Ghana Diary Sept-Oct 2013
I visited Ghana from the 26th of September to the 7th of October 2013. The primary purposes of my visit were:
a) To attend the 10th Anniversary Celebrations of the Diocese of Ho (for which I am the Portsmouth (UK) Deanery Link Officer).
b) To bring cash gifts from the people of Portsmouth to sustain the work of the Diocese of Ho. In particular these comprised £1,900 for the purchase of two motorcycles for Diocesan staff, and £2,360 towards the cost of providing running water to a diocesan vicarage (in Jasikan).
c) To fulfill my joyful obligations as a Canon of Cape Coast Cathedral - specifically to preach at least once per year in that Cathedral.
What follows is a largely photographic record...with a few explanatory notes along the way.
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| Travelling from the Airport, I was rather amused to see this branch of Barclays Bank nestled in the corner of a Casino. Gives a whole new meaning to the current phrase 'Casino Banking'! |
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| Enroute to Ho, we stopped at a small fishing village for Bishop Matthias to pick up some fresh fish |
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| Amazingly basic living and working conditions for fishermen. Rather different from the fishing ports of the UK! |
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| Arriving in Ho, it was lovely to be greeted by Bishop Matthias' grand-daughters, first Henrietta, |
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| Then Emmanuella! |
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| I was one of a delegation of UK visitors, from various parts of the UK. From left to right: Ray and Jan Goodenough, Canon Bernard Dagnall (who has been supporting Ho for more than 10 years), 'Chuff', Mary, the Bishop and me. |
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| Once again, the Bishop kindly lent me his car...allowing me (and the other UK guests) to move easily and freely between our hotel and the Cathedral compound. The Bob Coffiie Hotel is a most pleasant place to retreat from the heat, dust and general chaos of the city streets of Ho! The swimming pool is a special treat! |
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| This is 'Rocky' - who is kept on the hotel grounds for the amusement of guests. Can't say I felt very comfortable about this...but he seems well cared for and healthy. |
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| Saturday 28th Sept: A group of folks from all over the Diocese (and the UK) visit the Ho Women's Prison with gifts of food for the inmates. Jesus said "When I was in prison, you visited me. When I was hungry, you gave me something to eat" |
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| A fantastic new minibus - bought by the congregation of Lome. A brilliant tool for evangelism and mission. |
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| One of four new chasubiles I bought from local priest Peter Sokpoli - a talented tailor, with a gift for ecclesiastical garb. With the money I gave him, Peter plans to buy a new sewing machine, and to then start passing on his gifts to a new generation of young tailors in Kpando. |
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| I feel most honoured to be given my own new shirt, made of the special Anniversary cloth. |
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| Saturday night is quiz night! Teams from all over the Diocese competed against each other. Some very impressive biblical knowledge was on display! |
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| The UK visitors sitting (and sweating!) through the quiz, inside the Cathedral. |
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| Sunday 29th September: the Anniversary Service begins at 9.15am. This photo is taken from the procession. Note the half completed Diocesan Office in the background. The service took place in the school compound next-door to the Cathedral. (The Cathedral being WAY too small for such a magnificent gathering of folks from all over the Diocese). |
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| I get a seat right behind the Bishop's throne. Not the best place to be...so I kept popping out, throughout the service to take photos and video clips! |
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| Looking through the gathering of priests, the Diocesan Choir is in the background. |
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| Special Anniversary Programmes were produced. |
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| Invited Guests |
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| Drummers accompanying traditional dancers (see videos following) |
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| The gathering of Priests, behind the Bishop's Throne - getting ready to concelebrate the Mass |
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| Bishop Matthias in celebratory mood! |
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| Bishop Matthias Medadues-Badohu and Bishop Daniel Silvanus Allotey of Cape Coast. Friends united in celebration. |
The next videos give a snapshot of the Offertory (during which people dance up to collecting points). Around £4000 was given by people to the work of the Diocese! Note the Chancellor of the Diocese enthusiastically clapping and singing in her legal wig! These are just short clips, but hopefully will provide a flavour.
In the next short video clip, the Diocesan choir sings an anthem...drawing from a rather more western tradition, but with its own wonderful African sound. They are conducted by Prosper Medadues-Badohu, son of Bishop Matthias.
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| After the Mass, a huge pile of citations is handed out to people that the Bishop wants to thank for services rendered to the Diocese |
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| I was touched to receive a certificate of merit, which recognised the contribution of my wife too! |
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| And then...there was the Bishop's Medal of Honour! |
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| Deacon Fr Angelo Kumar collects his certificate, and also a copy of the book of Common Worship, kindly donated by a member of the Portsmouth Deanery. |
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| Deacon Fr Selom Mereku does the same! |
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| My good friend Rev'd Canon Joseph Bain-Doodu from Cape Coast - who was with his Bishop for our celebrations. Great to see him again! |
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| Me....with my Anniversary Chasubile and Bishop's Medal of Honour. |
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| The two Bishops with Mother Lucy (Matthias's dear wife). |
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| Monday 30th...back to work for the Bishop, watched over by Canon Bernard (who may well be praying for order to emerge from the chaos of the Bishop's office!) |
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| Monday 30th Sept: Bishop presents a new motorcycle (paid for by the people of Portsmouth Deanery) to Edward Matsi, Diocesan Director of Education who has to travel all over the Diocese, supporting schools |
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| This is a photo of the other motorcycle provided by our Deanery. It was presented last week to Father Ibeto Chukwudolue, who is currently serving in Lome, Togo. He has kindly sent me this photo of himself with his much appreciated new tool. As you may be able to see from the background...motorcycles are much the preferred form of transport in Lome! |
Tuesday 1st October: Much of today was spent in general administration, resting a little, and seeing off my new friends from the UK.
Wednesday 2nd October: Today, I went with Bishop Matthias to attend the National Launch of Family Planning Week. The need for family planning is very evident in Ghana. Large families are a strain on the economy and individual families. Presently, as the population grows very quickly, there are not enough school places for all the children of the country. In addition, 'maternal death' is the single largest cause of death in the country. The event - which was broadcast on Ghanaian TV - was attended by the Health Minister, and the Regional Minister (a sort of 'Governor' for the Volta Region). Both spoke passionately about the need for Family Planning. Afterwards, we were invited to the Regional Minister's mansion, where we were given the privilege of sitting at his dining table, while many other guests ate in an adjoining room. It was a stark example of how highly Bishop Matthias is regarded by the politicians. It was also noticeable that whilst there were other churches represented at the event, only Bishop Matthias was asked to lead opening prayers for the event, and to sit on the platform with the Ministers.
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| Entrance of a Parade which had been walking round the local streets, spreading news of the Launch |
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| The Programme for the event. I was particularly amused to note item 17...remembering that this was a Health Department event! |
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| The Launch was very well attended indeed |
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| This poster summed up the event rather nicely |
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| Bishop Matthias leads prayers, reminding us that as the creator of the Universe, and of men and women, God is the Master Family Planner! |
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| The Podium |
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| Bishop Matthias sits to the left of the local MP, and the other dignitaries. To his right was the Acting Chief Imman of the Local Muslim Community (who led closing prayers). A very pleasant man, who had a good relationship with Matthias. Good to see Christians and Muslims working together! |
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| The main banner for the whole event. (I have to tell you that the stated start time was more a statement of general intent!) |
Later in the day, after a rest from the heat, Bishop Matthias and I went to visit the
'Care and Concern Action Group' - a local project which aims to help disabled people. The Project Leader, Emmanuel Bansah, who is disabled himself, tries to help others who are often marginalised by their difficulties. He told me that in some parts of Ghanaian society (especially where traditional religion has a strong hold) disabled people can be blamed for their problems, as though some sin in their life, or their parent's lives, led to the disability. He is also campaigning for new buildings to be made accessible. (The majority of Ghanaian Government buildings are totally inaccessible to disabled people!)
Emmanuel will soon be distributing free wheelchairs to needy people, thanks to a UK charity called
Wheels for the World.
After the visit, which was fascinating on all sorts of levels, the Bishop took me to see a portion of land (around 10 Acres) which is owned by the Diocese. The land was bought some years ago, with the intention of beginning a farming project. Unfortunately, it has so far proved very difficult to find the funds necessary to get the project off the ground, and the land is being slowly encroached upon by its neighbours. However, an American charity recently came to the rescue, and the Bishop is hopeful that a start can soon be made on turning the land into a profitable enterprise. Step one is to construct a building on the land, which can be used by a manager for the site. It was good to see this new building underway....
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| The land itself was beautiful, and full of all sorts of possibilities. If only the resources can be found! |
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| On our way back to the car, we stopped to watch a kente weaver at work on his hand loom. |
Thursday, 3rd October.
Today was spent in various administrative tasks. It seems to be my lot, wherever I go, to put my marginally competent computer experience to use. So this morning, I spent time setting up Matthias' computers so that they are backed up online. This afternoon we spent a fruitless few hours attempting to improve the standard of Matthias' mobile phone. It is his main tool of communication with the outside world (and never stops ringing all day!). Unfortunately, after a search round the phone shops of Ho, we couldn't find a phone which would be suitable but also within our budget! We plan to try again in Accra tomorrow!
I did manage to snap this picture of Matthias' cat though! The cats here are particularly cute, and even though fully grown, still look like kittens. I know the girls in my family will love this picture!
Tomorrow (Friday 4th October) I will be spending much of the day travelling to Cape Coast, stopping along the way in Accra to hunt for mobile phones for the Bishop, and visiting his mechanic (about some particularly worrying squealing noises that are coming from his engine!!). Probably won't be taking many photos!
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Wednesday 9th of October: I'm now back in the UK, having had a great time at the weekend with my good friends in Cape Coast. Here are just a few pictures from the weekend, to finish off my record of this latest trip to Ghana.
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Great to be with the 9am Congregation at Cape Coast Cathedral. (The was the second service of the morning...the first was at 6am...and was just as well attended!)
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| The recently refurbished Sanctuary in the Cathedral...in my opinion a considerable improvement on the previous decor - less 'fussy' and a lot brighter! |
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| (Sanctuary as seen in Feb 2012) |
The Cathedral worship once again combined some of the best of Anglicanism (including some beautiful moments in the Mass) with the best of modern Ghana (including the use of drums and modern music to dance up the Offering). The Cathedral - and all the Anglican churches of Ghana - stand in stark contrast to many of the 'independent' churches that are springing up all over the place. The video below, for example, records about 30 seconds of a time of 'prayer', which I witnessed at the 'Holy Fire International Church', just outside my hotel in Cape Coast. I have rarely been more disturbed by observing something that claimed to be Christian worship. The hoarse shouting that you can hear on the video is being done by the man who was leading the service (I assume their Pastor). There was, in my opinion, little to distinguish this kind of worship from the Fetish and Voodoo forms of religion that are still sadly prevalent in Ghana. The frenzied shouting and displays of rampant emotion were very similar - - as was the generally pleading tone of other prayers and singing I heard that night. It is a pagan understanding of religion when we seek to 'persuade' God (or the gods) to act on our behalf. The Anglican Church (and other traditional churches) are sorely needed!
Prepare yourself to be slightly disturbed by this video!
Off to the Seminary....
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| On Monday morning, before flying home, I spent the morning at St Nicholas Seminary. Good to see new building work taking place to increase student accommodation, and improve toilet/washroom facilities. Here is the new student dormatory, now up to the first floor (the ground floor is below ground from this perspective, as the site is on a hill). I spend the morning in a Philosophy Class with Fr Felix. I really enjoyed it! |
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| |(The same building as photographed in Feb 2012) |
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| New washroom facilities, under Construction |
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| (Old Washrooms for students...still in use until the new ones are complete. Not much fun when it is raining! |
Time to go home...
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| My last evening in Cape Coast...Sunset on the beach, in the lea of the Castle. Gorgeous! |
Postscript:
On my way home, I had a few hours to spend at Amsterdam airport (from 6am in the morning, having not slept much on the overnight flight from Accra!). So I logged on to my emails, and was bowled over to discover one from Bishop Matthias, appointing me as a Canon of Ho Cathedral! So, I now have two canonries (if that is the correct plural!) to keep me well and truly tied to Ghana! (Cape Coast, and now Ho). Here's a look at the lovely letter sent by the Bishop. Needless to say, I was deeply touched...but I will only accept this honour on the understanding that I do so on behalf of the many many people on the Portsmouth Deanery, whose generosity to Ho has helped me to give the support referred to in this letter!
