A Letter from Father Mark George.....Week Three
These photos are probably not as visually exciting as the last batch I sent, but hopefully you will find them informative.
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The picture above shows a flock of vultures at the city dump in Cape Coast. Not as cute as the goats in Brofayaw that I showed last time.
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These pictures show some young people in the village of Brofayaw celebrating Ghana's victory in their first soccer match in the African championships being held here in Ghana. When a goal is scored, you can hear the roar coming from the neighboring villages. Oddly, as engrossed as people are by this tournament, the stadiums are practically empty at some of the games that don't involve the high profile teams. Perhaps an indication of the fact that people just don't have much disposable income. Also, sports critic that I am, I have to say the refereeing has been pretty bad in a couple of games.
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This picture shows a traditional symbol of Ghana you see everywhere. The symbol is probably from one of the tribal groups here in Ghana. This photo is actually from the ambo (lectern) of our chapel. I am told the symbol means something like, "Trust in God, do not fear anyone or anything."
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| Here you see women carrying things on their heads. As you can see, the woman who is walking away from us has a baby strapped to her back. She is using her hand to balance what she's carrying on her head. The woman walking toward us is balancing her load with no hands, which is actually what you see more often. We in the First World talk about "multi-tasking," but it is amazing how these women perform this feat so gracefully. |
Above is an obituary poster in Cape Coast. I do not know who this person is, but you see posters like this everywhere when someone dies. Funeral celebrations are huge in West Africa. When there is a wake in the neighboring villages, you can hear the drums beats and singing literally all night long. (I couldn't sleep the other night.) Unfortunately, families also spend a fortune on these funerals, and most of them don't have much money.
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This picture is especially for Mary Ann Westropp and my friends in the Justice Advocacy Group. It is a billboard encouraging people to use anti-mosquito bed nets and take their malaria medications. Malaria is a huge problem in this part of the world.
Note that all these posters and billboards are in English. It is an odd country in that virtually all the written language is in English, but the language spoken on the streets is almost entirely the local languages, especially Twi, and here in Cape Coast, Fanti. The only place I've seen local dialects written is in the political cartoons.
A final note for those of you who are politically inclined. Fr. Panaretos forwarded me a petition regarding the terrible situation now in Gaza. You can check it out, and perhaps sign it, at www.avaaz.org There is also something on that site about the equally terrible situation in Kenya. |
