Tamale, tamale, tamale. This place has been incredible. My last 7 weeks here have flown by way faster than i could have ever imagined. I will be leaving Shekinah clinic on thursday morning, and we will travel to say good-bye to our hosts until we fly out on the 31st. Too soon! But let me share with you how Shekinah has richly blessed my life.....
During my stay here, I have been alternating between helping out in the dispensary counting pills to give out, and joining the food truck which feeds the poor in the streets of the metropolis. I have been living at the clinic in my own house (wonderful!). There is quite a bit of housing within the clinic compound and outside for patients living with mental or physical disabilites, most of whom have been abandoned by their families. This place has such a great community. The staff are all volunteers and the services are all given completely free of charge. The poorest of the poor are really being served by Shekinah. People who come here because they have nowhere else to turn are given the dignity and respect they deserve as human beings. The fact that the clinic and food program run completely on donations, and the staff do no fundrasing is only the answer to a prayer to a divine God who wants to provide for the people in northern Ghana.
Things just make sense here. A brother is hungry, so we feed him. A sister needs clothing, and so she will receive. A mother needs a loving word as she has lost her family, and the community continues to care for her in whatever way possible. Everything is shared, everyone is part of the greater purpose. Muslims, christians, catholics, all worshipping together; it is one God we all call to. The people are not divided by religion, by ability, nor by wealth, the people here are one. It reminds me of the early church, where no one was in need among them. I will be truly sad to leave this community, but I know that it has touched my life in a way that I can't explain, and it will leave a mark that cannot fade.
First and foremost, Shekinah and the people here have showed me so much about what it means to love. It's beyond this realm, and it goes so deep into the soul.
So i guess that's all. We will be leaving soon, and I likely won't blog again. So I bid you farewell. Thank you for supporting me in my journey here to Ghana. It is one that has changed my life and perspective incredibly. I really look forward to sharing more stories with you all when I return to Calgary May 12th.
All my love!
Monday, March 15, 2010
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Cocoa crazy
It has been some time now since i've updated this space, as my last few internet experiences have been comparative to the speed at which glaciers move.. ..ie fricken slow! But anyhow, I have arrived safely to Tamale (a hot, dry motorcycle haven city that is predominantly muslim) last Thursday evening. To my surprise, it actually can get hotter in Ghana, and it is ridiculously dry and windy here. I spent the weekend bed-written with some illness but have since regained strength, and have loved my time at Shekinah free medical clinic so far.
I am going to rewind however, and share about my stay in the cocoa farm a few weeks back. For 2 weeks in January I lived with a family in a town called Akoase. My time there was wonderful! My family made sure for me to learn everything possible about cocoa farming, as well as taste every possible ghanain dish, so good. I helped weeding one day, very hard work, blisters to prove it!
Let me tell you, that the Cocoa plant is the most fascinating plant I have ever known. The beans grow in pods, which grow off the trunk of the tree. The pod, once it's mature is like a small yellow football. You crack it open to find a bunmdle of white sliminess. Each cocoa bean fresh is coated in this sweet white sliminess, which is tasty too. After opening the pod, the beans get placed on the leavefs from a banana tree and are covered to ferment for 6-7 days. After fermenting, they are laid out to dry in the sun. They must be turned frequently, and once they are fully dry they are graded, packaged into big sacks, then sent to the produce buying companies where likely it will be exported to all parts of the world. Fascinating, no?
It was a really great opportunity to learn so much about something that is SO ridiculously overconsumed in Canada, yet before I knew nothing about. I am still hoping to learn more about how free trade affects the cocoa faarmers, but for now I know I will never be able to eat chocolate again without remembering the farmers here, and how much work goes into such a small yield in pay.
I want to challenge not only myself but you too, to spend more time researching where the products you are consuming are coming from. Try to buy things that have honoured the workers who produced it. If a product is super cheap, maybe somebody has been cheated along the line? Are there environmental costs? Research it! For the sake of humanity, the earth, and the majority of the economic poor. Every action can make a difference!
So that is all for now. I am going to start helping at the hot food program which cooks and sends a food truck out to poor areas in the city to serve. I will update in a couple weeks and let you all know how i'm doing. Till next time!
I am going to rewind however, and share about my stay in the cocoa farm a few weeks back. For 2 weeks in January I lived with a family in a town called Akoase. My time there was wonderful! My family made sure for me to learn everything possible about cocoa farming, as well as taste every possible ghanain dish, so good. I helped weeding one day, very hard work, blisters to prove it!
Let me tell you, that the Cocoa plant is the most fascinating plant I have ever known. The beans grow in pods, which grow off the trunk of the tree. The pod, once it's mature is like a small yellow football. You crack it open to find a bunmdle of white sliminess. Each cocoa bean fresh is coated in this sweet white sliminess, which is tasty too. After opening the pod, the beans get placed on the leavefs from a banana tree and are covered to ferment for 6-7 days. After fermenting, they are laid out to dry in the sun. They must be turned frequently, and once they are fully dry they are graded, packaged into big sacks, then sent to the produce buying companies where likely it will be exported to all parts of the world. Fascinating, no?
It was a really great opportunity to learn so much about something that is SO ridiculously overconsumed in Canada, yet before I knew nothing about. I am still hoping to learn more about how free trade affects the cocoa faarmers, but for now I know I will never be able to eat chocolate again without remembering the farmers here, and how much work goes into such a small yield in pay.
I want to challenge not only myself but you too, to spend more time researching where the products you are consuming are coming from. Try to buy things that have honoured the workers who produced it. If a product is super cheap, maybe somebody has been cheated along the line? Are there environmental costs? Research it! For the sake of humanity, the earth, and the majority of the economic poor. Every action can make a difference!
So that is all for now. I am going to start helping at the hot food program which cooks and sends a food truck out to poor areas in the city to serve. I will update in a couple weeks and let you all know how i'm doing. Till next time!
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