Owusu's Mango Farm

We left early in the morning to drive to President Owusu's mango farm.
I love to get off the oiled roads and see the rural villages of Ghana.
We followed the president on a very narrow trail.
Sometimes it looked like we could get lost in it.
You can see all the labor it takes to clear the land for planting. Then it is a constant effort to keep the bush from growing back again. (By the way, my beautiful tree I liked so much out by Oyoko fell down and is no more.)
We passed a whole line of villagers carrying their cassava "sticks" out to their farms to plant.
I had to photograph this line of ants. I don't know why I like to watch ants, but they are very interesting here. (Click to enlarge and really see them.)
They marched in a long line right across the path.
Here is President Owusu showing us his mango orchard.
These trees are three years old. As they get more mature he will have a much bigger crop.
His job today was to weed between the cassava plants. He has a young man helping him.
To plant the cassava they simply cut the old stem in pieces and stick each piece in the ground. Very soon, it starts to grow.
When the cassava plants grow tall they are pulled up and the cassava is harvested from below the ground like potatoes. Then the process starts all over again.

We left him to his work and went home to do our own work.

Another week has passed

We drove to Accra this week. The signs on the tro tros are always entertaining, especially the spelling. Political campaigns are in full swing for the December elections. The man pictured on the tro tro is running for president.
Funerals are very important to the Africans. Here is a way to really go out in style. You could be buried in a chicken casket. A company in Teshie makes all different kinds. I could order Dave a space shuttle or Elder Max a fish. I sort of like the chicken.
On Saturday evening we had the privilege of delivering a mission call to this great young man. He is standing with his branch president and his mother. He will be serving in Nigeria. It was interesting that he had to read the call by the headlights of the car because his family did not have electricity. He's been a branch missionary and will make a great elder.
This is my star crochet pupil. She is loving what she has learned to do. I was teaching her to make grannie squares and also hats. We'll see what she does by next time. Notice her two purses made from black grocery bags and her "tablecloth". (Doily)
The district is looking at this school, which is a much better place to meet than the last school we saw. It would need some paint, but it has possibilities.
The owners were anxious to cooperate in any way to work something out.
On Sunday we drove down the Kumasi to Accra highway. That is always an adventure. This tanker had rolled over and a huge police tow truck was trying to move it. We had a bit of a delay as they let one lane through at a time. The neighbors were all watching and a man just to the left of the photo had even arrived selling food for the spectators. We have to appreciate their desire to try to make a little cash anywhere they can.
Not far beyond another tanker trunk had tipped over.
The road is very rough and narrow. The trucks have to dodge the potholes and sometimes swerve a bit too fast or far.
And when they don't wreck, many just break down on the road and park to make the repairs right there. Whenever we see little clumps of grass placed in the roadway we know to watch for a vehicle in the road ahead.
As you look at this typically loaded truck, you can see why they easily tip. This one is quite conservative compared to most of the loads.
We were happy to get home safely. We were especially happy to find they were fixing our road. They waited until it became a big problem. We haven't been able to pass that way for several days. A truck got stuck and then they brought in gooey mud to fill the hole. That was even worse. We had to find a long detour to our house. (Notice the head Chinese engineer on the big road project is even supervising our little road. He must have gotten many complaints. He is the man in the red shirt. You can see him if you enlarge the photo.) A photo of our road would never be complete without at least one chicken crossing. Usually there are several.

Delightful day in Aburi

Last Friday we drove to Aburi for an interview. After the interview we joined the Meeks and the Owusus for lunch at the Aburi Botanical Gardens. This is a beautiful place to view many of the trees and flowers native to Ghana and some imported from other countries. It was a rainy day, so we will have to go back another day to tour the gardens. (Photo taken from under a tree to keep my camera dry.)
We waited almost two hours for our roasted chicken and rice to get cooked. (We think they had to catch the chicken.) We had plenty of time to enjoy the flowers close to our table.
More interesting flowers just coming into bloom.
The flowers were lovely, but the highlight of the day was meeting the woman President Max was to interview.
She says she is 116 years old. Judge for yourself. She is fiesty as can be and a pure delight to meet.
After I took these two photos I showed them to her. Her only English word was "Fine!" Then she started to jabber in Twi. Those who could understand just started to laugh. I guess she was saying, "Look, look at me! Standing there with a white man. Just look at me!"
Here she is seated with her daughter and two great great granddaughters. Max told the daughter, who is in her eighties, she needed to write down everything her mother could tell her for their family history. I hope it happens.
I was trying to get her to smile for a photo. This one didn't quite work out.
But we finally got a beautiful smile. She is a gracious wonderful lady who just wants to attend the temple one more time before she dies. I hope she gets to go many times.

Looking for a chapel

We spent part of our P-day last week taking four BIG men in the back seat of our car to look for a building that might work as a chapel for the new branch when it is approved.
This was the second place we visited. It had possibilities, but was on a very rough, muddy road and far from the center of the new branch.
The next house had more possibilities. It was very nice and new. It had nine usable rooms and a fairly good-sized living room.
We tried to decide if it would be big enough to be used as the chapel. Maybe, maybe not.
The outside was nice but there would be quite a lot of upkeep for the landscaping. I thought it had the look of a chapel.
It even had another building for the caretaker to live. That could be a great branch president's office and clerk's office.
The front door even had the look of a church.
It was on a "better" road than the other house, but it also was too far from the center of the branch to be considered. I backed up into the driveway across the street to get a shot of the gate and the guardhouse. As I did, the people living in the little shack behind me started to call out to me.

They called me over to see what I was doing. When they saw I was taking photos they wanted to have their photo taken too. They insisted on going to find "Mama" so she could be included. After I finished and showed them the photo they about tore my camera apart trying to get a good look at themselves. They would laugh and slap their knees. I promised if I ever got out that way again I would bring them a copy of the photo. I have it sitting here ready. We just have to see if we can remember how to get there.

Welcome to the neighborhood

When someone mentions homes in Africa many think of the typical house above. Such a house is very common, especially in the villages.
There are also many, many houses that have been started by someone with big plans. They either run out of money or are simply building "pay as you go." They have to be careful or the "bush" will overtake their whole project.

The other morning I carried my camera along as we went on our morning walk. The mornings now are rainy or foggy. The sacred mountain above Koforidua is barely visible.
This is one place I want to visit before we leave. Just looking over the wall, the plants here are beautiful. Maybe one of these days we will just knock on the gate and ask for a tour.
This is a house being built close to us. I haven't seen a lot of progress since we got here. It is huge.
This house just got painted the other day. We've watched it being built. The owner is now building the wall and some sort of building in the front.
This house is lived in even though it still doesn't have windows or doors. That is also very common. As soon as the roof is on, the family moves inside.
We've also watched this house get finished. We give encouraging words to the builders every morning as we walk past. I'm not sure if it is for one family or for several. They are also just finishing their wall and gate.
Another nice house in the neighborhood.
And one more. I took these photos to show that Africa (Ghana) has some prosperous people as well as those who are very poor. There just isn't much of a middle class as we have in America.