Oh what a night!

Tonight was by far the most incredible night in Ghana!

First I will give background to the night, then describe the AMAZING events that took place in this fantastic evening!

Leading up to the parties...

I have heard all week, when asking at the Autism Center, "What should we do this weekend?" that there is a festival in Accra. I could never get an answer to "What will that entail?" or any specifics other than, "There will be lots of people eating food and celebrating..." ok... I have found out that they are celebrating the harvest; I also heard that there would be a party for twins who were born. I did not know who or what or where, but those were the only pieces of information I could really secure about this "Festival in Accra" that I kept hearing about.

Tonight (after mourning the departure ;( of my dear comrade, traveling buddy, and other-half-in-Ghana, Diane) Elizabeth (a fellow American volunteer) and I went out to experience the "Festival," wherever whenever it may be. We got on a tro-tro and headed to Accra Central. There, we met up with Louis, the same drummer with whom I traveled to Cape Coast, and we watched a cultural play humorously depicting discrepancies between two ancient tribes, background for the festival apparently. The performance was entirely in Ga, so after enjoying the atmosphere for a little, getting our one-cedi's worth out of our ticket ;), we left to head to Jamestown, where we heard there would be "Lots of music." We had no real source of information, and did not know what or where anything would be.

Jamestown is near the water, on the west side of central Accra, and could be considered a more "slum" area to western visitors. People are sleeping all over, families crowded into small spaces with clothes and belongings hanging all over. No real marks of whose house and things lie where exist, yet people live happily and self-sufficiently in this area, with markets and businesses abound.

The Amazing, Exciting Part of the Night...

The Journey There

Elizabeth and I were walking from Accra Central to Jamestown, in a dark, crowded area, and were trying to find a tro-tro or a ride to take us down the street. We finally flagged a tro-tro and asked if it was going to Jamestown. The mate and the driver looked at each other, and said, "Yea!" and then the mate started yelling, "Jamestown!" out the window! Haha. The driver then started yelling, "One cedi one cedi one cedi." (A tro-tro ride is usually about 15 or 20 peswas [cents].) We told the driver we wanted to go to "The Festival," although we really had NO idea what that, "Festival," meant! He looked at us, unsure either, and I said, "We want music. Live music! You know... music like [make drumming motion and guitar], not from a CD music." He said, "Oh, ok!" and drove the tro-tro, with only two obrunis in it, straight through a crowded jamestown area that was NOT meant for tro-tros, and dropped us off right IN the middle of tons of crazy craaaaaaaazy parties!

First thing we saw was the boxing match. We thought this was an interesting way to celebrate a harvest, but after watching for a few minutes, we walked around and saw more of the parties. There were tons of people dancing all throughout this huge "slum-ish" area, with tents set up and speakers and dj's and costumes specific to each area/crowd. When we first got there, we did not know how each party came to be, and walked through lots of dark alleys viewing all the different amazing cultural festivities of African dresses and dances in this dark area full of slum-like houses that would not seem to be fit for massive amounts of people gathering in nice clothes with party-furniture and loud speakers to party.

We wanted to dance, but didn't know what we would be intruding into. One of the parties looked like it could have been a wedding, with an arch and a "red carpet" type of thing leading to the dance floor. We decided it would be a LOT more fun if we had our Ghanaian friends with us, but since Elizabeth and I just sort of got up and went unexpectedly from the house, we didn't plan so we didn't call any of our friends to join us. I called Richard, and told him that this was so much fun and he and anyone else should come join us! His brother and him came... but the search was oh so funny.

We were in the middle of Jamestown, a huge area with no real streets or buildings or ANYTHING. Just a 'poor' area with lots of 'life.' We were in the middle.

We got pulled into a huge party by some ladies, and we liked that we were dancing among ladies because they protected us from weird men who wanted to get on us just because we were white. It was a LOT of fun, and finally after being in the center of that huge dance crowd, we realized that it was a celebration for two children, TWINS! I put it together, that that was the twin party I had heard about from a friend at the Autism Center! I never thought that I would find that twin party that she was talking about, as it seemed so random. OH WAS I WRONG.

In telling Richard where to come, I said, on the phone in this loud area, that we were in JAMESTOWN. I told him there were lots of parties everywhere, and to ask around for the TWIN PARTY, and he would find us. To make sure he understood what I said, I said, "Twins, do you know what that means?" When he said, "Huh?" I said, "two babies, born from the same mother at hte same time," and he understood.

We danced for quite a while, just me, Elizabeth, and all of the histerically laughing children, and even adults, at the parties who pulled us into their amazing dances. The dance floor cleared and the 7-year-old twins took the floor to themselves and put us to shame. Then, everyone danced again, and Elizabeth and I taught them the "Fishing move," where you pretend to cast out a line and the other person dances in toward the 'fisherman.' The kids, and even older people, just loved it and had so much fun dancing and sharing moves. These people really are incredible incredible dancers. We instantly became the guests of honor (even though the guests were all dressed in fancy African dresses and I was wearing my standard green-khakis and a best buddies t-shirt), solely because of our skin color. I really don't like being labeled, judged, and treated just based on my race, but it was definitely fun to have them welcome us so graciously as foreigners, and our skin color I guess just helped them notice that we were visitors.

The Funny Part

After making friends on the dance floor, we learned that a huge part of this entire festival was celebrating twins. We learned that every party in this whole entire city tonight is in honor of twins! We had told Richard, "Just ask for the twin party. You'll find us!"

After laughing absolutely histerically at our total lack of interpreting our surroundings, from wedding to dance-offs that were really all twin celebrations, I got a Ghanaian lady to help me describe our location to Richard. I sent him a text, and then kept dancing. Realizing that it had still been a while and we hadn't found Richard and his brother, we walked away and started to look around. [Note, the text message said, "We are near the Chief's palace. Go there and ask around where are the two obruni girls."]

Finally, I saw someone walk by and said, "That looks just like Kofi, Richard's brother," and it was! I later saw Richard run up ahead, so I ran and caught him. I ran through some ladies sitting and cooking, but did not touch them or even knock anything over. After we united with our Ghanaian friends, two of the ladies yell at me to come over to them. I have experienced so many little cultural differences that I was SURE that they were very angry at me for some reason dealing with my running through their area... either disrespecting their food or disturbing some spirit or who knows what it could be. Really, they just wanted to INSIST that I come back tomorrow to ea the food they are cooking! They were yelling to get my attention and to invite me to a meal!

The rest of the night, we went party-hopping from one crowd to another, for hours. We could have gone all night. I learned so many amazing dance moves, and felt like an absolute celebrity. Everywhere we went, people kept taking pictures with us and videotaping our dancing. There was DEFINITELY not another white person in sight in this whole area, and may never have been in the recent past. We did some intense dancing, and by 1:30 started to walk toward the main area to get home.

Getting a Taxi

"We always go for 2." That is what I always say when getting a taxi to go home to where we live, no matter where we are ;) Tonight, we were determined to get a taxi to take us back for 2 cedis so we didn't have to navigate tro-tros and walking at junctions this late at night in this area. There are thousands of taxis that drive by every moment, so it's not a problem to pass some up that want a higher price. After passing a few up that wanted way too much, we decided to make it a race. Boys vs. girls, Ghanaians vs. Americans. Elizabeth and I ran up the street to try to get one, and Richard and Kofi tried to get one too. Whoever got the lowest price the fastest won. The loser had to buy the winner Fan Ice (ice cream in a bag). I got us a taxi for 2.5 cedies, so we all got in. I celebrated, "Haha suckers, you owe me fanice!" and then when the others got in, the taxi driver said, "Oh wait. FOUR people!? That is too many. My taxi is too small. You must pay 4 cedis." NO WAY, haha. After some conversation, Richard, in the front seat told the driver he was police, HAHA. Still, the driver kept talking in a mix of Ghana languages and English about how it was too heavy and he couldn't take us. He even hissed down other taxis to try to get us. We decided to just get out because it was too weird, and start another race. I WON AGAIN!

Oh what a night!

Indoor recess... it's only 75 degrees outside, bundle up!

It is winter time here in Ghana! Yesterday, we were getting ready to do a workshop with the staff, and Baba, the administrator, asked, "Could you relocate so that the children can be in this room? I don't want them to be outside, it is too cold." Casey, the 5-month-long Global Autism Project volunteer, and I thought she was joking! She was not. They are really freezing cold here in their winter, of days reaching close to 80 and nights going just under 70 degrees Fahrenheit. When at the movies, one of my Ghanaian friends complained of being cold as well! They have absolutely no protection against cold, so I can see why it takes them by such surprise. It is very funny to watch the students have to play inside because it is close to 70 degrees! They end up running around outside anyway :)

Yesterday and today, I put on a workshop for the teachers, with the help of Casey. We taught the "Instructional Sequence," and brainstormed with the teachers on planning lessons. We talked about what makes effective teaching, and therefore learning, and thought of new ideas for certain topics and certain children. The staff were so attentive and motivated, making for very interesting and engaging discussions about how to better teach their children. We walked through the, "Modeling, guided practice, independent practice," steps of the instructional sequence along with introduciton, review, closure, etc etc. Today, one teacher shared her success of having a student independently complete a task after following through with the instructional sequence we had outlined for that student the previous afternoon!

Photo Slideshow... pictures from the Jewish village, Autism Center, and around our neighborhood in Accra

Shabbat in Africa!

This past weekend, Diane and I embarked on the ultimate adventure. We had both searched for a Jewish community in Ghana, and I had come upon the village of Sefwi Wiawso after much searching on the internet. From one small web-article and confirmation of the community’s existence from the AJWS group we met last week, we decided to head to the village with no further information. We left the Ikando house at 6:30am on Friday morning, and boarded a tro-tro for Kumasi. The ride was to take approximately four hours.

Tro-tros and buses do not have departure times here. When the vehicle is full, it leaves. That can take two minutes or two hours, and it is completely unpredictable. When the tro-tro was full, around 7:30, it pulled away, and a preacher jumped in without a seat and without buying a ticket. He stayed on for close to an hour, loudly preaching in Twi (a local language) about Jesus and Christian bible quotations. That was the beginning of our lovely day of traveling!

When we were nearing Kumasi, we asked someone on our tro-tro how we next get to Sefwi Wiawso. It would be unheard of, and practically impossible, let alone unsafe, to travel without knowing the exact route or locations of buses on which you will ride. In Ghana, that is the only way to get around. When we asked for directions near the end of our Accra-Kumasi ride, the entire tro-tro began discussing the best options. Of course no one pointed us in the right direction, but insisted on WALKING us all the way across town to the correct bus, wait while we buy our tickets, and speak to the driver to make sure that the tro-tro will take us to the exact location that we need to go. These were all complete strangers who were looking out for us so graciously! This makes traveling in Ghana so comfortable, easy, and even safe.

We took an extremely crowded, bumpy, hot tro-tro for just over three hours until we reached the village of Sefwi Wiawso. When we first boarded the tro-tro, waiting for it to leave, I realized that the AJWS group had given me the cell phone number of one of the Jewish community members. I called it to tell him that we were coming for Shabbat. He was very excited and said he would meet us at the bus station, and that we would be welcomed to stay in the home of one of the community members.


When we arrived, Akiva met us at the station and took us, by cab, to the Armah household, where we would stay.There, we had our own room with a bed, and Shabbat “equipment” out. There were candlesticks, a bread, and Fanta and Sprite for the blessings! They did not have or use wine, as it is very uncommon in Ghana anyways. We met Patrick, one of the sons of the family, and he told us about what Shabbat would be like. They make Friday night Shabbat in their homes, and then Saturday morning, go to the Synagogue around 8. Then, they come home, rest, eat, rest some more, and then go back to the synagogue to “talk about things. Like if some of us have read something new or learned something new during the week, we discuss it on Shabbat.” Then, they make Havdallah in their homes in larger groups.



On Friday night, Diane and I were so excited to be there, talk with the people, get to know them, and just ask them so many questions. They, on the other hand, wanted to respect us and insisted on giving us our own private space to relax and eat. They served us a nice meal of rice with a sauce made of beans, tomato sauce, and two hard-boiled eggs, right into our own room. We were disappointed that we would not eat with the whole family, but understood that they were just trying to treat their guests respectfully, according to their own culture’s grounds for respect. They insisted that we eat everything they brought in on our own, even when we asked them to please join us and share. After we ate, the family came into our room and said prayers. Most of them were English versions of the typical Friday night prayers, such as the prayers for the children and spouses. They also did some praying in their local language, Sefwi, and in Twi. We played and talked with the children for a while, and then slept very well in the quiet village.


Saturday morning we were woken up by a woman bringing us egg sandwiches and tea right to our room! We walked to the synagogue, and the walk was not a typical Shabbos walk... it was more like a hike! The path to the synagogue went through “rainforest,” village area. The synagogue was a rectangular room with benches and a table at the front, with bookshelves that held prayer books and talit. There is no Rabbi in Sefwi Wiawso, so the leader, Kofi, was basically a preacher/song-leader, but of Jewish “preaching.” Without understanding the language, it could have easily been a church service, with the style of preaching and praying. It was wonderful, however, to recognize some of the readings and songs.

The synagogue, above, is the blue/white building on the left. On the right is Kofi's house.

The Torah service took up the bulk of the time of the Saturday morning services. The prayers went by quickly, with some African songs, and then they spent a few minutes on each VERSE of the Torah portion, reading it aloud in English from the book and then discussing it in Twi/Sefwi, their local language. They did this for the Torah and the Haftarah portions. (I fell asleep for some of it, as did many of the children attendees.)


After services, we went back to the house where we were served another lovely meal of rice, beans, tomato sauce, and eggs. Then, we went on a walk around the village with Rachael, the 8-year old daughter of the family. After playing with the children for a while and touring where their school was, Diane and I fell asleep in our room. We were both so unbelievably exhausted from our past weeks of non-stop adventure that having this time to rest on Shabbat really took hold of us. We slept until it was time for Havdallah, and then had Havdallah and spent lots of time talking, singing, and dancing with the community.

During Havdallah, I snuck my camera on so that I could record one of their African/Jewish songs, “Me Nyame,” my lord is good. I also recorded some of their Havdallah service, which used the same, “Lai lai lai,” that we use in BBYO and other Havdallahs! At night, we had dance-offs with the kids, where they showed us their Michael Jackson-type moves, and then even ended up dancing the horah with a large group of children!



Sunday morning we woke up early to take pictures around the village. We could not take pictures of the synagogue and around the house on Saturday because they keep Shabbat fairly strictly. This, however, got confusing, along with other things. Some people’s cell phones rang, and some were even answered, on Shabbat. Also, the children came in and put on the radio and danced to it with low volume (unusual for the loud-loving Ghanaian culture). There were many instances where Diane and I looked at each other and said, “Ok?” for the strange followings of certain Jewish customs.

Albert, one of the older sons of the Armah family, was to take a computer class in Accra, so he took the bus with us back to Kumasi. Everyone we met in Kumasi could not BELIEVE that we had taken a tro-tro the whole journey! We loved tro-tros, as they leave sooner and go faster. Everyone we met, however, always said, “Tro-tros are dangerous. They drive to fast... etc etc.” We gave in and took the Metro Mass Transit bus with Albert to Kumasi. While slower, it was more comfortable. Nonetheless, tro-tro or bus, there was ALWAYS blaringly loud music/preaching coming over the radio. On the way back from Kumasi, we consented again to taking the luxurious bus, instead of a tro-tro, for one cedi more. This took over three extra hours than the tro-tro took, however! We will stick to our love of tro-tros from now on ☺



When we stopped in Kumasi, Diane and I decided we wanted to visit the hospital that was started by a doctor from the Cleveland Clinic. I called his nephew, who connected me with the administrator of the hospital. We took a taxi from the Kumasi bus station out to this village hospital, and got a private tour. It was a really incredible facility, with everything available for every type of patient need, from maternity care to radiology to physical therapy, and they even had a mortuary! It was great to get to see a hospital in Ghana, and fantastic to have the opportunity to visit the one started by someone from Cleveland!