockbank and her daughter.
Along the shore with the Cape Coast Castle in the background.
This was where we stayed. It was just a few steps from our door to the beach. We spent most of our time just watching the waves.

I was able to catch this young man going up a coconut tree for the fruit. He was up and down just like that.
In this area of Ghana we saw many more homes with thatched roofs. Most in Koforidua and the Eastern Region have tin.
We visited the Kakum National Park. It is a large preserve for both forest and wildlife. We didn't see any big wildlife, but the forest and the butterflies were beautiful.
The canopy walk here was not quite as exciting as the zip lines in Costa Rica, but we had a good time. Notice.....no hands. There are seven such walkways and they are very high up in the trees.
Elder Max had to go it alone as his reputation for bouncing the bridges went before him. No one wanted to be on while he was there, even though he didn't try to bounce anyone. Oh well, he had the best view of all.

District Conference and Okodee School

I finally got back the clothes I had made by a lady in Accra. The fabric here is amazing. I can see why some sister missionaries go home with a suitcase full of new things.
Don't laugh at the "grandma" hairstyle. It works great here with the wind, rain, humidity and ceiling fans.
In most missions this would be considered too bold and too bright, but here these sisters blended in quite well with the other members at conference.
This little girl was waiting for a baptismal service to begin. I try to find children here that remind me of my grandchildren at home. This my "Kaylia" when she was younger. This sweet little girl had so much hair and a very expressive face.

We followed this car for a long time on the way to Accra this week. I have to wonder who could possibly be brave enough to run a driving school here. How do you teach someone to drive when no one seems to follow the rules anyway? The lady behind the wheel was trying hard, but very nervous. We saw another sign for a driving school that said, "Amen Driving School." We wondered what to make of that.
This is a painting of the original Ghana Accra Mission. It hangs in the office in Accra. Andrea, notice there is a waterfall painted next to the Koforidua Zone.
We visited the Okodee Primary and Preparatory School this week to deliver some books donated by the Humanitarian arm of the church.
This is the headmaster, Mister Peter Sakyi. The wall behind the children is the wall of our yard. We listen to them sing and play during the day.
We will be going back on the 28th to present their devotional service. We enjoy all the school children here in Ghana. They are so polite and friendly. When we walked into the yard two young men hurried over to us. One took the box of books and put them on his head to carry. The other one took the posters from us so we wouldn't have to carry anything. Children here are always on the lookout for ways to help the "elderly."

Last fall I took a photo of our coconut palm. Now it is covered with coconuts. I just need someone to tell me when they will be ready to eat. When they turn brown and fall off?
The other tree is also covered. These are a bit behind, but may get ripe before we leave.
I've spent some time lately trying to come up with projects for the Young Women to use to pass off their Personal Progress. They have so little to spend to make something. I've tried to find inexpensive projects with materials they can find in their own marketplace. It has been an adventure. These are some crochet items made from string.
This purse was made from cotton twine used to tie up boxes. It was pretty dull so I added some embroidery floss in some of the value colors of Young Women.
These bags made from grocery sacks seem to be the hit. The girls can find plenty of the black ones just blowing around on the streets.
I learned to do this "chicken scratch" embroidery years ago. There is a lot of "checked" fabric here. I thought the Young Women might do a pillow or something in gingham.
This is a work in progress. I can't get too excited about it, but another sister said the ladies in her branch really enjoyed learning to embroidery with this pattern. When I got to the silly looking lamb, I had a hard time going on, but I will finish it.
Sister Brockbank gave me a box of bracelets made by a special needs mutual in Weber County. She wanted me to give them to Primary children and take photos. I started yesterday at the Oyoko Branch. Here are the boys with their bracelets.
And the girls. I've got to figure out a better system because just giving them to these few children was quite a task. They kept changing their minds and saying theirs was too big or too small. I'll have to think about how to do it. (Maybe the Pre-School motto: You get what you get and you don't throw a fit. ) But these children would never throw a fit. They would just come back nicely and ask me to get them a different one.
This young lady's name is Millicent. I've mentioned her before as the one who reminds me of Morgan. She is a bit shy and does not speak English. (Morgan is a bit shy and speaks very good English.) Millicent latches onto me whenever I'm around and she just sort of snuggles up, like Morgan. Her sister is a church member. I'm not sure if her parents will let her join, but she LOVES Primary.
Of course the neighbors saw the camera and wanted to join. Such beautiful children.
We are getting into this "gardening in Africa" thing. Elder Max decided he wanted to watch pineapple grow. We got some plants and so far they haven't died. They won't get ripe before we go home, but it will be fun to watch the process.
Here is one up close. You can see our soil is straight sand. But things seem to flourish in it.
Here is our first crop of Utah corn and the melons as they were beginning to grow. More seeds are germinating now, so we may have some other vegetables.
Every big rainstorm has wind that lays the corn down. The faithful farmer goes back out and stands it all back up again. I think he is tasting those ears of corn already.
The other morning I got up early and watched this beautiful sunrise. I couldn't decide which photo I liked better, so I'll include both.
I hope your week is just this beautiful!

The snake and Nkawkaw's District Conference

Sorry for starting with this photo but Elder Max worked hard to get it. (Notice the raindrops on the camera lens.) We saw this snake on the road and Elder Max swerved around it. Then he decided he wanted a photo. We had to find a place to turn around and drive back so he could take the picture.
This is our little backyard bird. It is gone now, so we hope it grew up and few away. At least it is getting some feathers in this photo.
A few weeks ago we drove past this truck that had broken down on the Kumasi highway. It was loaded with dirt. This week we saw it was still there and the dirt has sprouted grass. It will probably be there until the truck rusts away. I'm not sure if these guys were resting in the shade or trying to fix the truck.

This week at the Nkawkaw District Conference I had a some children who wanted to have their photos taken. This girl was outside and saw me take a photo of the two girls below. I love to see their bright happy faces. (And they love to see themselves after the photo is taken.)
This little girl is the daughter of a recent convert. Patricia, her mother, was one of those in my Primary training class on Saturday. On Sunday Patricia had to talk in the meeting. When she sat her daughter on the front bench and walked to the podium, I could see the little girl just ready to burst into tears. I walked down and picked her up. I knew that posed the possibility she would not just cry, but scream in fear. But she didn't. She saw I was taking her up closer to her mother, so she was happy. She sat next to me while her mother gave the talk and we became good friends. Beautiful little girl.
These two were running around outside after the meeting. They had been sitting long enough.
This little girl was at our meeting on Saturday. I think you can tell by her face that there is mischief there. She kept wanting to get into my basket where I keep my things and into anything else in the building . I tried to keep her busy until her mother got through with her meeting, but I had my hands full with her. I thought the camera might keep her interest. It worked for a few seconds.
I was grateful when her older sister came along and took over the job. On Sunday she wandered up on the stand while her dad gave a talk. I think everyone on the stand tried to hold her and keep her entertained. She came to me and wanted to plunk on the keyboard. I love the fact that children all over the world are so much ALIKE. It only goes to show we all come from a common creator.