Sat. and Sun.

Sat.                                 a wedding at the cathedral, Betty was very pretty bride

Sunday

continuing distribution of the barrel of school supplies at the end of Education Week

 

notice wardens with robes on the right

all in a days work

cute fabric

I really liked this fabric....for what purpose??????? no idea but I now have 3 yds

a little of this and a little of that

bought a applicator gun to apply silicone without a fork or spoon, now I am prepared the rain will stay away

knitting crew is coming along, two started a garter stitch vest to keep (thanks again to all who donated wool as it gives lots of choice for the girls to pick from), new game this week at the Skill Centre ... who can run the fastest to get a mango when it falls from the tree

 mangos while sitting under the mango tree

finished the on line course for teaching English as a Second Language, going to take one on teaching grammar as verb tenses are like mud to me. it has been a long time since grade 13 English grammar. Whether I ever use it, I can't say as lesson prep is ++++ work. It has been interesting though. I now speak and preach in simple sentences and speak slower as I am in a situation where English is a second language.

This is Education Week in Ghana, so today had a Grand Durbar: as far as I can figure it is when parents, students, teachers, officials from near and wide gather to celebrate Education in Ghana. It was held on the grass beside the cathedral. Kids recited poetry, scripture, gave speeches on being a good parent, dancing exhibitions, speeches all under the pointy roof tents with refreshment at the end. tomorrow is Sports Day, cant wait ....

                        

 Reciting poetry and scripture
              waiting their turn

giving a pep talk to parents on raising Godly children

 the only boy in traditional dress so need to show equal opportunity on this site

it rained cats and dogs

I thought I was protected from back flow from the septic tank  NO NO NO it was up 4 inches and the smell, well you know the out house, so I guessed that the one way valve was installed but not sealed with silicone, well I bailed out two pails and my back was screaming so I phone the plumber to ask if he used silicone, it takes a few minutes for him to figure out who I am,,, the mommy from the cathedral,,,yes, did you seal the valve with silicone  I ask ,,,,,,can't hear you he says, out in the rain I go to Dean and hand him the phone and say its the plumber, I think he did not use silicone around the valve, and then at the same time May is telling Dean that their bedroom ceiling is leaking down the wall and in the centre of the room, May is kind so comes and bails with me, I watch, she bails and carries the pail, 3 pails later the level is down so I ask her to stop, it stops raining so I get out the bleach to wash everything that needs to be cleaned,

time passes and a couple of hours later it starts to rain again, I have a tube of silicone, no application gun so just cut it open with a knife and use the end of a fork to slather it around the one way valve, looks crappy and lumpy but I hope no more septic water, 

thank goodness Affia comes tomorrow and makes things sparkle again. What an evening!

Shoes arrived

$35.00 Canadian bought 7 pairs of shoes for these kids and they say think you

Wednesday/Thursday are holidays this week

Wednesday was Independence Day here in Ghana when prime Minister Kwame Nknumah declared independence from United Kingdom in 1957. Kids are off school today as well. Dean invited me to attend a Choral Concert at the Methodist Church celebrating the eve on the Independence Day Celebrations. Several choirs performed with drumming and great voices to be heard. The key note speaker in my opinion got a little off the celebration topic and emphasized more traditional religious and political points of view, a little weird to be heard in a Christian setting I think.

Great colourful cloth made especially for the choirs

The Choir leader in front with the long robe in the choir cloth. see what he has in his hand, it is a small musical key board that he operates by blowing into the white tube which gives the energy for the musical notes to be heard when the keys are played, I guess like the bellows on a pump organ. I have never seen anything like this before. really quite ingenious especially when in a setting with little or no electricity, portable and hand held.

outdoor class with a nice breeze

the Mother of Invention at work

- tapestry needles do not exist here or I can not find them so this is what we are using, guess what it is made from???? it is 2 inches long and sealed with duct tape (my favourite and most useful item in my toolbox)

my goodness time flies... a week since I was last here

Busy week
Skill centre knitting going well. the different parts for the baby jacket are being knit, hopefully this week the assembling will take place, I went looking for darning needles to sew the jacket seams but alas ... no needles. so have to use a crochet hook, we have those.
Funeral yesterday, most are held on Saturday.
The deceased, Sister Martha Kwarkai Boakye Agyeman was the step mother to May (Fr. Eramus' wife). she had passed away on November 11, 2018

The funeral rituals take  three days, I was at the Saturday church service. It was held in court yard of her home, there were over 35 clergy and pastors ( she was an Anglican but has worshiped for years in the Apostles Continuation Church International, Sunyani Central,)

The ritual had singing and drumming while people arrived. The MC had prayers, welcome, introduction of all clergy, special burial songs, the file past when everyone present filed past the body (she was laid out in the living room of the home, on a four poster brass bed, dressed in something like the above dress, the room walls were covered with white sheer cloth with twinkle lights flashing behind the fabric, chairs lined the walls where family was sitting, the casket was on the veranda covered with a purple velvet pall from St. Matthew on the Plains Burlington, next were the tributes by the children, grandchildren, siblings and a friend, the head pastor of her church gave a sermon (only 15 minutes) then a song with offertory, and then doxology, that took from 830 till noon.

then body was put in the casket, casket carried on the shoulders of 6 men, and taken to the coach to go to the cemetery, I did not go to the cemetery but came back to the house and ate lunch, next off to a high school soccer field where the pointy tents had been put up and the family received guests all afternoon , each guest or groups of guests are announced over the PA system along with the donation that they have made to the family.

During the afternoon this little one chanced a look at the white woman

then looked away as if I was never there, at least she did not scream as some do

so one sits during the afternoon session, chatting,

 it felt to me like we were birds on a fence, just sitting

in late afternoon the friends/relatives of May and Eramus were taken to one of the rooms of the high school, given food as we sat around tables that had been put together. I got back to the house around 530pm, long day
The deceased was the wife of a chief so there were two chiefs in attendance all afternoon, I understand the chief now is who followed her husband, when he assumed the throne tradition is  that he also assumed responsibility for the former chief's family as his own.