Independence Day - 6th March

From 1902 until 1957 Ghana was a British colony, known as the Gold Coast. After many hard fought battles the Ghanaians eventually gained independence on 6th March 1957. Every year on 6th March Ghana celebrates Independence Day, a national holiday, and this year was the 53rd anniversary. In every town there are parades and speeches, and children play a major part in the celebrations.

Every year 32 children are selected from each school to march in the parade. For weeks the sounds of drums and marching have resonated around Jirapa as the children have practised, and several times I have witnessed it. At Tampoe Primary, our partner school, the children practised their marching every day from 7.30 until 8.15 in the morning. They often supervised themselves to do this, organising some very rhythmic drumming and well-timed marching.

On the morning of Independence Day (6th March fell on a Saturday this year) the schools all met at the large Jirapa Park at 6.30am ready to start the parade at 7am. In honour of the day I wore the traditional Ghanaian outfit that had been made for me by Dr Isaac’s wife back at the Cocoa Research Institute.

There was an air of anticipation as the children gathered and waited for the local dignitaries, who would be judging the standard of the marching, to arrive.

Then finally it all got underway, starting with the Kindergarten children, then moving onto the Primary Schools, the Junior High Schools, the Senior High Schools, and other community groups.

After the marching came the traditional dancing and speeches by the children...

To the amusement of the Ghanaians Aaron took part in some of the dancing with the children! He wore the traditional smock, designed for keeping cool, and a bag made from goatskin.

Finally one of the local dignitaries, Bernard Puozuin (District Chief Executive), made a speech about Ghana and independence before presenting prizes to the schools for their marching. There were first, second and third prizes in each category, and one of the schools I support, St Joseph’s Primary, was awarded third prize. The headteacher told me that the prize was some food and drink for the children and 10 cedis (about £4) for the schools to spend as they would like. Although £4 doesn’t sound like a lot of money, here in Ghana it will be enough to buy each of the children in the school a pen and pencil as a treat.

Ghana's favourite food - Fufu!

Every Ghanaian loves the favourite national dish – fufu. Fufu is simply yam that is mashed and pounded into a pulp and served with groundnut (peanut) soup and sometimes a little meat. It tastes a bit like mashed potato but is much heavier and more gloopy. It is eaten with the fingers of the right hand (never the left as this is considered impolite) and should be swallowed without chewing.

Last night we were invited to celebrate the birthday of Aiden, one of the local headteachers. Fufu was to be on the menu as this is his favourite food, and we were to prepare and cook it! We were asked to arrive at 4pm, but Noriko knows the culture well by now and suggested we should turn up after 6pm. Sure enough, when we arrived at Aiden’s parents’ house we were too early! That said, this gave us the opportunity to take in the atmosphere. The house is at the end of a row of several down a dirt track and there is a real community feel to the area. There were families and animals everywhere, including about fifteen piglets only 3 days old, several dogs and lots of goats.

Soon Aiden and his wife Lesley arrived and we left his parents’ house to go next door to Lesley’s family home. Preparations were already underway to make the supper – the groundnut soup was on the coals, and the chopped yams were boiling on the fire. Noriko helped to stir the soup and really looked the part, and soon the pito arrived. Pito is the locally brewed alcohol, made from millet, and tastes a little like scrumpy cider. It varies in strength and is served in calabashes – bowls made from the shells of pumpkins. This pito was quite strong.

Soon Elise, a peace corps volunteer I met last week and who lives locally, arrived and the party was in full swing when some of Aiden’s friends turned up.

Lesley called us inside the house where she and her younger sister were already pounding the yam. They were using a giant pestle and mortar; chunks of boiled yam were inside it and Lesley’s sister was pounding it with huge strength in a rhythm. Meanwhile, Lesley was folding the mixture when her sister lifted the pestle and before she pounded it into the mortar. I was so worried for Lesley’s hand as the pestle could definitely break bones, but she assured me they have practised since childhood, that she has only once been injured and that it was not serious.

Soon we were invited to try pounding for ourselves. It was much more difficult than it looked! The pestle is large and heavy and you have to bang it down really hard. Lesley kept telling us to pound harder. We soon ran out of energy and had to take turns. Because we were making quite large quantities nearly everyone in the group took their turn, including the children and men, even though cooking in Ghana is really the woman’s domain. At one point Lesley gave Noriko the nickname ‘Macho woman’ and we laughed our heads off! Slowly the fufu took shape, and Lesley continued to knead it like bread dough, while adding small quantities of water until she was happy it was the right consistency.

It seemed to take a long time for the food to be ready, but at last we were invited to sit outside again and our meals were served. It was dark outside as nightfall is at 6.30pm every day in Ghana all year round. Noriko, Elise and I shared a bowl between us. There was a big piece of fufu, bathed in groundnut soup with several small pieces of meat in it. The meat this time was beef which is quite unusual in Jirapa, as there are not many cows here. Usually it would be goat meat.

By now I am used to eating by hand. We were provided with a bowl of water in which to wash, and then we used our right hands to scoop up some soft fufu, dip it in the soup and eat it. You aren’t meant to chew fufu because essentially the pounding has done that for you, but I prefer to chew it a little. It tastes delicious, especially with the soup, but is very filling. Before long the three of us were saying ‘N tige-la’ which means ‘I am full’ and the dishes were cleared away. Meanwhile, the children of the family were still pounding the yams inside the house. I am unclear as to why but I imagine they were preparing their own meals as they did not eat with us.

After eating their fill, Aiden’s friends departed, and shortly Aaron arrived back from his week-long trip to Tamale. He too was served fufu and we spent time catching up on news. Suddenly Lesley appeared and before we knew it Aiden was covered in talcum powder! Covering the birthday person in powder is apparently a Ghanaian tradition. Whether it really is or not, it was certainly very funny and Aiden looked a picture!

Birthday trip to Mole National Park

Cath’s birthday is the 17th February and mine is 20th so it made sense to do something special to celebrate. We chose to go to Mole National Park, which is the biggest national park in Ghana. Various mammals, like antelope, elephant, worthogs and baboons, live there safely with very little poaching, and in a protected habitat.

Aaron, Noriko and Cam, another volunteer based in Wa, opted to ride on their motorbikes to the park, but Cath and I felt it was too far to go on a bike, so we took the bus. To do this we had to go and stay in Wa at Cam’s house the night before, as the bus would leave at 6.00am. Unfortunately the tickets were sold out the day before, and there is only one bus. All we could do was queue up at about 5.30am and hope for standing room. Luckily, after much jostling, we finally made it onto the bus, knowing we would be standing for about 3 hours, and that just under half of the journey would be on a very rough road.

Indeed, the journey rattled our bones, but we made good time and arrived in Larabanga, just outside the park at around 9am. Here we were met by two young men who lived in the village and wanted to act as tour guides for us. At first we were suspicious of them, but it soon became clear that they genuinely wanted to help us (for a tip of course!). We knew we needed to wait for the other three on their motorbikes so it seemed a good time for breakfast. The guides didn’t let us down and soon enough we were eating omelette sandwiches and drinking mugs of tea and coffee. Aaron, Noriko and Cam arrived just as we were finishing. They decided to push on ahead for the last 6km to the park, and then come back and collect us.

This gave us time to be given a tour of the local mosque and sign the visitors’ book, before touring the house and working place of one of the guides. This young man had set up a small school for girls in his backyard and was using a wall which had been burned by his cooking fire as his blackboard. Several volunteers apparently arrive from time to time, and we were shown the living quarters he was building for them. The whole set-up was very enterprising, and he said he was doing it to give something back to his community. We felt very moved and gave him a donation towards the project.

The motorbikes soon arrived back and Cath & I took our lifts to the park, where we found our lovely hotel. Coincidentally two other volunteers who we already knew had been staying there for the few days before, so we spent some time catching up with them. The view over the watering holes was amazing! Also there was a swimming pool! This was very exciting because despite the very hot climate there aren’t any swimming pools in northern Ghana. We couldn’t wait to get in and cool down!

First we needed to move into our room. Cath, Noriko and I shared a room, and Aaron and Cam shared another. As we were opening our door we noticed through the window that there was a large baboon in the room next door. It had come in through their open patio door and was rummaging through some food and drink and grabbing as much as it could! We raised the alarm but too late – the baboon had run off with armfuls of goodies for his family...

As well as the view and the pool there was a western-style restaurant so we planned to eat there on our second evening. Meanwhile, baboons wandered around the pool area and elephants roamed around the watering holes – a truly amazing sight and a relaxing atmosphere. We spent the afternoon swimming, resting and chatting, and despite our sunscreen every one of us was sunburned. We should have known better but have become used to not being burned because we are usually covered up for work, and more often than not we are inside.

Later in the afternoon we wandered over to the staff canteen which we had been told was cheaper than the restaurant and served good Ghanaian food. The rumour was true so we stopped for drink and to order dinner for later. As we sat and chatted with other travellers a family of warthogs arrived and began to wander around the seating areas. There were several babies too and we loved watching them, trying to work out what sort of animals they most resembled. They seem to be a cross between a pig and a small horse, and often to reach the ground for food they would actually kneel down.


Later that evening after dinner we had a diving competition in the pool. This was hilarious, and the boys tried every combination of joint diving they could think of for us to mark out of ten. We couldn’t stay out of the pool because it was such a luxury and for once we actually felt cool.


Next morning – my birthday - we were up at 6.30 so that we could start our early morning hike. This was a walk through the forest and savannah looking for various animals, but primarily for elephants. We saw antelope and birds, and even stood in large elephant footprints, but it was quite a long time before we actually saw elephants. When we did it was really worth it. A small family group was gathered in a watering hole, wallowing and gently moving through the water together.


Walking on, we found another group at another watering hole, and as we sat watching them the guide suddenly alerted us to move away as the bull elephant was approaching. The bull elephant can be quite dangerous if it feels threatened and can charge so it was best to be safe. He ambled slowly and kept an eye on us, before walking straight through the place where we had been sitting and into the water. A magnificent sight.


On returning to the hotel we had a good breakfast and I called my family, describing the scene. The rest of the day was spent much the same as yesterday, except we were much more respectful of the sun, and stayed covered up and in the shade. The baboons, elephants and warthogs continued to keep us entertained, as did the many tourists and Ghanaians we met.
Eating in the western restaurant was a fitting end to my birthday! We all ordered a variety of western food, but most especially French fries, and it was delicious! Sadly the cheeseburger did not live up to expectations. In the picture on the menu it looked like a normal cheeseburger, but in reality it was a hunk of dry minced meat (not sure what type) in two small slices of bread, with some Dairylea kind of cheese. It is impossible to get real cheese in northern Ghana because it is not made here, and it is difficult to transport from other places.

Next day we were up again at 6am as Cath and I needed to catch the bus in Larabanga. There is only the one bus, and it travels through the village sometime between 8 and 9am, so we needed to be there promptly. Once they had dropped us off, Aaron, Noriko and Cam made their way on their motorbikes to Wa. Sadly, when the bus finally arrived around 9.20 it didn’t stop because it was full. We weren’t sure what we would do next, but our donation to the young guide two days before paid off. He said he would ensure we got back to Wa that day. First he tried to negotiate for us to get a pillion ride to a nearby small town where we could try to catch a tro-tro (small minibus) which might or might not be full. We turned that option down on the grounds of cost and sat down to wait.

About an hour later there was sudden movement as the two guides spotted and flagged down a car for us. Not only was the Ghanaian driver going all the way to Jirapa, but there were also spaces for two passengers. We hopped in alongside another passenger and got chatting on the bumpy journey. The driver, Kuufaa, turned out to work for the Education Service so we had plenty to talk about, and he said he made the journey regularly. Today he was going to drop in on his father’s family, and did we mind waiting while he caught up with them? Of course we didn’t mind and when we arrived at his village the family were so welcoming and friendly. They spoke little English, and we attempted some Dagaare, but mainly everyone just smiled. Over the next hour the whole family gathered as we were given pito to drink and treated to a lunch of TZ and spicy leaves. The food was delicious.

Lastly we visited the market. Kuufaa asked if we wanted meat. Cath said that she was a vegetarian and an instinct told me to pretend I was too. My instinct was not wrong! They took us to the back of the market where there was a large carcass which was being chopped up, while the lungs were cooking on the open fire. If I had said I ate meat I would have felt obliged to buy some, so I was relieved not to have to!

Finally we arrived back in Wa about 2.30pm where we stopped to pick up Cath’s motorbike for the last leg of our journey back to Jirapa. Once we had eaten at the Sisters’ Convent (the only place resembling a restaurant in Jirapa) we arrived home exhausted. Later that evening Kuufaa called us to check we were home safely! Cath said that’s the thing with living here.... Just when you think it’s hopeless and how on earth are you going to solve this problem, something happens to restore your faith, and remind you – this is Ghana!