Kente Cloth

This is a photo of several different colored shuttles to be used in Kente Cloth weaving.

This is one of the colors loaded in the shuttle that the weavers use.  There is a very thin piece of wood that goes through the center of the spool of thread and a small hole on one side where the thread comes out.  You can see the thread protruding from the hole at the bottom of the shuttle.  The thread will be tied to the long strands of the loom and then the weaver weaves back and forth horizontally to make the beautiful designs.

This is a Kente loom.  The view is from the weavers seat.  You can see the threads stretch out about 50 yards in front of the loom.  They make the cloth in strips of about 5 x 60".  They will then sew strips together to make a larger piece for clothing, bedspreads, table cloths or blankets.

These men are all kente weavers.  They have a nice shady spot they made by putting up posts and then fastening pieces of corrugated tin to the top.  There were four men working under this particular shelter.

This is a beautiful display of Kente cloth that is for sale.  Kente cloth is a specialty cloth made here in Ghana.  We pass many of the shops where this cloth is sold each Sunday on our way to our Branch in Agona.

This man is a Kente Cloth weaver.  Kente cloth is a special cloth made by hand here in Ghana.  Its made on a loom by shuttling a wooden bobbin back and forth by hand in front of the weaver.  Each design represents something different.  The first cloth was woven in the 1700's.  Its a very durable cloth and is used for many things including the heavy robes worn by the men of Ghana.  This particular piece is being made especially for the King.  This piece will not be duplicated or ever be for sale.  The weaver told me it will take him 8 months to complete the piece he is making.

Catching up!

Our friend Faith in the middle holding her new nephew, Gabriel. She had not seen her brother for over two years.

This is called Harmattan and comes from over 1000 miles away
The Harmattan is a cold-dry and dusty trade wind, blowing over the West African subcontinent. This northeasterly wind blows from the Sahara Desert into the Gulf of Guinea between the end of November and the middle of March (winter). The name comes from or is related to an Akan cognate.

This the sun, not the moon!

Departing missionaries in early December

Elder Ballard and Elder Bernasko. Elder Ballard is from Lehi and his Bishop is a good friend, Robert Peck.

Elders Halladay (the elder and the younger) and Sister Halladay

Pretty creative way to show off a water melon!

Ditto

Battery powered fans that run over 15 hours. With the power out so much it can get pretty hot in our Missionaries apartments. We are trying to get one of these for each companionship.

Sister Halladay with the District Relief Society President's 8th baby, Isaac!

District Conference. Outdoor pavilion at a local school. No microphones because the acoustics (metal roof) magnified every sound.

And the rooster that kept wandering through and crowing! I finally got up and chased him off a good distance.

Fa ra ra ra ra! Christmas Dinner! (you had to see the movie)

Christmas brunch with the other couples!
We had fish, shrimp, goat, and even some skinny turkey, along with lots of fruit and veggies.

Good Times!

This is Elvis Antwi, a soon to be departing missionary from our Branch in Agona.

This is Brian, my little shadow when his mother brings him to the Mission home. Veronica is the cook for the Mission home and this is one of her twins, Brian. His sister is Briana. They are about two and a half years old.

Our missionaries Elder Bonku and Elder Motloung on the right, with Ransford, our newest member of the Agona Branch. Left of Ransford are two new members of the Asamang Branch, and Elder Halladay.... the younger! A distant cousin I am sure, from Brigham City Utah.

It's a long walk or taxi ride for some to get to Church and back, so refreshments are in order.

We have one primary class with 10-20 children on any given day.

Package is the brown envelope on the left. If parents send anything other than the flat rate white plastic USPS envelopes, customs nabs them. We have to open every package, and every package inside every package. Its Christmas morning for me every week! Sadly Customs also charges for everything in the packages that are opened, all because they come in the wrong type of package.

Sister Halladay keeping the primary children happy with her balloons.

And yes, we DID clean up after dinner.

Lets eat already. The turkey is getting cold!

Licking their own beaters, er fingers. Funny the men didn't get invited for this part of making thanksgiving pies. (It was a peanut butter pie TOO!)

Typical friendly and happy faces in Ghana.

A chopped Hummer! Not sure it makes sense to chop a Hummer......

Christmas time! The postal folks felt sorry for me with so many packages and so much weight. We average about 5-7 packages a week. I thought we had a lot this week with 20. Not even. We had 46 the week of Thanksgiving, that's four large bags at 50-80 lbs a bag. And 54 last week! We are going twice a week this week because my truck wont hold any more in one load.

I decided to get out and push a stranded car off the road and one of the road side ladies selling things decided to run out and help. She forgot to take her load off her head! Didn't matter she just pushed and balanced like it was old hat.

Our Christmas tree is up and we are listening to Christmas music! No snow yet.....

For all the foodies out there...

Pepes

These are ripe plantain which is a staple here in Ghana.  The people here make foufu, bonku and plaintain chips from these.  If they're making foufu, they will mix in casava with the plantain or sometimes yam with casava insteaad of plantain.  Plantain has a rather bland taste.  The yam is not like the yams in the US, they're more like a potatoe.  They like to deep fry the yams in chunks and dip them in pepe' which is made from hot peppers with a mortar and pestal.

Veronica, the mission cook is shown here making bonku for all the missionaries headed home the next day.

These are tilapia.  Veronica cooked them over a grill after she had marinated them with onion, garlic and ginger.

These giant snails were being sold in the market place.  This is a normal size bucket.  These were as big as my fist if not bigger.  I guess some people here do eat these.  And no, I did not buy them.    

KFC?  hmmm...

Macdonads too...

I,ve not tried Holy Mary's yet but is sure to be Ghanain food which is fish or chicken, rice and plantain.

Burger Queen anyone?  Yes, they do burgers here.

I cannot say enough about the fresh produce that is available here in Ghana.  The apples come from South Africa but I believe a lot of the other fruits and veggies in this picture are grown in Ghana.  The second largest export food in Ghana is cacao beans.  They make a drink here called milo that is from the cacao.  Its a staple in their diet.  

The giant Macaroons here are to die for!

These are called ball floats because they're shape is round and they deep fry them in oil.  YUM!

A Ghanain apple.  Or as Harry Potter claimed, dragon ears...

A Ghanaian meal consisting of chicken stew, coleslaw and jolof rice. (spicy rice)  The little little container above is a VERY hot sauce that they love to eat with their meals.  I like it if its not with a fish base.

Oops,  how'd that photo get in here?  Ok, ok, so were typical Americans.... nobody is perfect.  :-)