Kristi Goes to Ghana

Weekend in Kumasi!

Feb 6-8

Weekend trip to Kumasi!  We left Saturday morning at 5:30 and didn’t arrive in Kumasi until 6pm!  We did make several stops on the way in Tamale, Kintampo and Sunyani for visiting with Dr. Jean and Bob’s friends and running errands.  We still drove for at least 8 hours though!  The roads are really poor, with lots of pot holes, broken down vehicles, bikers, pedestrians and speed bumps; plus, some of the roads are dirt. 

Our stop in Sunyani was to visit a friend of theirs who works for the Forestry Commission/Wildlife Division, Mr. Haizel.  Dr. Jean wanted to talk to him about possibly working with an American bicycle manufacturing company to form bike trails between Saboba and several of the surrounding smaller, rural communities.  Not only would this make biking safer for the people of these towns and visitors, but it could be a tourist attraction, bringing in tourists with money to help support the members of these communities.  Dr. Jean really does so much for the people here, not just in Saboba.  Mr. Haizel seemed very receptive to the idea, so hopefully it is something that will materialize! 

Kumasi is a town of about 2 million people, mostly of the Ashanti tribe, and is very different than Saboba.  It is much more urban, with more brick buildings and tin roofs than Saboba.  In Saboba most of the dwellings are small circular buildings made of clay with thatch roofs.

When we arrived in Kumasi, we ended up staying at Big Man’s for the night.  Sunday morning, we woke up and went to church with Big Man at the school where they are teaching girls skills such as sewing.  The church experience was very different from what I am used to, but I enjoyed it!  There was a lot of singing and dancing and Dr. Jean gave the sermon, with Big Man translating.  There was one particularly cute little boy, probably around 18 months old who was clapping along with everyone and dancing to the music, bending his little knees to the beat of the song.  In the middle of the service, he started scooting out into the center of the floor and he peed!  I thought it was pretty funny, and one of the pastors just wiped it up with a cloth and kept on preaching!  The building where the service was held was a small room that had a roof, cement floors and walls open to outside. 

After church, we went to Ghana National Culture Center and got lunch.  Dr. Jean and I took a tour of the museum which had a lot of artifacts from previous Kings and things taken from the British when they were in Ghana in the late 1800’s.  We then browsed all of the shops and I found a few souvenirs and a really neat acrylic painting for myself!  I had a really great time.

When we were finished there, we headed over to meet a couple of missionary friends of Dr. Jean and Bob at a Guesthouse.  The guesthouse was so beautiful!  It had tiled floors and great water pressure….these things are not common in Saboba!!  We had a lovely dinner there and chatted with LeAnn and Parker (the two missionary friends). 

Sunday night/Monday morning Bob got up around 1 to follow the Superbowl on his computer because the TV in the guesthouse didn’t have satellite.  He was really tired Monday morning!  It was nice to be informed of who won and how the game went