I write a post about the villages

Before I do any writing about our work out in the villages here in northern Ghana, I want to write a

general overview of what these villages are like. The villages that we are currently serving are all of the same tribe, therefore they speak the same language. Driving out to the villages takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, depending on which village we are visiting. We leave our hotel, driving for a while through the city. Along the sides of the road are many little wooden and tin shanties where people are selling different goods. Some sell clothing, purses, baskets, shoes, fruit. Food stands are also found quite frequently. They may serve a whole chicken that's been cooked up, or some sort of Ghanaian food like banku and fish soup.

Soon we'll turn off onto a less developed road and the landscape shifts dramatically. Instead of the green, blue, yellow, pink, orange of the shacks in the city there is a vast expanse of greens and brown. We drive by many, many agricultural fields. The produce planted here is mainly maize, yams, cassava, and rice. The landscape is dotted by many trees, of which many are shea trees. The fruit produced by these trees is eaten, and the seeds are used for their oil to produce products such as shea butter. Some of these trees have termite hills next to them that can tower over seven feet! There are also a lot of sheep and goats, along with their offspring, that are seen everywhere. We see quite a few in town as well, but the number drastically increases as we leave the city behind. Cow herds are also very common, and occasionally we'll be stopped by a herd crossing the road.

A yam field

Speaking of cows, they are herded by the Fulani people. This is a nomadic group that herds cows throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. At times they will settle in or near a village, resulting in a mutualistic partnership between the Fulani and the villagers. The village benefits from having cows' milk available to them, and the Fulani benefit by having a secure place to settle for a while.

After a while of driving we'll begin to see the mud huts that a village consists of. As you can see from the picture below, they are very simple. Most of them are round structures with a slightly sloped roof. These huts are made out of mud mixed with some cement. If they are made well they can last up to ten years. One family will have a collection of huts that are arranged around a central area which contains a large fire and common area. As far as I've observed so far these circles of huts also contain a little room off to the side with a drain to the outside of the center. This is the latrine, but it is strictly for number one (at least that's what we've been told). Anything other than that, well...go find some privacy and dig and bury.

Many of the villages we've visited also contain a mosque, as this is a very Muslim area of Ghana. Another thing that we commonly see is huge patches of the ground covered in either rice or shea nuts being dried after boiling. There are always a number of large metal bowls that are used for carrying water or food lying around as well. Some villages will have a well for drawing water, or there is one nearby.



Shea nuts drying in the hot sun

The people in the villages are strong, beautiful, and very kind. They are always excited to greet us, although at times the smaller children take some time to warm up to us. The women generally wear a brightly colored and patterned piece of fabric wrapped around their waist as a skirt. They also often have a hair covering (such as a scarf). Most of the women carry a baby or small child on their back, tied to them with a scarf. We also see a decent number of elderly men, and often some younger men as well. Each village has a chief, though some village's chiefs are chief over multiple villages and may not actually reside in the village we are in. If the chief is present and wanting to be seen by us, he is given priority over everyone else. Everywhere we look in the villages we see so many children. It's the custom for women to have many children, and it's evident.

Being in the villages is humbling and eye opening. There are things that we as westerners deem "necessities" that these people have no notion of. Their focus is not on the material, but on the necessary. Family, food, water, shelter. Before I came to Africa I had a mental image of what an African village and the people that lived in them were like (as I assume most who haven't seen them do). Before, I felt a sense of superiority, that I had so much in the way of material goods to offer. I could give clothes, money, food, time. I had an image of people who were unable to care for themselves or provide for their children sufficiently (why else would Africa be in so much need, I would wonder?). Boy, was I wrong. Yes, there is poverty and less healthcare. Yes, there are some who can't, or don't know how, to care for themselves. But God and Ghana are showing me that these people are my family, they are my brothers and sisters. I am not above them. In fact, in many ways, they are much wiser than I am. I'm learning, in the most tangible way, that life is more than things, or money, or success.