Warthogs, Baboons and Elephants! Oh My!

I can say with total conviction that living in the village was the most important experience of my life. Like all my experiences in Ghana, it was difficult to wrap my mind around reality and to even begin to become integrated, but I also felt like I have an entirely new outlook on life and community and acceptance and beauty and love and struggle and poverty.

Naama is a small farming village atop a large hill overlooking a tropical paradise.  The population is about 600 people, most of whom live in mud brick houses with grass roofs.  I lived in the Chief’s palace, meaning I had the luxury of a fully enclosed toilet and shower.  According to folklore (which was my mini-ISP topic),the village is over 600 years old.  Naama, which means place of meat, was named by the executioner of Mampong when he came to the area as a hunter.  There’s no longer wild game, although as a mostly subsistence-farming village they do have a lot of sheep, goats, pig, chickens, and guinea foul.  Aside from the aesthetic beauty of the village—the expansive night sky, terrific lightning storms, endless mysterious bush and farmland, and waterfalls—the warmth of the people captivated me most.  I made several close friends in the village.  My closest friend, Angie, is a teacher at the village primary school.  This is a good time to interject, that while the village was the most heartwarming experience I’ve ever had it was also the most hear twrenching.  Naama has one primary school for grades 1-6, but their only building has three classrooms.  The rest of the children take lessons outdoors.  The weather is so beautiful in Naama that that hardly makes a difference, in my mind.  What saddens me is the general apathy of most of the teachers, their treatment of the children (beating with sticks for no real reason….there is no reason), the lack of school supplies, the inability of families to pay for books or uniforms, the fact that children don’t eat lunch during the day (and of course, many don’t eat breakfast or dinner either). I’d say most adults in Ghana believe the reason why their children have big bellies is because they eat too much.  Many children are beaten for taking seconds because their parents think it causes them to get sick and throw up, when vomiting and swollen stomachs are obviously a result of malnutrition and starvation.  My friend Jessie practically adopted a little girl named Rose who ate every meal with us—and she’s working on legally adopting her and bringing her back to live in the states.  I also fell in love completely and truly with an entire family of five little boys.  I met the oldest two, twins named Atta Encancer Number 1  (AKA: Penin) and Atta Encancer Number 2 (AKA: Kakra or Junior) on my first night in Naama.  The next oldest, Nico was my best companion and was treated with a little bit of favoritism but I tried to keep it equal. I hope to go back to the village at least once before returning to the US.

After two weeks in the village, we’re now in Tamale, the capital city of the Northern Region.  Every new place seems to have it’s own unique personality and vibe.  Tamale is 90 percent Muslim and 90 percent of the population lives on less than $1 per day.  As a result of the poverty, most of the countries’ NGOs are located here, meaning there are a lot of Obrunis.  The group has been divided into two, half of us are in Las Hotel (with running water and air conditioning) and the other half staying at the Catholic Guest House.  Earlier this week we attended classes and visited a women’s shea butter production compound.  Two days ago we took a trip to Mole National Park where we stayed a couple of nights.  We went on one jeep safari and one walking safari in search of elephants but no luck....UNTIL the very minute we began packing the tro-tro to head back to Tamale, we were informed the elephants were at the nearby waterhole! We got to hike down and watch the elephants from only 500 feet away.  We also saw baboons, warthogs, bush buck, and crocodiles. 

Tomorrow we'll be traveling to see the slave castles in Cape Coast...............more later!