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!
Amazing!
ReplyDeleteYou and Diane are so resurceful
We can't wait to hear the rest
love u
mom and dad