It is hard to say goodbye to Northern Ghana.  The Birifor people living in this region of West Africa number roughly 216K – only about 0.6% of the population of Ghana.  The children who can afford to attend the small cement block schools provided by the government are eager to practice their English with us.  With large smiles, giggles, and occasional pushing, they inch closer. I help get the friendship started by pointing to one of the taller boys and begin with some classic dialog.

“Hello, how are you?” I ask. “Thank you, I am fine” he replies.

“What is your name?” “My name is Kofi” he says with a grin.

“How old are you?” “I am 8 years old”. he answers, his words more confident.

With an exaggerated sad face I pause, address the gathered onlookers and say “You did not ask me how I am doing, or my name”.  Laughing, they glance at around to see who is brave enough to ask me a question.

“What is your name?” a courageous boy with an orange shirt and penetrating eyes belts out.

The rowdy group bursts in laughter, hoping I point my camera lens their way.  There is so much hope, so many dreams growing here. Two years ago, Beth and I joined the team to distribute water filters in a Dagomba village. Many wells, like the one pictured below, stop during the dry season. Water filters can prevent Typhoid, a disease pervasive in this area. But hope! Hope persists.

We skip breakfast to start early and begin the exhausting 10 hour drive from Sunyani to Accra. Driving the remote roads of Ghana is always a challenge. I weave and dodge tro tros pulling into traffic, speed past three-wheeled yellow yellows, and attempt to thread the tires between deep potholes. Beth is squished in the back seat between Clement and Cyrus, with 4 backpacks stacked on their pretzeled legs.

The rains have washed out bridges, and sections of pavement. All along the route we see disabled trucks and busses. Driving is an exhausting vigilance. Yet we make the best of the rough travel by listening to music, singing, and talking to Cyrus and Clement about their dreams, their work, and their hopes.

The previous evening, in Sunyani, we recorded the most excellent Zion Community church choir, shown below. The youngest of the women were in junior high school, and some were in senior high school. After their praise and worship medleys, the young ladies approached Beth and I to talk. Ghanaians are so wonderfully curious and accepting of strangers. “I want to be a soldier” one of the young ladies pronounced. “What about you” I asked another. “dietician” she responded. Another shared her desire to be a doctor. I looked up at the last young lady who had joined the group chatting with us. “Human rights activist lawyer” she said quickly, and without timidity. Wow. “That job is really important” I explained, we are commanded to pursue justice, reconciliation, forgiveness, and she will make that her profession!

How beautiful to hear their joyful singing, and understand where their hope comes from.

Some of the larger cities have a few American chain restaurants, such as Pizza Hut or Kentucky Fried Chicken. Under most circumstances, dining takes a very long time in Ghana, so we opted for the KFC drive through, so we could make it to Accra more quickly. However, after ordering and paying, we were told to pull around to the front of the building and wait. I had a GoPro strapped to the front of the truck to get a little urban driving video — but it ended up catching the REAL reason our chicken meals were so late. Enjoy the video :-)

We arrived in Accra shortly after sunset. A long day.

One of the highlights of this trip will be Afrifa and Vida’s wedding on Saturday. In addition to the “Traditional Marriage” (which we will explain tomorrow) they will also have a Church wedding. As Cyrus and Clement described the various traditions, I asked “How does the service end, do they kiss and then exit to the outside”? They explained… “That depends”. I was confused, depends on what? “Oh, in some churches the pastor says ‘You are now married, express your love for one another” and then they kiss. But in others, they only hug’.” What? seriously? The man and woman hug? Cyrus went on, “Afrifa and Vida are getting married in a Methodist church, they don’t kiss during wedding services”. I was stunned, but every culture weaves together the customs and local traditions into new celebrations. Ok, Methodists don’t kiss. Let’s just hope their church dancing makes up for their otherwise quiet participation.