Ghana My Happy Home

I have been told that my blog entries are “too long” so I will try to economize words and subjects in this one. As those on facebook already know, I arrived in Ghana on December 20th after a long flight which just barely missed the impending snowstorm in new york—ah those were the days of prayer. Well to repeat what fb already knows again, just when the pilot announced the beginning of our descent, Bob Marley’s Africa Unite started on my ipod with the lyrics “Africa unite ‘cos we’re moving right out of Babylon and we’re going to our father’s land”. It was an apt welcome into my beloved home land and when the humid air at 27.2C (81F) hit my three-layer clothed self, I made the sign of the cross and thought “it’s good to be home”. It is good to be home and I’ve been singing the following song (I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the lyrics but I capture the essence) ever since:

Ghana my happy home,
Land of rich resources,
Land of mighty talent, racial tolerance, justice and freedom.
I will fight for thee, O my Ghana, I will die for thee, O my Ghana
I will uplift thy name, in all I do, justice and freedom.

What I find quintessentially Ghanaian, however, can sometimes be vexing for those who live here year-round. For instance, later in the evening on the day I came home, the lights suddenly went out—no it wasn’t a ghost story—the electricity had been cut as part of rationing by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG). See, our electric power is mainly hydroelectric generated from the one dam on the Volta Lake (the biggest man-made lake in the world). It’s supplemented by solar power and a second dam is in the works but I digress. Anyway, when the water level goes down, there is load rationing and the lights go off at different places at different times to enable sustainability. So here we all are watching the 11 channels of private and public tv and the lights go out. I am jumping and shouting for joy at this happy reenactment of my childhood and everyone else is grumpy. Dear reader, what would you have done? Can’t I be happy? I was happy and I’ll tell you why.

The longer I have stayed in the US, the more I have longed for home and that way of life – the complicated life made up of coal pots, firewood, smoke, lack of access to water and that most unique characteristic of that life – family. For some reason, I have come to miss, love and yearn for my family more than I have in my life. Maybe it’s moving into a studio apartment or the intrinsic isolation of 3rd year medical school but I like to think I’m just growing to better appreciate what it is that family means. Family was always first with me but this time I know better what it takes to keep it together and I have felt more and more the need to belong in one. One of the things that make it possible is “light off” and when those lights gave out, we immediately went onto the porch and started a lively conversation ranging from the mundane to the political. It was a family moment so thoroughly enjoyed.

Another family moment is eating together. Most Ghanaian dishes are prepared to be eaten by hand and at least in my family, it used to be a family affair; four or so sets of right hands eating from a single bowl, four or so sets of heads conferring at a meal-time ritual exchanging ideas, planning, advising, being together. We are moving a bit away from that now as the times and demands of work put individuals on different schedules and make it impossible to spend time together as a family unit. I came to my village, Dabala, today. I’ll tell you the things I saw on the trip here and what the experience is now I’m here, in the next entry. In the meantime, I will continue to consort with the symphony of mosquitoes that have been singing such Christmas favorites as Silent Night and Santa Claus Is Coming to Town with local mixes like Agba Ee Mido Agba Nam A, Mewi Wo Mawi Wo Nkasei. Best wishes of the holidays. Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year.

Prime

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This is the way I choose, the destiny I pursue
To help the unfit and the fit
To treat each according to his need
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