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Sue going native with some of the kids.

Gary here.  Below is the first installment of several trip reports from my wife, Sue, just back from Ghana, Africa.

  

The women work harder than anyone

Did I tell you I was sweating? So I  grabbed a couple of handkerchiefs off a woman’s head and paid her 40 pesewas (roughly 40 cents). The “sweat rags” are sold all over Ghana. Despite the fact that most Ghanaians live without running water, they are very clean and conscientious about their appearance. Everyone carries a cloth to keep their face clean and sweat free. I quickly learned to follow suit.

I was happy to get out of the busy city of Accra to the more primitive village where I spent the rest of the trip. That night, I was lulled to sleep by the sound of bullfrogs and awakened by the loudest roosters I’ve ever heard. I’m usually not a morning person, but in Ghana all of the noises outside got me up and going pretty early.

Nice change from Accra/Mampong countryside

New friends in Mampong

Unlike most adults, the Ghanaian kids love to have their picture taken

 I quickly learned to fish murky water out of the well and give myself a spit bath. That will explain why I spent five hours in an African salon getting braids and extensions. It’s just too hard to wash your hair and it doesn’t get clean anyway in the dirty water. Believe it or not, I learned to relish my nightly well water ritual, despite all of the frogs, lizards, spiders and snakes. Travel trip: if you go to Africa, bring a sturdy pair of flip flops…

Lesson in the art of carrying water from the well

Washing clothes with the high school girls--not easy

 Tomorrow I’ll post about the Demonstration School for the Deaf–the real reason for my trip to Africa.

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