Unusual sights along the way

Ever seen anyone change a billboard sign like this?  Amazing.

Do it yourself exercise weights. Talk about creativity!

 We thought this was a bit unusual, turns out 'zoomlion' is the local trash pick up for smaller items.
Looks like it never made it to the dump location. The bicycle part is rusted so you know it's been there a while......

The writings on the wall......These people work hard.

She's carrying her umbrella and items for her fruit stand on her head after a long days work.

Cattle drive down the middle of the road. Good thing they weren't spooked by the passing cars.

This one is my favorite!

Rural sights

Every Sunday we drive an hour to our meetings. There's always lots to see along the way. One thing I love here is the colorful buildings and homes. Lots of the house colors are very vibrant and happy. They have character!  Clothes hanging I the lines, or bushes, or even layed out in the dirt to dry depending on what their resources are. There are always people sitting out front visiting, working or cooking and children playing. It's really a fun drive. Many are dressed in their native dress to go to their church meetings. We see lots of Muslims in their traditional clothing on their way to worship on Sunday's. Sister Cosgrave told me that fabric and clothing are important here.  It's a sign of prosperity. One of the greatest gifts you could give the king or chief is a bolt of cloth. Here are a few pictures of homes I see along the way that I think are picturesque. 

We see lots of people along the roadside as well. Thier transportation varies. 

It's never a boring ride to church for sure!  

Builders

Combo Dryer and Washing machines we put in our missionaries apartments.... humm. Maybe one shirt at a time?

They use Bamboo poles to support the structure while pouring cement for above ground levels. Note the number of poles used to support the weight.

One of several early morning markets. People come to these central locations early and buy what they will sell at various other locations throughout the day. Every street and neighborhood has multiple street vendors. Very easy to find fresh fruit and vegetables this way.

Note the bamboo poles holding up the cement on the fourth level. Pretty strong stuff.

Even the outside scaffolding is made of bamboo. Pretty impressive.

This looks like a new church. Note the poles inside on the third level. All of the cement is mixed by hand and the blocks are poured one at a time by hand, dried and then used to build with.

This land Rover looks out of place but you see many fairly nice vehicles here. Most are rebuilt titles though but they can and will fix anything. I have seen some of the coolest old Mercedes dump trucks easily from the forties, still running.

Industrious people!

The Apostles Revelation Society School. Ghanain's are very religious and strong believers, mostly christian and very friendly and approachable.

This section of the highway has tons of tires for sale. Nothing goes to waste here. A nearly worn out tire, if it holds air, still has value and will be used until it blows out. 

Lots of furniture manufacturing by families as a business. Look closely on the left side of the picture and you can see the frames being made prior to adding foam. They have LOTS of foam. must be several large manufactures of it here. It is everywhere as furniture and mattresses etc. You can see a chunk of it laying on the ground in the middle of the picture. Ghanians are extremely hard working and waste nothing, and full of two handed waves and smiles all the time.

Making Charcoal and then selling it is a huge business here. Further away from town people will gather sticks and branches from trees, build a pile 5-6 feet tall,  cover it with dirt and light it in the center before closing in the pile with dirt. A few hours later they have charcoal that is bagged and hauled to the larger towns. Virtually all cooking and heating of food and water comes from charcoal, homemade! I will try and get some pictures of the trucks that haul it. Amazing how much a truck can be overloaded!

The Church has helped many people start their own businesses, one of which is raising chickens for sale. Such a small investment with some training really helps lift a family to better life.

Saturday's outing with the Barneys

Saturday was our last hurrah with the Barneys before they left to go back to the US. They have been our guides since we arrived.  We've grown to love them and will really miss their companionship. 

Today's adventure took us to a roadside stand where they make wooden treasures as well as pottery. We purchased mahogany rolling pins here.  They are heavy!!!

Right down the road from there we noticed a family making foo foo for dinner. They were kind enough to let us get close and watch the process. Foo foo is a favorite among the Ghanains. It's made by crushing (pounding) plantain and a root vegetable together. It makes a pasty substance which they then cook and use like bread to scoop up their stews with. We've not tasted it yet but the missionaries like it. The long pole is to pound down on top of the vegetables to smash them in the bowl below. The vegetables are very hard and fiberous.  This makes a dough like mixture.  The woman sitting at the bowl at the bottom has the job of flipping an the dough before the next pound with the base of the pole. Risky job if you ask me. 

Our next stop was in Mampongten where they tyedye cloth.  After the cloth is dyed, they lay it out on the ground to dry in the sun.  This sets the colors. On the days they dye the cloth, there is fabric layed out everywhere in the village. After the fabric dries, they roll it in bundles and keep it in a small room where you can go select your purchase. 

The kids of the village are once again like all the children here, very friendly and excited to see "Obruni's".  (White people). 

Mr. Personality!

This compound is where the family lives.  As you can see, they are harvesting corn and drying it in the sun. 

After all that touring, we were hot and thirsty so we stopped at a roadside coconut vendor. He sells young coconuts that he will gladly trim the outer hard shell off with his machete so you can drink the coconut water inside.  I must say, it's much tastier coconut water than what we purchase in the stores back in the US.  All in all, it was a great day for touring!

Agona Branch Members

We have been assigned to the Agona Branch. They are a new Branch of about 22 people. Elder Halladay is the Branch president for now. The members are strong and attend regularly. Hopefully, they will bring in new members to build their congregation. 

These are the RS sisters of the Agona Branch. The sister in green is Sister Barney who has been the Kumasi Ghana Mission nurse. These women are united and happy women. They are strong women who weather the challenges of life and share their resources. I admire them greatly. 

Today the Primary children all drew their own pictures of Jesus Christ. They were very proud to share their pictures with me. :)

                                                                        The children love you to take a photo of them and then show it to them. It's fun for them and many are good at posing for you. Lol.  Cameras are not something they see much of here. 

     

The entry at the Branch building has a tiled ramp. The little ones like to slide down it on their bellies after church. It's funny to watch them laugh and play as they slide.  Who knew such a simple thing could be so much fun!

How precious is this?  I'm not sure if these two are related in any way. I think they're just buddies. The people of Ghana have a sense of 'community family'.  They're tribal. It's their heritage. The members look after one another. You will see children sitting with other members of the congregation instead of their own parents and it's normal to them. Everyone is family. This week I was sitting on a row by myself when the meeting started. A few minutes into the meeting a little boy came to my row and climbed over me into the chair next to me with a giant smile on his face. Then two more children joined us. It was wonderful to be a part of their community of family because of a little child's love. I even received a giant hug around my knees from one child. 😄

Ghana really is a wonderful place to be. I'm so glad we came.