Adventure in Technicolour

WELL

Clergy and wives retreat for Thursday to Sunday in Kintampo, to be there by 5pm. 

Van to leave cathedral at 1pm but van is in the repair shop, so leave at 530pm, cram all the luggage in, people get seated and we are off. one pit stop and then around 8pm a big noise from the van, I think maybe it is a blown tire but it is something with the drive shaft. We are between towns on the side of the road ... then ...  there is problem solving the situation. It gets decided that one person will return to the previous village/town  by taxi to see if he can round up a van to complete the journey. No luck so he gets someone to contact back one more town, Techiman to see if there is someone there with a van to get us to our destination. We sit on the side of the road for an hour before the rescue van arrives, pack all the luggage and we are off again. I am generously given the shot gun seat at the front as usual. This new driver  ...  drives very fast, no street lights, rides about one car length behind transport trucks until an opportunity to pass, my brake foot was working overtime. Now the road is excellent as I was informed its an International Road as it is the gateway to Burkino Fasco and Mali where sits Timbuktu. Arrive at the Falls Palace Hotel at 945pm I was supposed to lead Compline at 9 but oopsy, I was missing in action. Very tired (hence did not write this up last night) but my big concern was supper, we got fed well, hotel is very nice and even hot water in the shower yipeeee! Not had since I left Canada.

If you want to see the Kintampo Falls, (I know it is not Niagara Falls but a very nice setting) I would recommend staying here.

Mental health

over the years I found that mental health was a topic that was not discussed here as the world of spirits etc is still believed by many. the Methodist Church and the CHAG Christian Health Association of Ghana put on a workshop as an introduction to Mental Health, good data, well presented, by a doctor who has an interest in mental health, It was scheduled to start 10m prompt so by 1045 we were started, After a couple of short breaks, he completed his presentation at 2pm. There was lunch and money for travelling to be distributed as part of the program, . So there were 1500 present and they started by calling each person one by one to pick up lunch and get travel money, then the method changed and we were handed out lunch while in our seats but they continued one by one calling for folks to pick up travel money. remember 1500 names, I left at 430pm with a couple of others and got a taxi back home, When I commented to the priest beside me that folks were very tolerant of this very slow distribution system which would likely not be the same back in Canada, his answer blew me away.
poverty makes people very obedient,  now does not that just make you sit back and think! I have to presume the distribution went on for hours after I left. still the workshop part was very good.

I brought some Indian food recipes with me

I just love the spinach dish in an Indian restaurant so looked up recipe and brought the spices with me as I have no idea if they  are sold in the mkt.
today was the day when I was going to make it. I have yet to find spinach here, not in this mkt any way. saw these big green leaves, same colour as spinach but much bigger, 4 or 5 times the size of my hand, do not know the name of it

- broke up the leaves into small pieces taking out the very thick veins, looks like spinach eh!

then follow the recipe, fry onions, add spices add green leaves cooked and voila, 

at the restaurant one eats it with naan bread but none here so ate it with crackers,

 a little different taste but very good, so do not need spinach anyway

Adu tells me that it is really good for the blood (it is full of iron to build up the hemoglobin) he is one cabbie who is very knowledgeable. 

clergy and wives retreat Feb. 1 to 4th

read two good books by the same author, IRMA JOUBERT  ....   have a look
Girl on the Train
Child of the River

organizing retreat on paper, I am not that good at columns but getting better I guess, still much more to know about the computer

PALM NUT SOUP

over a charcoal burner the pot sits high, yesterday the palm nuts were pounded within an inch of their life (LOL) today water is added to the pot so that Mabel can squeeze the pulp out of the smashed nuts

 

and puts the remaining fiber to the side                                 SOUP ON A CHARCOAL BURNER
                                                                                                                              and the fiber was taken to the Dean's wife who makes candles with it
I have no idea how but I will ask     

nothing is made instantly, +++ labour involved in every aspect of life                                                                     

men's prison

- newsletter gone to print  yes!!!!!
-Back to the prison to start the building of the structure for the barbershop, met with the asst commander and delivered half of the needed funds. will keep you posted as the building proceeds.
-Afia came to clean yesterday and it sounded like she has bronchitis, really bad cough but she continued on,

"in the money house counting all the money "

saw a billboard today at the round about

head shot of a man, the caption was
first I built up my business, then I built up my family
all because my wife had an IUD
and he was holding an IUD in his hand