Week of 20241006 - Ghana Week 30: General Conference; Mission Finance; Fosu; Takoradi Meeting and Shopping; Guitar
= Sunday, General Conference replaced regular church meetings today. I worked on making a fully editable and coherent version of the Twi primer, Ka M’assɛmpa No {Preach My Gospel}. At 1 PM with the Morgans, the Barilleaus, and the Office Elders, we watched at the Morgans a recording of the Saturday evening session, ate together, and then watched the Sunday morning session (not morning in this time zone).
= Monday, we exercised this morning: mostly yoga. We both wanted to throw up but somehow managed not to. Why did we take this on? Because Steph was inspired to issue a challenge to our missionaries and so we had to do it also to avoid being hypocrites. And, we needed it too.
= I documented and wrote the check to pay for a new apartment lease. I posted electronic fund transactions (EFTs). I picked up shawarma and a double burger from Pizza City; the shawarma was a little nicer than the burger (though doner kabob in Turkey is better still). Steph had her medical meeting with the Morgans. I posted MoMo (money sent through phones) and check transactions. By the time Internet returned at the house, the urge to exercise had passed this evening.
= Tuesday, we visited two missionary apartments: one in Telecom (in Foso) and one dubbed Fosu Barrier 1, near Fosu South Chapel. (Foso is in Fosu.) We had supper at the Morgans with the Barilleaus and the Waites. The Waites were the Barilleaus' predecessors and were back for a visit!
= Wednesday, we did aerobic and stretching exercises. I nudged laundry and the journal. I removed an apartment from "our" list at the electric company and from our local records. Home, we studied scriptures while watching Don't Miss This (scripture discussion). I compiled reference for Ka M’assɛmpa No. I handled a clothing request (for a suitcase). I nudged the journal, did laundry, worked on the Twi manual, and did more laundry.
= Thursday, we did stretching exercises. I paid water bills and requested card unlocks. I made lease payments. After the office, we picked up cash, I worked on the Twi primer and dealt with non-finance mission needs.
= Friday, we did yoga. The Barilleaus picked us up at 1000 as arranged, and we rode to the ShopRite mall in Takoradi. At the hotel, Sister Barilleau challenged me to a race in the pool; she smoked me. Steph watched; what she had bought for a bathing suit didn't work out.
= For supper, we went to Noble House and met Sister Reynolds, a nurse practitioner. She had expected to be here with a friend who is also a medical professional, but health issues intervened. So, Sister Reynolds goes everywhere and does everything, by herself. The Madsens joined us; the Barilleaus trained them on fast-forward to handle finance and secretarial duties for the Takoradi mission created in July by splitting our mission. It was a good time.
= Saturday, we shopped with the Barilleaus at Melcom (like a small Wal-Mart). I bought a guitar I've been eying for us to play; we couldn't afford to ship the bulk of our instruments to Ghana. Then we went to ShopRite, which was already decorated for Christmas. We bulked up on things we can't get in Cape Coast; because, we don't expect to come here again until we bring the next seniors arriving at our mission. Steph's exercise had been shopping. So it was that I did stretches, then ran around and around in the house till I started to feel it, then alternated running and walking.
= Steph and I spoke today of serving another mission in Ghana. Perhaps we’ll get the member and leader support role next time and will be able to put the knowledge of Twi we hope to have by then to good use.
We watched the Saturday Evening and Sunday Morning sessions of General Conference at the Morgans and ate with them between those sessions.
Between sessions, church news reminded us that President Nelson turned 100 last month.
We had no data on the SIM card in our home router. That definitely restricts what you can accomplish.
Pizza City, on the road that bypasses the market near Pedu Junction on Jukwa Road
Part of the shawarma and part of the Double Burger from Pizza city
Tiny leak in ceiling during heavy rain; not enough to find when it's not raining [grin]
Our neighbor's tracks, not ours. You can see the extent of sliding that happens on the approach to our compound when the mud liquifies.
Bean stew, rice, and very small plantains
Don't Miss This (scripture discussion)
The ditch below our compound is difficult for everyone.
Cattle grazing by the national highway (N1)..
I grated local Spam from Holland (Zwan brand Chicken Luncheon Meat: chicken, wheat starch, etc.)
Fishermen use these large canoes to set a net a distance from shore..
Most of the shore visible from N1 is ridged with rocks to combat erosion from the waves
Psalm 127:1 Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
Recycling is alive in Ghana; the sacks to the right are loaded with plastic.
We rode to Takoradi with the Barilleaus.
Organized exercise; notice they're holding hands.
Goods expand into the street.
This shop is named Lord is Able.
Life is busier during a town's market day.
St Andrews Senior High School - Takoradi
K-Nyame Enterprise in the background
(Nyame is a name for God.)
This is effectively a pharmacy:
Jesus is Lord
Nice sign, but I'm not sure what they sell or where they keep it.
The undercarriage of this truck collapsed.
Great name; they handle creche (about 1 year old) through junior high school
One of our chapels in Takoradi
Passing the Takoradi school for the deaf; note the hand symbols on the fence.
Marbled facade for an ordinary business
We have another meeting place off of the main road.
Vans ('tros) haul more than people.
Sign for another meeting place
Construction materials. Bamboo feels as hard as iron and is used to hold up forms full of cement for multi-story buildings.
And another chapel. More here than within miles of Montgomery, Albama.
Many unrelated businesses in the same building, including an unnamed business that sells air time and lets you pay your electric bill; Premier Foundation Driving School; Inner Peace (selling Fan Milk: frozen yogurt in bags); Nhyira {Blessings} Enterprise (selling water and sundries); on the second floor, Focus Diagnostic Services (which does ultrasound scans); and there's a public toilet and bath house [no frills]
We've seen this admonition before. Here, at a store called First Gate, its on a sign for Nescafe coffee.
We see this railway station, but it may be that the rails get more use by people walking from one point to another..
SK Yesu Nyame {Jesus [is] God} Furniture Shop
Where there is a flat spot near the road, there's space to sell something..
I had to research this. Fiber (plant or wood or plastic) is added to Plaster of Paris (P.O.P) so it's not as easily dented and has less tendency to crack. Then you want to paint it.
Expensive equipment is used out in the open.
construction supplies
It's unclear whether they are going to sell food or are returning from that; probably returning.
These pillars aren't made here. They aren't in front of a "block factory" So, they were brought to this stretch of road to sell.
The stool is to set down her load to sell from it.
The baskets used for stands can nest when day is done.
Food, clothes, different food. I think this is a better arrangement for the seller than what we usually see: people next to each other selling the same thing.
This school marching group carries a sign that says to stop galamsey: gold mining done without sufficient regulation sufficiently enforced to protect people and the environment. Mercury is used and released in typical processes to separate gold from surrounding minerals. Mercury aside, forests and crop lands are damaged, and water sources diverted and silted through mining are less accessible to humans and don't support aquatic life as well.
Mercury is released as vapor, contaminates water, and accumulates in tissue, including human tissue. Unborn children are especially susceptible to mercury damage to their brains and nervous systems, though adults are affected as well, winding up with tremors, reduced mental acuity, gut damage, and kidney damage. (We are still feeling the impact of the California and Alaska gold rushes.) The man in reflective guard is keeping vehicle traffic out of the parade.
The main point of the parade, though was to celebrate the 30th anniversary of St Francis of Assisi schools. The small sign about galamsey could be thought of as a parade within a parade.
A multi-story Latter-day Saint chapel. Ramps (not shown) lead from a parking lot to the first and second stories, making this building fully accessible to wheelchairs. Its core is a wide courtyard, allowing air to pass through all classrooms and the chapel
Isaiah 55:8-9 - For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
It's unusual to see a sign warn us in advance of a road closing; this is one.
The small sign at right says Takoradi Mall, but most of us think of this as the Shoprite mall. Shoprite has items we can't readily get elsewhere, such as cheese and specialty food items. The mall has computer items and Peter Pan Pizza.
Construction has made the KFC hard to get to, a little easier lately.
The "road" between major destinations in the city includes driving along this overpass..
A side street that somehow manages to accommodate buses..
And sharing two-way traffic on a "highway" intended for one-way traffic.
Melcom at Takoradi: a larger version of the one at Cape Coast. This one has more more items than ours, shares a building with Pizza Hut, and has ample parking.
We passed an Air Force base; the feeling is similar to what we would have encountered Stateside.
It's common for advertising for a product to pay for advertising a location. The Precious Roses Montessori sign is supported by Heaven, a brand of mosquito-killing products.
Birds are having a discussion. The Barilleaus stopped at this CalBank branch to use the ATM. This is the same branch that leases space to the government agency that renews our Ghana non-citizen cards annually.
The hotel was in the midst of cleaning that V-shaped pool when we arrived. There's a golf coast and between the hotel and the ocean, but the view from an upper floor is nice.
Me in my typical water configuration, swimming while keeping my toes in front of me
My side stroke was no match for her, even though she stopped to breathe..
She was the clear winner.
A photo (reflection) with both of us in it
Sister Reynolds and Sister Ladner, conferring. (Sister Reynolds is a medical professional who currently serves by herself in the Takoradi mission.)
Left-to-right: Elder Madsen, Sister Morgan, Sister Madsen, Elder Barilleau; Sister Reynolds and Sister Ladner in the background
By Saturday, the V-shaped pool had been cleaned up.
Buses and trucks generally handle the dirt roads just fine.
The long pizza is what Pizza Hut talked Sister Barilleau into to buy for the Office Elders at the Takoradi mission.
About this parade..
My only hint was that some men were wearing shirts that said: Kikam Tech Inst. - Old Student Assn..
Zigzag around construction.
A good wife is a good life.
In the office courtyard. The office is only the office. The Mission President and his wife live down the street. The same is true of the Office Elders.
Time to drive in the lane for oncoming traffic
Crowded, and the outside lane has a cement curb; nowhere to go when there's a problem.
Matthew 21:42 - "Jesus saith unto them [quoting Psalms 118:22], Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?"
The grassy area often has a man with horse, presumably offering rides. To the left of the building as we face it is permanently kiddie rides, a bouncy house, etc.
In October, Shoprite is decked out for Christmas.
A clinic in the mall. The word hospital can be misleading.
Peter Pan burnt the pizza today. [sigh]
Normally, it has the best in Takoradi in our estimation.
Nyame Tsiase! {God Alive} or an alternate spelling for Nyame Tease or Nyame Te Ase {God Understands!}.
(Twi and Fante co-exist here with the same alphabet and different spelling, as does Akuapem, the dialect first used for the Bible here.)
Unlikely name; if we lived in Takoradi, we might try it someday.
Yaweh {Jehovah} Enterprise
A more traditional roller: cylinder instead of multiple tires
The vehicle in the center says: Still Spiritual Mountain.
Remember the collapsed truck? Stacked blocks hold it up while he welds underneath.
Funeral. See the casket at the right.)
Nyame ne Adom {God and Grace} or less-literally {God of Grace}
Nyame ne me Boafo {God is my Helper} Casket Center
I guess the youngest gets to ride in the back.
Nyame wɔ hɔ {God is there}
Cape Coast breakwater; we're on the home stretch
We watched the Saturday Evening and Sunday Morning sessions of General Conference at the Morgans and ate with them between those sessions.
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