Why Crashing a Ghanaian Wedding is a Good Idea

I don't think I can count the amount of marriage proposals Shelby and I have gotten since being here in Ghana... it's basically a daily occurance.

Typical conversation with random people we meet on the street:
Ghanaian: "Heyyy Eta Sain???" (How are you?)
Me: "oh Boko pahh" (I'm super chill)
Ghanaian: (in english) "You are so beautiful, I will marry you"
Me as I start to walk away quickly: "Oh so sorry I don't understand you"
... yep its the good life. Even today at work Shelby and I were in a precarious situation to give out our contact info. The clear answer was to give the man the BYU Police number. Hopefully he won't be too disappointed.

Saturday, we had the opportunity to go to a Ghanaian wedding! Dont worry it wasnt mine. A doctor that we worked with in Accra, Ernest, told us he was going to a wedding near us and said he could pick us up! It was one of Ernest's best friends from University that was getting married. Apparently the two biggest events in any community here are weddings and funerals, and everyone gets involved. Basically  just imagine a huge, extravagant party. On Friday is when their traditional Ghanaian ceremony happened, but on Saturday is the more western white wedding. We were in a big church complete with two choirs, a live band, and a whole lot of dancing people singing praises to God Almighty. Twice everyone had to get in a Congo line to dance to the front to give an  offering and then dance back to their seats. I loved it. They had wedding party pictures outside the church afterwards which we of course got in.

As if that wasn't extravagant enough, the reception was wild. You could tell that the couple getting married had money because everything was super fancy. Ernest was a champaign popper which was really funny to see. Also most of the "champaign" was actually just sparkling grape juice so it was fun to join the toasts as well. Between events the DJ played hard core dance music in which I took the opportunity to dance my heart away. Everytime we obrunee (white people) danced, everyone went crazy and filmed us. I know for a fact the wedding photographer has so many random pictures of my great American dance moves. I just keep imagining this couple in like 30 years looking through their pictures and seeing two random white girls that they do not know at all.

Converting to Islam and Blessing the Rain

Today I felt cold... it was 80 degrees outside...

We've been on a week long outreach with Charity Eye Clinic in a place called Sunyani. It's more in the country than Kumasi and so beautiful here. It's been super fun hanging out with the other clinic workers after our daily outreaches and have small adventures here. 

So a couple fun stories... 

I'm about 75% positive I became a Muslim yesterday. Not really haha. Our clinic set up next to a Mosque in the heart of the Islam district in Sunyani. I was in charge of registration that day which always becomes pretty tiring after a while. No one speaks any English so registering people for the clinic is the hardest job because it means about 4 hours of straight up speaking a mixture of Twi, hand gestures, and speaking loudly in English. It's mostly effective. Anyways, there was a lull in registration and I noticed lots of people coming in and out of the Mosque. I asked one of our workers, Prempee, if I could go inside. He called over some guy next to the church, and had a conversation in Twi in which I had no idea what they said. 

Next thing I know, Shelby and I are being led to a well where we performed ablution, which was a cleaning ceremony. We had to wash our hands, feet, hair, face, and forearms. The man then covered our heads with scarves and led us inside. In very serious, broken English he told us to say exactly what he did, stay behind him, and make the same movements. So we did this prayer ritual in which the words I understood were "Allah Akbar". Afterwards we looked up the ritual for being inducted to the Islamic faith...oddly similar haha. Good times, good times. Don't worry everyone Im still planning to serve a mission!!

Today was our last day in the Sunyani area, which made me quite sad. Not only do I no longer feel as if I'm going to be killed by a creepy Ghanaian hotel owner like i do in Kumasi but this area is so beautiful. This afternoon I was sitting on the wall of this hostel looking out to the street when a bunch of kids started talking to me. They took us to a field closeby to play soccer which was so fun! Michael, Shelby, Prempee and I were on a team and to my surprise won 5-4. I'm pretty sure the goalie for their team was about 6 years old but all the other kids were mid to high teens and meant business so I'm pretty proud of the goals I made. 

From what I have come to understand, "rainy season" does not mean it rains all the time. Rainy season means at night there is thunder and lightening and pelts of rain that feels heavy enough to knock down a building. Then during the daytime the humidity only intensifies. Shelby and I took tonights storm as an opportunity to, as Toto suggests, bless the rains here in Africa. We put on our swimsuits and washed our hair in the downpour. Best shower ever. 

Pictures:

1. The Mosque next to our clinic 

2. View from our hostel, doesn't quite capture the raw beauty of this area 

3/4. Blessing the rains here in Ghana 

5/6. Playing football with our neighbors Ellen, Ephraim, and Hymas... they were pretty impressed that we beat them... or maybe they just said that because we bought them Fanice afterward 

Dimitri the Mouse and Kente Cloth

Sometimes I think that I'm accustomed to being here, but then something happens that throws a curve ball.

For example, earlier this week my roommate Shelby and I realized that we had a new member to our room. His name was Dimitri. He was a mouse. After his discovery, we really didn't think much about precautions beyond making sure our suitcases were off the ground and food tightly packed away. Yesterday as we came back from work, however, we realized that mice can climb. And they climb very well. For fear of catching disease or an unwanted bedmate, Shelby and I decided our time with Dimitri had to end. Last night we slept with all the lights on and music playing thinking thats a logical way for a mouse not to come into our beds while we sleep. According to our knowledge it worked. So we bought a trap today and placed it under our bed thinking it'll turn up by sometime tomorrow. Maybe he really liked the smell of stale bread or something because in under 10 minutes there he was, still alive, squirming in mousetrap glue. I'll spare everyone the further gruesome details of the last moments of Dimitri the Mouse, but know that I'm scarred. 

As far as work goes, it remains consistent day to day. It's been really interesting to compare Charity Eye Clinic here in Kumasi to Crystal Eye Clinic back in Accra. Both are partially funded by Unite For Sight, but function pretty differently. We see a lot smaller crowds than we did last week, therefore there's a lot more free time at nights since we get back at 3 or 4 in the afternoon compared to 8 or 9 like last week. 

On one hand, it's a little frustrating that we aren't working as much, but it has allowed us to experience more of Kumasi and Ghana which is a plus. After yesterday's outreach, we were able to go to Adonwase, a Kente weaving compound. 

Kente is a traditional cloth that is made here in Ghana. Odds are that when you think of African patterns and designs, you think of Kente. Original Kente is very very expensive, mainly because it's all handwoven.  Traditionally, only chiefs, kings or royalty wear Kente. And even today if I wanted a dress made purely out of Kente, it would be a couple hundred of dollars. At Adonwase, we were able to learn how to weave traditionally and the different meanings behind different types of patterns. It was super interesting! I was able to purchase small pieces of the cloths too with different patterns on them. 

PICTURES:

1. Cute girls at an outreach that asked to have a picture taken 

2.  Dimitri the Mouse. Rest in peace 

3. Kente Weaver

4. Traditional clothing. All the workers called me Princess Abena (Abena means Tuesday which was the day of the week I was born and now my Ghanaian name)

Temple Blessings and Tower of Terror Hotel

Close your eyes. Imagine a steamroom-- extra steamy. Now add in some trees, dirt and a blazing sun and that's Ghana in a nutshell. It would be funny if it weren't so accurate.

But despite the heat, Ghana is drawing my affection more and more just from being here. Everyday I meet so many people, each with a different story, and they want to share their experiences!  I feel like most people back home it takes a while to show any signs of vulnerability, especially when talking to someone you've just met. Here, however, if you ask someone, "how are you?" You might as well sit down because you'll be there for a while. I love listening to people's stories, background, religion-- everything. And the best part is how willing they are to share.

Work continued on in the same routine for the rest of the week. The biggest variations were just food, outreach location and how many people we see, which ranges from 70 to over 230. Starting today, 4 of our group are at a new clinic called Charity Eye Clinic which is based in Kumasi, about 4 hours north of Accra.  We'll be here for about 3 weeks. Judging from the work today it's essentially the same process but different workers.

But Saturday was our fun day because we didn't have to work! Also meaning doing whatever we wanted. My roommate Shelby and I weren't sure how much time we were going to have in Accra because we were both moving to Kumasi, so we really wanted to spend all day downtown exploring this city. Everyone else in our group wanted to go to the beach, which might be been fun but YOIGO (You're Only In Ghana Once) and we could go to a beach anywhere. Naturally we made the smart decision to try to tackle Accra by ourselves. 2 white girls, alone in Accra-- really smart I know. We woke up early and got a driver from the place we were staying to take us to the Accra LDS Temple so we could do a session there. In order to enter a temple you need to have a valid reccommend issued from our church. As we got there though, Shelby realized hers had expired! So she had to wait outside for a couple hours while I did a session. Despite being by myself it was still an amazing experience and I could feel the faith of those around me.

After the temple though, we had a dilemma. We don't know Accra at all. We don't speak Twi. How were we supposed to get around?? It was quite a blessing. Last semester we took a preparation class for this trip and during one class, 2 return missionaries came in to talk to us about Ghanaian culture. As we finished taking pictures at the temple, those same two guys from BYU came up and said hi to us! It was such a miracle! Their flight had just landed and had plans at night but were free for the whole day to just spend in Accra and then asked if we wanted to get lunch and show us around the city. We were able to get the full experience of Accra. They spoke Twi and were able to bargain for us at the market and in taxis, show us around historical parts of the city. Plus they knew these street drummers that gave us a tutorial, and we got really good food that was only a little spicy haha. I highly recommend everything.

Shelby, me and two others from our group named Dallin and Michael arrived in Kumasi yesterday afternoon. While in Accra we were in a little bed and breakfast type of place and boy oh boy do we already miss it. For those of you who have ridden the Tower of Terror, I swear this place we're staying in now is that hotel. It was built sometime in the 40's, everything is out of order and really rustic and gloomy looking. Also it's owned by this 90 year old man that sleeps on a couch in the lobby and I swear we are the only people staying here! But it's okay if I die of a ghost attack or some Juju magic at least you all know the truth. Also we slept here last night and I'm still alive so it should be fine.


Pictures:
1/2. Accra temple
3. A little boy that I might just steal because he was so cute. His name is Nii.
4. Out hotel hallway. This is during the daytime too!! Please send prayers haha

Akwabaa Brunee!!

Akwabaa brunee!!
^ pretty much the most common phrase we hear no matter where we go, it means "Welcome White People!"

Boy oh boy, where to start? Today is my 4th day of being in this wonderful country but it feels like I've been here for years. Saturday a small group of us arrived in Accra in which we were immediately engulfed with a big sweaty hug (aka the humidity) that hit us hard. It is almost unbelievably hot here. Even inside you can feel the water in the air stick to every part of your body. BUT it's okay!! June and July are Ghana's rainy season and since we've been here its already rained a bunch of times cooling down the heat a little bit.... but it also adds to the humidity haha.

Sunday morning we all woke up early and walked about 15 minutes to a LDS church building that we found. There is 1 girl here who is not Mormon but decided to tag along as well. Attending church here was so fun! Everyone loves talking to and getting to know the "brunees" (white people).  Experiencing church in a different culture is such a testament to me of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It really doesn't matter where you are, who you are, what language you speak or anything really-- the gospel is the unifier for all things. My heart grew so much for these people who have such a strong conviction for something they know is true and the way they go about worshiping their beliefs. By the end of the meetings all of the women were calling us their daughters and inviting us to more activities. You could really feel the love. Just amazing.

But that not what we came to do!

Yesterday is when the real work began. Workers from United For Sight sorted out our group of 12 in half-- sending 6 to a different location with a clinic named Saint Thomas until Thursday night. The other 6 (including me) stayed in Accra to work for the Crystal Eye Clinic.

The way this works is everyday you attend a different location in an area (e.g. Accra) that previously had been advertised for people to come. Our team arrives at churches, community centers, abandoned buildings, etc. to set up shop. One of the workers explains to the crowd (literally hundreds) of people the process of what will happen in their native tongue (usually Twi, but there are hundreds of tribal languages, like today we learned Gha). First the patients get registered and then are testing for visual acuity. We volunteers do the acuity testing which consists of standing about 6 meters away with your eye reader sheet. The patients then go to the doctors, who test, prescribe medicine, and in some cases make referrals for surgery. We handle check out by distributing medication and glasses and record all transaction and patient history.

....and that's exactly what we do all day every day. It's such fulfilling work though. A remarkable amount of people's visual acuity registers as NPL (no light perception) and it's very clear they have cataracts from just looking at their eye, which we can provide a surgery to COMPLETELY RESTORE their blindness. Which is incredible! All surgeries are subsided by Unite For Sight, so they get cured for free!

I am learning so much from the people and just being surrounded by the culture. Some things I have learned thus far....
1. DO NOT take malaria pills with food in your stomach!! About 2 hours after arriving in Ghana and right after eating I thought that would be a good time...it wasnt. I ended up throwing up on the street next to like 5 little kids who laughed...a lot.
2. Saying small phrases in native languages makes you sounds stupid, but will make almost every Ghanaian laugh very very hard. So do it a lot.
3. All the food is spicy. All the food consists of mainly rice and chicken.
4. Plantain chips are bomb.
5. Fanice is the best invention (IT'S ICE CREAM AND ONLY ABOUT 40 CENTS BUT I STILL MIGHT JUST SPEND ALL MY MONEY)
6. Cold showers are amazing and the only time you aren't sweating
7. "Shower" is a loose term. Very loose. It pretty much consists of 2 buckets and pouring it on your body.
8. Ghanaians are the happiest people on the planet! I am convinced. Today, I asked an old man today why he was so nice to us brunees. His response: "We love strangers"




pictures:

• Deborah and Amy-- school girls i met today from Sege. They TRIED to teach me how to dance (they are much better than me)
• The building where we set up shop on the first day. We saw over 230 people that day 
• Excited for the first day of work!!
• The church building and the street it was on. (Don't be fooled by the rain clouds, they came and went in like an hour)

Welcome!!

My dearest friends, family, loved ones, random acquaintances... really anyone who actually takes the time to read this,

In just a few days I will be packing my bags and traveling to Accra, Ghana to work for a nonprofit called Unite For Sight. During my fall semester at BYU, I applied, interviewed, and was accepted to work as an intern for the next 6 weeks. Unite For Sight is a 501(c) nonprofit with the goal of delivering eye-care to impoverished areas. The crazy thing is that 80% of ALL visual impairments can be cured or prevented! This means that 80% percent of people with that have to deal with eye sight loss don't have the tools or means available to do a basic function of life. So that's is the goal-- deliver care in the most efficient way possible to allow people to "see the light". Literally.

This mission is much much bigger than myself or any singular organization. If you want to look more into the nitty gritty of what Unite For Sight does and how they do it go to www.uniteforsight.org. The best part (at least to me) is 100% of donations go straight to care delivery. And no where else. But I am not here to get people to donate. I am writing because this is what will give me an academic internship credit at BYU. So here I am to tell of my adventures, what I am doing, and what I am learning. Please follow if you want to stay updated!

Thanks to all who have helped me be the person I am today!