Wednesday, July 22, 2009, the day before my departure from Tamale to Accra and about two hours before our "Good-bye" dinner given by our host, I had the pleasure of meeting Ebenezer Adam. Last minute is the description the event and anxious was my state of mind. I was a bit nervous because I didn't have his phone number to schedule a meeting time. Thoughts of rejection and of being turned around at the door rattled me. "But how am I supposed to get in touch with someone who does not have a telephone," I thought. Once again I was proven to be the Americanized foreigner whom induces her own anxiety such as, being nervous about showing up to some one's home unannounced in the Ghanaian culture. I had to tell myself "Relax, this is the way they do it, it's fine." Of course it was no big deal. And my soothing process began when Ebenezer walked in excited and very welcoming. He has a smile and eyes that carried the innocence of a child and the joy of a grandfather every time he sees his grandchild. I felt the warmth of his welcome as he did my visit. At ease I felt.
Duloglana Ebenezer Adam of Tamale, Ghana is a sub-chief; Duloglana represents the region or neighborhood of Tamale in which the Chief resides. The Duloglana is eighty-nine years young and will be ninety in December. The Duloglana began his career as a teacher in Kumasi which is about three to four hours south of Tamale. His career then took a turn in 1948-49 in favor of politics, particularly, in the advocation of independence for Ghana. Chief Ebenezer Adam has worked closely with the first president of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, in the establishment of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) in both the southern and northern regions of Ghana. Later after serving as a member of the the UGCC, he then became the General Secretary of the UGCC.
About six years after Ghana's independence was won in 1957, Ebenezer Adam became the Regional Commissionor for the Northern Region of Ghana in 1963 to 1966. He was also the NP for the Tamale. Chief is also known for his mastery work of facilitating, along with three other translators, a complete translation of the Old and New Testament Bible into the Dagbani language. The conception of the Naawuni Kundi Kasi was around 1980 and it took approximately 28 years total to translate both Old and New Testaments into Dagbani. The first Dagbani written bible, the Naawuni Kundi Kasi translated as God's Holy Bible, was published in 2006.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Missing Tamale
As the last of seven weeks comes to a soggy close, I pause to reflect upon this city of Tamale. It holds so many memories, experiences, and I am happy to say, friends. Now that I am getting ready to leave in less than 3 days, I look toward my departure as bittersweet and I reflect upon the things that have made this place so special.
Opening my eyes in the morning to the sound of 30 or more girls singing as they start their school day. “Taking breakfast” of “eggbread” at Fuseini’s. Traveling with strangers in a packed taxi cab, dodging a medley of farm animals and motorbikes. The constant
accessibility of cheap, tasty, freshly-made foods carried by beautiful women and children atop of their heads as well as the knowledge of precisely where your food is coming from as the air is packed with the scent of butchered and burning meat and the bleating of goats and sheep.
Fast food that comes from a giant cauldron served in open air without the million dollar advertising. A satisfying meal of guinea fowl and jolof rice at prices that put the dollar menu to shame. For when there is more time, sharing a bowl of TZed and groundnut soup. Enjoying the company of one another as you both dip your bare fingers into the piping hot ball of dough and then into the scalding soup before scooping the spicy mixture into your mouth unencumbered by the senseless taboo of “double-dipping.”
Bonding over laughter and music as cultural differences melt away and you are no longer where you come from, but who you are.
The beauty of the people. The women in their brightly patterned, tailor-made dresses which hug every curve and complement the figure of a woman. The men with their toned physique developed through years of skilled labor, not manufactured in a stale health club. Their uninhibited practicality and grounded reality.
Above all, those beautiful people I will miss most are the ones that showed me the real side of Tamale and who shared with me their culture, their passions, their hopes and dreams, their laughter, and most of all, their friendship.
Opening my eyes in the morning to the sound of 30 or more girls singing as they start their school day. “Taking breakfast” of “eggbread” at Fuseini’s. Traveling with strangers in a packed taxi cab, dodging a medley of farm animals and motorbikes. The constant
accessibility of cheap, tasty, freshly-made foods carried by beautiful women and children atop of their heads as well as the knowledge of precisely where your food is coming from as the air is packed with the scent of butchered and burning meat and the bleating of goats and sheep.
Fast food that comes from a giant cauldron served in open air without the million dollar advertising. A satisfying meal of guinea fowl and jolof rice at prices that put the dollar menu to shame. For when there is more time, sharing a bowl of TZed and groundnut soup. Enjoying the company of one another as you both dip your bare fingers into the piping hot ball of dough and then into the scalding soup before scooping the spicy mixture into your mouth unencumbered by the senseless taboo of “double-dipping.”
Bonding over laughter and music as cultural differences melt away and you are no longer where you come from, but who you are.
The beauty of the people. The women in their brightly patterned, tailor-made dresses which hug every curve and complement the figure of a woman. The men with their toned physique developed through years of skilled labor, not manufactured in a stale health club. Their uninhibited practicality and grounded reality.
Above all, those beautiful people I will miss most are the ones that showed me the real side of Tamale and who shared with me their culture, their passions, their hopes and dreams, their laughter, and most of all, their friendship.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
How to Lose Weight in Africa
Losing weight is much harder than I had anticipated. Not that I was trying to shed some major poundage this summer, but I wasn't going to complain if I could fit into the favorite pair of jeans that much better. Being in a new location always makes me finicky about food for some reason. This has nothing to do with different tastes or textures, I just don’t normally eat a lot when I’m not in my comfort zone. So I expected to keep my meals to a healthy size and time. But it didn’t take long for me to forget that idea once I got to Tamale. Tamale is rich with flavor experiences, such as my new favorite poultry, the ever-popular guinea fowl. This tough little bird is an excellent meat choice to Red Red, a bean and tomato dish served with fried plantains, which I can’t get enough of. But this is just one of the many options of local dish. Jolof rice and fried fish can be purchased on the street corner in quantities that would make U.S. restaurants blush and at prices that can’t be beat by the McDonald’s dollar menu.
Besides the local dishes, Chinese food is served at most every sit down restaurant. Non-Ghanaian food is typically referred to as “fast food” thought it is anything but. What is meant by “fast food” is that it is the type of food one can get at a western fast food restaurant. No food is pre-made and left to sit under a heat lamp. When you order pizza here, they begin making the dough.
So amongst the fabulous flavors, plenteous portions and petite prices I was starting to wonder if I would fit into my tailor-made traditional dress. Then I came across a natural way to avoid those pesky pounds: a stomach virus. Indeed, I have discovered that a constant threat of nausea is the only thing to keep oneself from over indulgence.
Besides the local dishes, Chinese food is served at most every sit down restaurant. Non-Ghanaian food is typically referred to as “fast food” thought it is anything but. What is meant by “fast food” is that it is the type of food one can get at a western fast food restaurant. No food is pre-made and left to sit under a heat lamp. When you order pizza here, they begin making the dough.
So amongst the fabulous flavors, plenteous portions and petite prices I was starting to wonder if I would fit into my tailor-made traditional dress. Then I came across a natural way to avoid those pesky pounds: a stomach virus. Indeed, I have discovered that a constant threat of nausea is the only thing to keep oneself from over indulgence.
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