a rest day

;;got all  necessary pages printed, and hopefully they will be off to the printer tomorrow..
using my new rice cooker/crock pot with success, very quick results so I am a happy camper

order of service booklet for installation of canons on Saturday

I find making a service booklet a very frustrating event but this one is done so I can settle

I probably use a very primitive method involving cut and pasting, it gets done but what a process

and everyone and their mother dropped by while trying to input the bulletin, for legit reasons, dropping off info for bulletin but still it made the process more chaotic for me,  whine whine whine

ok all done. no more whining

my upper retainer is loose yet again, getting a new one when I return as this one is bent so the orthodontist told me, probably bent as it has become loose or fallen off many times, so now eating a soft diet so it will stay there longer hope hope hope

Monday

Day of rest..I think not, laundry +++, tidy and clean, work on bulletin for Installation of Canons this Saturday, read. Emanuel, Former bishops secretary dropped by as the AYPA were having their year end gathering on the lawn of the cathedral and invited me along, the one thing here that one has to get used to is spontaneous sermons, I arrive and Emma asked me to give a Xmas message for the group, well a few minutes later  I did, then they wanted to know about me, and the questions afterwards were .. what did I like about being in Ghana and what did I find frustrating ..very interesting questions, anyway after they served great BBQ chicken with Soobolo (another name is Hibiscus tea with spices) to drink, and reminded me of Sorrel (uses sorrel flowers with spices) a drink I have in Trinidad and at St. Stephens Downsview, I wondered if the Caribbean drink if an distant relative of the African one,, small world

Just went on line to see if there was any relation between the two drinks and one site said sorrel had an African name sobolo,  well I guess my taste bud memory is still working!!!!

busy Sunday

the servers (17 of them)  got new robes donated by the Society of the Good Shepherd, purple trimmed with gold rickrack, ... very attractive

servers in new robes blessed by Bishop Festus

  bringing in the elements for Eucharist

For the afternoon

Then off to the 70th Birthday Party for Mercy (she is a lay Eucharistic Minister at the cathedral)
and Fr, Martins' sister

it was held at a hotel, singing, dancing Ghana style, lots of speeches and tributes to this great woman,from family and friends, great food, the weird part for me was when we lined up for the dinner buffet which was being served, there were take out foam clam boxes and most everybody took the food to go (me too), I saw very few eating at the tables, there had been snack food and drinks on the table during the celebration,  I mentioned to Venerable Num that this was a very different practice than what I was used to, now I am home, ate part of the take away for a snack (very tasty),  we all got a "loot bag" and a small package of candy, loot bag had a heart shaped piece of pink soap and a white washcloth embroidered in the corner                     MERCY

                                                                               70 YEARS 

                                                  with gold thread, very pretty and absolutely practical

BOXING DAY

no mad sales today, just a quiet Saturday, got Bishop's Newsletter finished - gone to print

the front door (well really I have only one door so there is no back door) anyway it has dragged on the floor when opening and closing since the place was built, a bother to say the least, I had a carpenter come to measure for two shelves today, storage is at a premium and there are ten foot ceilings so a couple of shelves above the wardrobes will be great, he struggled with the door and came back later to fix it, the Good News is IT DOES NOT DRAG ANY MORE but the Bad News is the latch that pops out to keep the door closed is stuck in so, now the only way to keep the door closed it to lock it with the key when coming and going  ooopsy 

AFEHYIA PA to all

Merry Christmas in Twi (sounds like 'a fleece ya pa' without the L in fleece)
Service this am had great liturgical dancing, supper was a success, I told Yaw (nephew) that the rule in my house is that no one can go home hungry (he thinks I'm nuts) I got  DVD to entertain him while Gifty and I talked drinking tea after supper, he of course did not want to go home but it will be here the next time you come,

Christmas Eve

Evening service included Blessing of the Creche, lessons and carols, pageant, Eucharist, the evening starts with a huge fire outside and the society of the Good Shepherd dancing around it singing, Meaning so I was told, the fire is to replicate the fire to keep the shepherds warm and that is why the Society of the Good Shepherd sing and dance, several dancers have a wooden shepherd's crook

Sheep in front of Mary and Joseph from the pageant, 

more pageant pics tomorrow as it is 1230am and service is at 9am, my bed is calling...

Day before xmas eve

just like  a regular Wednesday here, in the office, trying to put together the Bishop's xmas newsletter, had a brain freeze in cropping pictures, finally got it figured out though, decided dinner for the 25th, experimented with the rice cooker/crock pot to make decent rice, it funny if one uses appropriate proportions of water and rice that the rice is cooked and fluffy, celebrating the tap water is back on after being out since Sunday night ---laundry 1/2 washed, dried and put away, and the rest tomorrow and can flush the toilet, small things make me happy, I have solar coloured lights up and will turn them on while we eat dinner on xmas, . 

at the end of the convention farm tractors have many uses: hauling the trailer with the plastic rented chairs and the tents

embroidery class

I arrived and they were very busy sewing on the machines so it seemed the best to cancel the class,
I mean were have lots of time to move forward. Daniel, the artist at the centre had his girl friend visiting for the holidays, she teaches in the Western Region, so the three of us got our pic taken

recovering...

Moved a little slow in the am but finally got up to speed, no water since late last night so can't do the needed laundry in the basket. so went shopping with Adu driving, he is so funny, driving down a street in the market which has one lane as the rest of the road is filled with parked cars and stalls, anyway, I wanted tomatoes so he drives very slow beside a stall with tomatoes and starts yelling ??? in Twi, woman puts tomatoes in a bag and I hand her the money and she hands me the bag of tomatoes, I never got out of the car and the car never stopped moving, I laughed and told him he was always coming shopping with me, he laughed, he can find anything you ask for, I wanted a dvd as Gifty is coming for dinner on the 25th and bringing her 7 year old nephew Yaw, who lives with her so I thought I would get a dvd for him to watch after supper while her and I talk as I have no toys here. so Adu finds a shop with dvds and I buy two for 3 cds each, I am going back tomorrow for cartoons which I hope I can find. the ones I bought are ??? some boy hero saving the world with a magic watch. Anyway I have food again.  had spaghetti for supper, lots and lots of garlic and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper, ....very tasty

the convention is finished

here is the intersection where they sheep spent the night on the small triangle in front of the light standard

the convention:
walk back and forth 3x day to attend sessions and return to school where they are living to make their meals, eat and then sleep at night, start 5ish am, end 9 pm, the endurance and ability to keep up was envious to watch, I did not attend all the sessions, did not do the walk back and forth, did not have to make my meals and I was/am exhausted, My hat is off to all.. there are many reasons why some much is crammed into each convention: cost to get 3 to 400 people together, housed and fed so the time is well used, the chance to teach and everyone hear the same data, a time for fellowship across the archdeanery, so I am very impressed and pooped, the dean and I behind the altar. I have some videos of the dancing but have not figured out how to send them from my ipad to my computer, as they are deemed to big to send by email, had a couple of suggestions last time I mentioned this problem but to down load the needed program is more that my modem can handle so the videos will have to wait...sorry

This convention is a marathon

up and at the site by 6am, cold beyond cold , what may at first glance look like a cat on the median of the round about is actually a sheep, probably rested for the night, below the light to the right

and

 by 7 went to sit in the car with someone's jacket on, got sleepy and slept while life continued on, back on the circuit by 10am and then on to lunch by 2pm, left site and back to Nkoranza by 5pm, this routine is exhausting, I will need to go back to my place for a rest

Cynthia who served me great lunches while at the convention

interesting afternoon visits

After morning session and lunch, we (all ordained and catechists, there is about 10 of us) go visiting. I am told that it is protocol to visit the chiefs and Commander of the police Station, SO we go visiting
* the District Chief Executive (represents the President and implements government laws)
* the Traditional Chief and two Sub Chiefs (like a district manager)
Was at home but came into the Receiving Room in his offices with his two sub Chiefs
^Commander of the Local Police Station
The Greeting Ceremony was the same in all visits.
We are granted permission to enter and in a line, each of us shake the hand of who we are visiting and sit down, then the person we are visiting gets up and goes around shaking the hand of all of us.
The one of us states our business, Anglican Church holding a Convention in their area, so we came to greet them, tell them our business and invite them to the celebration service on Sunday. Then there is small talk, sometimes in local language so ??? what it was about, then we leave.
After these visits we went to a bereaved family, the Father died this morning, same greeting ceremony with the family (probably about 20 family, sitting receiving people), then we prayed and left.
all and all, very interesting, the Police Commander born in Ghana but now is American and has returned to work in Ghana, his father's people have lived in Toronto for many years.small world eh!

THEN Dean and I escaped to home, skipping the evening session, I had a little nap, shower and now relaxing. Tomorrow starts late at 6 am    goodie.......

sitting at the side of the road

up and out by 530  AM, please note the time!!!!!  Sitting in the car, outside the Mission House (rectory on the second floor, church offices on first floor, and stores on the street front), still dark with a couple of outside lights on buildings, two women bent over sweeping their store front with a twig broom but no handle, a dog walks by and a man on a motorcycle roars by,
Arrived at convention site around 6am, more than 200 people already there as the program  started at 430am (the middle of the night for me), had prayers, an address for an hour on allowing the Holy Spirit into your life ( a slight cold breeze, so you can see sweaters, jackets, socks with sandals and I am cold) the break for 2 12 hours so folks can have breakfast  which means they walk back to the school where they are stay (at least 1 km) and return for 930am, its not far I am told,
If I wanted to sit in the back row, not possible so Dean and I walk up front and sit centre stage, wood chairs have padding where as everyone else is on plastic chairs under tents,

Now on the breakfast break, back in the car (out of the wind) working the internet (like magic if you think about it, me on the internet with a portable modem in a village with one water pipe and hand pump for all to use, no sewers, just ditches at the side of the road, some block houses with tin roofs along side mud huts with thatched roofs). magic I say
I tripped last night and scraped my elbow and the dean assured me I would not die, hurts a bit though but I am toughing it out LOL

a little packing

going to a convention in the Archdeanery of Nkoranza tomorrow after embroidery class, I think it finishes Sunday, no idea the topic or how it unfolds but was reassured I will get fed and have a bed so what more can I ask for ......  ta ta

MEET SAMUEL

Sam came into Gifty's shop after lunch with a large pan on his head containing limes in plastic bags

the price for 4 limes = 1 Ghana Cedi (2.7 GC = 1 Canadian dollar).

Today the schools are empty as I learned that Xmas break has started till the New Year. 

So Sam, age 13, in grade 3, is out of school so for his mom he walks up and down the streets, selling limes. Gifty in conversation with Sam, learned that his mom is disabled so Gifty will follow up to see whether mom would like to learn how to sew to have a marketable skill. It is thought that mom held Sam out of school probably because she did not have the 200 GC for a year, and so he started late. There is no safety net here, no government disability pension, no universal health care, so one must make do, using children to earn money, selling what is wanted, making I have no idea how little, with each bag of 4 limes.

Note in the picture, the roll of fabric on his head and he balances the large pan on top of it, 

to carry his wares down the street.

FINALLY bought the slow cooker

ran errands today with Adu in his taxi, had seen a cooker at Melcom's

1.  so I went, I saw and I bought, the place is decorated for xmas with Christmas music over head, sorta nice singing as I went around. they call it a rice cooker but it does stews etc,I guess that's why it is called a multi rice cooker exactly what I can use,

Precentor gave me a yam, when cooked its like dry mashed potatoes so load it up with margarine and garlic and salt and pepper and some chix on top....very nice   

Advent Wreath

it may be the third Sunday in Advent but today the cathedral was introduced to the Advent Wreath, we had the candles arrive in the shipment so better late than never, we described and lit three candles today, hopefully by next year we can have created a stand for the candles. Next week there will be a short written description for those who were not here today
AND some new pews with padded seats and back ... they are very nice

a funny thing happened on the way to the store

When passing the cathedral I saw a group had a session inside so being nosy I went to the reception desk outside and asked what was going on - it was a workshop for teachers to empower kids, but I noticed piles of pens and notepads and info papers on the desk and the session had been going for a while, NOT MANY ATTENDED says I, no she said we went to all the churches but only a handful attended, she said they were a new event planner and visited all the churches but had poor attendance, and the fee included lunch,  me having worked in communities for a long time I asked some procedural questions about their methodology to get attendees.  the long and the short of it was, both Jacqueline and her husband Percy will call in the new year and we will sit down to talk about 'how to sell a program" I would think it would be useful and needed but folks need to identify their own needs before they would use this workshop, anyway fun, she kept saying but we are new at this and I said, ok but if you want your company to be successful there are some proven strategies that will help that goal,  .. Percy and I met and they will call in January to have a discussion -  funny who you meet on the way to the store

library visit

 there is an opportunity to obtain used books in Canada for a library here so I visited the government libraries yesterday  omg  the big library has only one building finished, sparsely supplied with books,  a reading & reference section,  sparse is the operative word, 

then
we went to see the children's library in a different location omg x2 they have not had electricity for one year as the government will not pay the bill, the building itself is falling apart and there are few books on the shelves,
so
the fact that there will be a library on the cathedral grounds will be a big bonus for the four Anglican schools near by.

To live in a place like Canada distorts knowing the 'every day' reality in a developing country. 

the worse that Canada has, 

is probably 100x better that what is common place in many places in the world

CHILDREN'S LIBRARY

lesson 2

Well ...  we gathered again, homework was examined, my comments included ..what do you think I would say about your work... actually many figure out how they can improve on their own.
Today we tackled lazy daisy stitch and talked about how it could be used. I am impressed with the concentration and willingness to persevere in getting better skills in handling the needle, they talk and sing and laugh and chat all the while working the needle.

embroidery 101

Started lessons to do embroidery this morning at the Holy Paraclete Skill Centre,

I needed to remember that I need to take everything that might be needed, zip lock bags to store embroidery work, hoops -thanks to all who contributed as there were plenty of choice for everyone to choose from, floss thanks to Wendy and the Bible thrift store there was plenty of colours to select, needles thanks to Bible thrift store, and we were off....... how to separate the threads, thread the needle, put a knot at the end and then dive into making stitches, we practiced two stitches and talked about how these could be used on dresses, pillow cases, blankets, (if anyone has any embroidery transfers or sees them in a thrift shop I would really appreciate them, Box 23, Sunyani, B.A. Ghana, West Africa), it was fun to watch some catch on really quickly and others need time to get what being asked, I needed to remember some of these young women have never put a foot inside a school and I have a big accent in my speaking so Daniel was busy translating when there was trouble in understanding, I am taking a couple stoles that I have here, that have embroidery on them to show what could be the result, I was very picky about straight lines and equal spaces stitches, 

So their homework was that to do two rows of each stitch by next class on Thursday. We start at Canada 10 am which is 10 am and all but 2 were there, good for them as 10 am Ghana time could be anywhere up to noon. So we are the way to skilled workers.

Barbering soon

 I got a huge favour from Mary(who is on vacation) who took me today to Men's Prison give them funds to buy the needed equipment, my goodness that place is busy and crowded, more info and pics when stuff arrives. Said hello to those in the hairdressing salon and to the big bosses on the Women's side, there was an student in the salon, happy as a clam and learning she said. Finally got the tote that I sent by ship and had canned ham for supper, my ....  was it ever good. Here there is corned beef, sardines and tuna on the shelf but they are not to my liking. I know I would rethink it, if I was really hungry but until then  .....  no go

a marathon for sure

Harvest Sunday (fund raiser), start at 9, sermon 3/4 hour, 2 1/2 hours of fund raising, started the Great Thanksgiving at 2 pm and home by 3,,, whew I was glad for my snack bag to keep going. There is merit in the fund raising system, raised +++ money, it does work but I think it is contextually specific.  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BENJAMIN

Ben is 7 today, how time flies...

COLD

it was 78f when I woke up and wished I had a sweater, cooooold it was

to market and bought veggies, then came home and made spaghetti sauce, a little bit of cayenne pepper goes a long way, even when it is off the stove. Will freeze it in usable amounts to make supper time easier, still have not look too hard for a crock pot, there is one at Melcom's and I need to go and see it again.

Last spring, before Easter I asked Patrick, carpenter, to make a Pascal Candle stand and we had a long conversation about what it should look like.    well as I left the beginning of June he claimed he was working on it but it did not appear, when I got back in October I went back and re ordered it, today I went back and he said I did  not remind him, I threatened with a smile to slice his throat (he laughs at me when I make the sign of slicing his throat) so we are down to the last call, I said if it was not done by Xmas I was finding another carpenter, he claimed, no, I am your carpenter, anyway, time will tell.  I hope he does it as he is a nice guy and is handy as the shop is across from Melcom's (Ghana Walmart store).

I rode a taxi today, driver name is Yaw, we made a couple of stops including the ATM, I have his number so he says I just need to call for him to pick me up, I have a couple of names now which will be handy when I go out. There is no central dispatch service for the taxis here, you stand at the side of the road and wave your hand, there are two ways of riding, one is like a bus, cost is cheap, people get on and off but I am dammed if I can figure out what direction they are going, second way is called 'dropping', means you hire the cab, like in Canada, and it costs more, and you can make several stops like I did today, yes you pay per stop but it sure in handy, anyway I got my shopping done without sweating ++++, just a little

NOT QUITE 3 PLY

INSTEAD A NICE BOX EH!

future possibilities

Bishop put up a notice that people who would like support to do graduate study abroad were to apply.
today applicants are being interviewed, a way to improve the education level within a population where 40% of the population never go to school and another 15% are still illiterate having been to school, A great move forward for the country