Village Ventures - Mompong

As we entered Mompong, (more of a small town than a village, since there were paved roads, and is the second biggest town in the Ashanti region) our first stop was to visit the Chief.

The company of royalty

"Nana" as all chiefs are called was a character! He definitely didn't take his status too seriously, as he joked around with us, and didn't let anyone leave before he gave them a good teasing. Nana also works as a managing editor for the Daily Graphic, Kumasi branch, and after he learned I was studying journalism, he went into a ten minute speech about how journalism is an "art". Haha. Ooh Nana.

We sat outside with our chairs in a horizontal live, with Nana sitting in the middle in his small throne like chair.

We also didn't leave without eating fufu. There were some kind of intestines in the soup, along with fish and goat meat. Haha. Andrea was quick to say that she doesn't eat meat, and Mallory and I were quick to follow her lead. LOL. So thankfully I was spared the intestines. In the end, I didn't "justify my plate" as Nana kept saying, meaning I didn't eat it all. I think that may be considered rude in their culture, but I just couldn't finish it. Luckily he just teased me, and told Andrea that she needed to "galvanize" or make me stronger so I could finish it all. Haha.

Nana's children and relatives who were around served us, and I wondered if they have to do that all the time for him...

After nearly two hours at the chief's house we left. No business was conducted or plans discussed. I think it was just a formality. Before entering the community you should greet the chief. With my American mentality, the visit didn't seem very productive. Haha. But I guess that's just how things are done here!

Epitome of Education

Accosi took us to the junior high school where the ICT Center will be put and also to the primary school of the area. The primary school was a little shocking. Two of the classrooms were mud hut classrooms, back to back. You would be able to hear everything the class was doing in the other area. There was a small black board hanging in the front. The floor was made of dirt and cracking. About ten small desks filled the room. Children sit two per desk.

There weren't any colorful posters on the wall or goldfish in a tank. No games or gadgets. Outside there wasn't any playground equipment. Obviously no air conditioning. Wow. This school really put things into perspective and I had a little revelation (again) about how much Americans really do have and how much we take for granted!

Meeting the Fam

After touring the schools, Accosi took us to his home to meet the rest of his family. We didn't call. We just showed up, unannounced.

In the United States people might not be so welcoming. But in Ghana, the people don't mind if they are still in their pajamas, if they don't have make up on, or if they have ground nuts all over the floor, like in this case. They weren't embarrassed, even though they had never met us before. They weren't worried about making a good impression, and Accosi wasn't worried that we would judge him based on his family. Wow. It was really neat to see. His family was so sweet and so excited to meet the obrunis.

At the end of the day, Accosi (who is probably in his 40's) took us to the tro tro station so we could catch a taxi back. When we were leaving he literally had tears in his eyes. He said, "This is when I get sad. By the grace of God, we will meet again." Aw! How precious!