It's a HO Life

We thought we would give you a little look into our life here in Ho. First of all it is impossible to explain Ho (or life here) in mere words, but we will give it a go or a Ho :).Ho is a city in the Volta Region of Ghana. In fact it is the capital city of the region. The local language is Ewe –pronounced A’ Way. But most people with an education speak English. So most of the older children speak English, but many of the older women don’t speak English. It is a good-sized city, but no one can tell you how big. Some say 20,000 some say 2 million. You see, there just aren’t any addresses. I am not sure how they would take a census. They give directions by the junction (where a road joins another road) or a hill, or a mango tree. There are a few streets that have a name. They are known as the vodaphone road where the phone company is or the stadium road where the stadium is or the market road which leads to the market. I know of one roundabout that has a couple of street signs. Where we live is a fairly new area so the main road by our house has a name which makes it nice when telling people where we live. But the road that goes to our road where our house is, is called Ebilo Junction because Mr. Ebilo, a man of means, lives on the road. There are several main roads that wind throughout the city. I (Cindy) still have a hard time finding my way sometimes. Mike, however is a genius when it comes to getting around. I can drive from our house to the church, and I can find my way to the market and maybe a few other places. I am still pretty much a dummy when it comes to navigating which is pretty unusual for me because I can usually find my way around, but as the Elders here say, “That’s Ghana for you”!

There are a few tall buildings. I think the tallest is 3 or 4 stories. All the buildings are made of cement or cement block which is then painted. Buildings sometimes take forever to build so there are a lot of incompleted buildings. But most of the city consists of little shops where you can buy electrical supplies, shoes, underwear, dusty old tvs, and provisions; which is anything from Milo (like hot chocolate) to soap and spices. They have little shops that sell rice, beans, and other grains, little shops that sell stationery supplies, copy shops, photo shops, used car part shops, tire shops, timber shops, casket shops, furniture shops, fabric shops, sewing shops, hardware shops, it goes on and on. Of course there are the places to eat rice , kenke, banku and fufu, and fish. Then there are the  stands that sell oranges, pineapple, mango, tomatoes, peppers, and okra. Some of the shops are nice aluminum stands and others are made of sticks and palm fronds. Some are nice and some are falling apart, but most of them are clean. The streets are lined with these shops. Unfortunately there are the drinking spots which are everywhere. It is a real problem.

The streets are narrow so traffic is interesting. There are hundreds of taxis because hardly anyone has a car. There are basically no rules. If there is a space you take it. They do stop at stop signs and traffic lights, but that is about it. You can park anywhere. There is no right of way. But with that said, almost everyone is civil and occasionally someone will blink their lights to let you make a left hand turn or beckon you to go ahead. There is a lot of horn honking. Hopefully, we can learn how to drive again when we returnJ.

Ho has a zillion different churches. The most popular are the ones that do drumming, dancing, clapping, chanting (sometimes called “the gift of tongues”). They many times have bands and the pastor speaks on these huge loudspeakers. It is not unusual for these meetings to be held every night of the week and sometimes go into the wee hours of the night morning. At first I thought the sounds were from a soccer match, but someone informed me that it was church!

There are also many schools in Ho. It is a very educated city. Most of the schools are run by the government, but are closely affiliated with a church. There are quite a few technical schools and university level schools. Every one wears uniforms to school. The children start “school” at 6 months. The schools are very plain. There are no brightly colored bulletin boards or visual aids. There are very few schools that have any playground equipment. They do have a recess and they can buy food which is usually banku. The desks are old wooden desks built for 2. Discipline is very severe. If a student is late, forgets homework, or doesn’t know an answer, they can be caned (hit by a long skinny stick). There are school fees and other related fees that are due every term. If they don’t have the money they cannot go. Consequently many students are much older that American kids because they have to stay out of school until they have money. For instance Eric is 13 and is in class 5 in primary school. The schools system is a big frustration for us. But it is this way all over Ghana.

Well, enough of that depressing subject.

 We have our favorite places for different things-photo developing, copying, car washing, internet café, grocery store, and gasoline(petrol). Mike is bosom buddies with all the workers as well as the mango lady in the market. There is Victor and Paul at Vodaphone, Marcus at the grocery store, and many others. We get our tomatoes from Innocent, our peppers, cabbage, cucumbers, and onions from Kate or her mother in the market.

One of our favorite people is Holy. He is a very good Kente weaver. Another man we call Issiman (we don’t know if that is his name or not) is a fascinating character. He is so into his art which consists of old beads and recreating old chief vests, jewelry, and whatever else you can imagine from African culture. He has made some beautiful and “interesting” stuff.

We also have a few places where we eat. We call them our “fast food”. Our favorite is Vivian’s bread and egg. Vivian is a member of our branch, and her little shop is right by the church. She basically fixes a huge omelet with fresh tomatoes, onion, and peppers and cuts a small loaf of bread down the middle, grills it and then puts the egg in the bread. Sometimes we get it to “take away” and sometimes we sit at the roadside and enjoy the atmosphere. It is very good. There is a rice place where we get fried rice or some times jollof rice which is pretty spicy. That is about it. There is a place called KCS-don’t ask what that stands for-and they have pretty good pizza.

Ho, like many cities is an intriguing combination of old and new. The old traditions are alive and well. One of them is funerals. If you come to Ho or any other Ghanaian city or village on a Friday and  Saturday you will see many people dressed in black or red or a combination of the two. You will also see large red and black tents, drapes, and chairs. The person whose funeral it is probably died a couple of months ago. There are posters-some very large-with the diseased person’s picture on it announcing the details of the funeral that are posted all over town. There are also bands, processions, and a lot of food and drink. They are quite the events. They say this all started many, many years ago when they would drum and play instruments to scare the birds away from the open casket.

Well, as you see we could go on and on about our city, Ho. People enjoy living here, and we find it a nice city in which to live. The meaning of Ho, which we just discovered, comes from the saying, “Ho mea va, Ho mea ga dzo”, which means, “we all come together, and we all go together.” The people who live here come from many villages hence the name that came from that phrase. We meet wonderful people who have fascinating stories and who do come from many different places. HOpefully, you have enjoyed this brief description of the city. We are sure we will include other aspects of living here with you as time goes on.

Taxis are a great message service.  We can all learn from this one!

This is not exactly how you would see a round up in Texas, but these cattle seem content to lay in the back of the truck and go along for the ride.

Enjoying Banku and Okra stew.  Anyone under 3 would love to eat like this

Our bicycle repair expert. Anyone who has been in American Fork knows that this makes Harold Smith's shop look elegant!

 

Christian Dikro the tailor.  H can make anything from a tie to a suit in the shop you see behind us.  It is the part under the tin roof and is where he does all his beautiful work as well as where he sleeps and lives.He is the first counselor in the Ho 1st Branch presidency.

Funerals are a major production starting Friday and ending usually Sunday evening.  The funeral colors are always red and black and some times dark orange.  This is the march to the burial spot.  Most often you will see the coffin carried on their shoulders at the front and the bands playing in the front and back.

Our favorite fruit lady selling the mango and bananas at the Ho market

These brethren keep out truck clean at their wash bay.  We can all take a lesson from their work ethic and attention to detail

This is Ganyo and his sons Maxwell and Desmond in front of his oven where he and his wife bake bread for a living. See the bread pans on the side.  It is best to go there on baking day which is Wednesday and Saturday and get the fresh warm  "heavy" 5 cedi loaf.

Ganyo and his apprentice

This is the wrapping room for the bread.  There is sugar bread, tea bread and butter bread.  They also do rolls that may rival McEwan rolls

This is Antoinette the one who is filling in for Les Robinson and the Robinson hair center.  She saved Elder Cosgrave after the first Ho haircut and has been or favorite ever since. 

Buying diesel fuel is painful because of the price (2.65 cedis per liter or about 4.25 per gallon) but the friendly attendants at the Shell station keep us smiling

We were asked to find those in the branch who have been lost and have addresses such as "Ho,Ghana".After not much success on our own, we invited our "rescue squad" of Donne, Wonder, Prince, Jerry and Eric to help us.  They were truly amazing in knowing where members lived even without addresses. There are now several who once again are joining with us to worship because of these rescuers.

Rescue squad seeking the lost sheep

Our favorite wall!! However, you can see many holes that need to be filled with your photos, so send them today (we can print the ones sent electronically)

These guys kind of reminded us of the grandkids we left in the U.S.

Ghana Independence Day is 6 March so we joined the festivities. Here is Sister Cosgrave with Augustine on the far left, his sister Celine next to her and our dear friend Anna Ahiabor in her traditional attire.  The other cuties were just photo bombing.

The schools march in the celebration. Here is one of the senior high schools with one of our branch members Esther holding the banner on the left.  They all march with the goose step walk

Thanks, but no thanks! One of the favorite delicacies in Ghana is Grasscutter.  Here is one for the taking with his friend on the roadside table. I hope someone paid this young lady for her effort, because we were not taking either one home.

Who needs a drive-up window when you can have the "walking Walmart" right at your fingertips.

If you tire of chicken and cannot find beef (it is scarce) there is always a goat kabob (if you are full of grass cutter). See the goats in the corral ready to be taken home.

The internet is our lifeline to the family and friends.  Paul (on the left) and Victor at Vodafone internet cafe keep us filled with gigabytes so we can email and occasionally call on Google hangout.

Our favorite vegetable girl, Kate, had gone to the HO Polytechnic so her mother filled in for her at the Ho market

Elder Cosgrave with 5 missionaries from 5 countries. L to R Elder Bongomin (Uganda), Elder Grissignon (Ivory Coast),MLC, Elder Bagaswaga (born in Rowanda came from Uganda), Elder Despain (Washington State USA), Eric Gator (Branch missionary from Ho, Ghana)

At home wishing you all could join us serving among these beautiful, faithful people.  We miss you all and love you all and as they say in Ghana Woe'-zo  (Ewe) or Akwaba (Tri) or"You are Welcome" (USA)