A Look Back

It has been a year since I boarded the plane at LAX bound for Ghana, Africa.  Accompanying me on this trip was Merton’s A Prayer of Unknowing (Blog 2) as a reminder that I do not journey alone.  I travel with Christ and with all the LMH Missionaries past and present through their prayer and support. 

So how has it been?  Is it everything that I thought it would be? As with any long journey, there are challenges and joyful moments.  In my previous blogs, I talked about some facets of the Ghanaian culture and what I have been doing. This time, as I look back on my first year of mission, I would like to share the beauty of Ghana and more importantly its people as I have been blessed to have travelled to the other areas of Ghana.

In July of last year, I was invited to attend the Thanksgiving Mass of the newly ordained priest of the Diocese.  The Thanksgiving Mass was held in Cape Coast, Ghana which is about 342 miles from Damongo where I live through Kumasi (bypassing Accra).  At Cape Coast, I was able to visit Beseasi, the hometown of Fr. Peter Akomanyi Tawiah where the Thanksgiving Mass was held.  Also in attendance was the other young priest ordained together with Fr. Peter, Fr. Fauster Baapele. It was a sight to see these two young priests atop a pick-up truck following a drum and bugle band to the Church.  The liturgy was celebrated mostly in the Fanti language.  As expected, there was much dancing during the liturgy.  

The Castle along with other slave castles in Ghana is a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1979.  The castle served as a timber and gold trading center for the British until the 19^th century when it became the starting point of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The dungeons of the castle housed huge numbers of African slaves destined for travel to North America.

At the museum, it was surprising to learn that the word “Obroni” as we are fondly called here to designate a ‘white person”, or a “foreigner” actually comes from the Akan phrase “abro nipa” meaning wicked person which was what the Ghanaian ancestors generally called the Europeans based on their general behavior back then.  This visit was a humbling experience for everyone including our Ghanaian brothers and sisters from the North.

St. Joseph’s Minor Basilica Church is a Roman Catholic Church in Elmina, Cape Coast. It was the first Roman Catholic Church established in Ghana in 1880 by Fr. Maru and Fr. Marat, Dutch Catholic priests who were the first to minister to the Ghanaians.  The place provided a blend of religion and history.  A Catholic museum is also located in the premises.

It is such an interesting place considering the time and place where it was built. It sits high on a hill where one can view the Elmina Castle (another slave trade fort) and bay. It is indeed a very beautiful location and a great reminder of how the faith has been kept and preserved and how from here the Church continues to evangelize to her children in Ghana.

Kakum National Park is located in the southern part of the Central region not too far from the coast.  This park is named after the Kakum river which starts inside the protected area. The landscape is about 90% tropical forest.  It features a canopy walk in the air through trees.  The walkway hits a heigh of 130 feet (40m) as it crosses rivers and ravines.  Some of the tree canopies reach a height of 160 feet (50m).  The trail stretches between 7 trees, cross rivers, and ravines a distance of 1,150 feet(350m).  Most people claim that the walkway is easy.  It is challenging for those who have a fear of height.  That day, I conquered that fear as I exited the trail, I got cheered on and received “high fives” from priests and the Damongo delegation.  Lesson learned:  we can do what we fear if we put our hearts into it and of course when you have no option but to move on.

More than these beautiful places I visited, Ghana’s beauty comes from its people, the welcoming smile, the kindness, ever willing to help and sincere hospitality.  The photos say it all.

In the next blog, I will take you to the South easterly region of Ghana, the Volta Region.

Welcome Mark

The LMH community in Damongo, Ghana officially became three (3) with the arrival of Mark McGraw.

Like every new arrival to the mission field, Mark was eager to immediately work in the Diocese of Damongo.  But as most of the veteran LMHers know, Africa, most specially Ghana moves in a much slower pace than we are accustomed to.

With the scheduled visit of the Bishop of Muenster, Germany, the focus of the Diocese was centered on this event since the Diocese of Muenster is a major partner in projects of the Catholic Diocese of Damongo.  Mark will just have to wait a little longer to find out his assignment.  

This turned out to be a blessing for us.  About 2 days from his arrival, our water pump burst, and he was there to fix. Since then, Mark has installed shelves in the kitchen, his bedroom and my bedroom. He has been busy writing his journal, something he might not find a lot of time to do when the work begins.  For now, Mark is settling in nicely, going for walks to the town center and just enjoying the hospitality of the Ghanaian people.

We are all excited for the contribution Mark will being to the Catholic Diocese of Damongo and the people of Damongo.  Welcome Mark, to your new home!

Christmas in Damongo

Earlier in August, I was told that there is not really any Christmas celebration happening in Damongo.  The faithful attend the Midnight Mass and the Christmas Day Mass and go home to their regular routine just like any regular day. That day I promised a few Ghanaian friends that we will celebrate Christmas in a special way this year.  We are going to have a Christmas party or gathering in my new home and possibly introduce the “exchange gift” practice we have in the United States

Preparations were tight for the event as I had to leave Damongo in October and upon my return move into the new house.  But I was determined to have the party so my friends and co-workers could experience the joy of a western style Christmas. Karen, the other LMH missionary assigned at the St. Anne’s Girls Senior High School helped a lot by preparing some food for the occasion, bringing the beer, and lending some tables we could use.  My colleagues at work helped me purchased the pork to cure and make the ham and ground pork for spring rolls to serve at the party. Another co-worker friend helped with the arrangements for the canopy, tables, and chairs rental.

Christmas Day lunch was ready after the Christmas Day Mass. Everyone came in their festive best.  The children were also dressed in their Sunday best.  Even the children from within the area of the house came to join the fun.  We had a surprise visitor that day – Chief Joseph, the chieftain of one of the local tribes came with his friend.  After the meal, we played the “elephant game” (thank you Karen for providing some of the gifts).  Goody bags were given to the children who were happy and grateful to receive them.

The highlight of the gathering was at the end when Chief Joseph spoke and thank everyone and said that they have realized that Christmas can be celebrated this way – joyful, united, grateful and with love.  He promised that he will continue to do what has been started and that a new tradition was born.  He even committed to host the next year’s Christmas party in his home.

I am grateful to have celebrated my first Christmas in Damongo with new found friends and to have shared a little piece of how Christmas is celebrated in the other parts of the world.

Witch Camp

Witch camps are settlements where women who have been accused of being witches can flee for safety in order to avoid lynching.  The witch camps appear to be unique to Northern Ghana even though Ghana shares with other African countries a common belief in witchcraft.

Why are there accusations of witchcraft?  In Africa and certainly in Ghana, everything has to be rationalized. They are not interested in the WHAT but the WHY. Everything must be explained, for that which cannot be explained results in uncertainty, so Africans naturally look at witchcraft for the unexplained.

The population of the witch camps is mostly women.  The women are often vulnerable, such as widows, older women, unmarried women who do not fit the stereotype that the society sees as suitable.  Communities often accuse women of witchcraft because they believe that they are guilty of conditions like bad weather, disease, livestock death, dementia, mental illness or appearing in another person’s dreams – circumstances which are beyond the accused’s control.  Children occasionally accompany these women to the camp in order to protect them, but these children suffer greatly from discrimination, lack of access to education and insufficient food and water. Majority never see their families for fear of being accused and ostracized themselves. The accused are completely cut-off of familial ties.  But when a victim dies, the family will show up to transport the body home for burial and funeral rites.

A person suspected of witchcraft is sent to a witch finder or traditional priest to undergo rituals to confirm who is a witch and exorcise the spirit of witchcraft.  This is often a trial of ordeal.  Some of the methods employed include but not limited to are:

Ø  putting the hand of the accused in boiling oil; if the person is harmed, he/she is a witch

Ø  at Gambaga camp, the accused, and the complainant both send a chicken to be sacrificed to the gods; innocence or guilt is established by the final posture of the chicken when it dies – a chicken that dies with its face down means the accused is guilty of being a witch.

Ø  putting a cord around the neck of the accused; guilt or innocence is determined by the position of the accused when she falls as the cord is pulled

Ø  tossing a cola nut in the air; again, depending on the way it falls, guilt or innocence is ascertained

Ø  in some cases, the accused are forced to drink a potentially fatal “cleansing concoction” that include chicken blood and earth

 

More often than not, the alleged witches will admit to the crime just to save themselves from these trials.

Currently, there are five witch camps in Northern Ghana:  Gnani Camp near Yendi, Kukuo Camp near Bimbilia, Gambaga Camp, Kpatinga Camp near Gushegu and the Gushegu Camp. Observers have relayed that conditions in the camps range from terrible to desperate.  Churches, NGOs send aid from time to time, but these are not regular.  The accommodation in Gushuego is good, thanks to the SVDs of the Roman Catholic Church.  But victims have to feed themselves from spilled grains gathered from the ground in local markets.

Below are photos of the witch camp in Gushegu taken during our visit to the camp.  A video of the song and dance presentation by the alleged witches for our group is also attached.  In the video, you will see the Carmelite priests and I join them in solidarity.

The SVDs are presently seeking grants to help the victims of witchcraft accusation.  The immediate goal is the education of the youth who are involved in the lynching activity instead of the relocation of these vulnerable women or the closure of the Gushegu Camp as proposed by the government.  While the ultimate goal is to eliminate the need for the witches’ camp, it is crucial to first change the hearts and minds of people through education, understanding and inspiration towards the values they care about, i.e., the Ghanaians’ deeply held communal values of family and respect for the elderly. 

“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”

                                                                                                                                       -C.S. Lewis

New Home

I finally moved into the house for LMH missionaries in town.  It makes the travel to and from work easier. 

To reduce spending on a few essential things for the house, I had to be a little more creative than usual.  I actually fashioned a small table to hold the remote controls and cable box out of boxes.  The tabletop was the box the TV came in and the foot base was the box for the oven toaster that I bought.  Cover with wallpaper material and I now have a functional table.

This Christmas I, together with Karen will be hosting a Christmas lunch for our co-workers and neighbors.  To make the house more festive, we needed some decorations.  With limited holiday decorations at the nearest town (Tamale which is 2 hours away), I created some beautiful Christmas decorations using recycled materials. 

Now, I am being asked by the local people to teach them how to make these decorations.  Tomorrow (12/20), I will be teaching the Catholic Guest House Manager and some of her staff to make the decorations for the Guesthouse Restaurant.  They are all excited and happy that they will be using plastic materials that are normally just thrown away. 

Maybe next year, we can start earlier or even do some decorations for Easter.

Merry Christmas to all.  Thank you for the support you have given me this year and I look with joyful expectation for the coming year.

Visiting Some Tamale Institutions

 In the afternoon of the first day of classes at T.I.C.C.S., we visited some Catholic institutions in Tamale.  Since TICCS was established by the SVD fathers in 1983, it was not a surprise that the first institution we visited was the SVD formation house and seminary.

When we visited the SVD formation house, I met an Indonesian priest who lived with Fr. Alex Sila, SVD, parish priest of the St. John the Evangelist Parish (next to our Mission House) in seminary. Fr. Bernard, SVD (Fr. Alex’ junior) and Fr. Alex have not seen each other since they left their formation in Timor, Indonesia. It was good to help them connect once again. 

Another interesting story from this visit was that the last Superior of the SVDs in Tamale was a Filipino. Since I am a dual Fil-Am citizen, this was a surprise that a Filipino priest would be in Northern Ghana. A picture of the beloved Superior of the SVD who passed away in 2021 during the COVID crisis hangs in the SVD’s receiving hall. I also met a Ghanaian priest who studied for seven years in Manila at The Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas, Manila, a Dominican university which prides itself as the oldest existing university in Asia and the largest Catholic university in the world in terms of population. We had an exceptionally long discussion on current events in the Philippines including the upcoming elections. He told me that he still follows events happening in Manila.

That day we also tried to visit the Carmelite nun’s monastery but they were in prayer so we could not go down and meet them.  Instead, we drove through the outstation parish that our Carmelite priests from Nigeria will take over and convert into a full fledged parish.  It is called the Holy Trinity Parish in Kukuo Tamale. 

We visited the Cathedral of Tamale, the Our Lady of Annunciation Cathedral.  Note that in the altar of the Cathedral is a noticeably big umbrella over the Bishop’s chair.  This is a traditional design; the Chief when in the presence of his people would have a big umbrella over his head. Inside the Cathedral is the final resting place of a beloved Ghanaian cardinal, Peter Cardinal Poreku Dery. A former Archbishop of Tamale, he is credited with the Africanization of the Catholic Church in Ghana and Africa generally because he composed the first local translation of the Mass in Dagaare.  The cause for his canonization commenced in mid-2013 and the late cardinal is now referred to as a Servant of God.  Did you know that our LMH Program Director, Janice England, has a picture with the late Cardinal?  It is so cool to show your picture with a future Saint. The Cardinal Dery Memorial Center is located just a few steps from T.I.C.C.S. It also serves as the pastoral center for the cause of his canonization.

The Cathedral has a separate adoration chapel within the Cathedral Area and a bookstore. There is a running joke among the learners that more often than not, we were adoring across the street.  The Cathedral was situated just across where the KFC fast-food restaurant of Tamale is located.

These are but a few of the Catholic Institutions around Tamale.  It is truly astonishing how these institutions have stood the test of time but even more inspiring are the people that make up this Church we call Catholic.

 “We don’t fly solo in the Christian adventure; we have brothers and sisters, and our personal story forms part of a much bigger story of salvation.”

John Bartunek, A Quiet Place

 

Healthcare and the Shekhinah Clinic for the Poor and Destitute

Diviners play key roles in deciding individuals’ decision-making processes among the indigenous peoples of Ghana. One key decision that people make has to do with determining the cause and management of illnesses.  In spite of the available modern expertise in dealing with ill-health, many people continue to choose divination in the search for therapy. The continued practice of divination in health seeking suggests that there is a significant benefit derived from it. Between symptoms recognition and therapy options divination is often used to identify supernatural causes of misfortunes and ill-health to determine the appropriate course of action. Patients tend to consult diviners first as they believe these conditions are of spiritual or supernatural origin. Diviners don’t consider themselves as healers but would consider themselves as custodians of the conduits from the spiritual and ancestral world. These practices have implications for healthcare service and utilization: delays in seeking and utilizing modern healthcare services and the tendency for patients asking for “discharge against medical advice” to avail of alternative treatment at home, and the reason for treatment failures at modern healthcare facilities.

Amidst this setting stands a positive response to the healthcare dilemma of the poor and destitute who are not able to afford a visit even just to a diviner. I was blessed along with my co-learners at TICCS to visit this clinic in one of our class outings.

In March 1991, Dr. David Abdul Fuseini, a Catholic doctor, chose to devote himself to the poor, depending absolutely and unconditionally on Divine Providence. He officially established The Shekhinah Clinic for the Poor and Destitute. Dr. David who was also popularly known as Dr. Choggu or the “Mad Doctor”, did his first operation under a mango tree where the Shekhinah Clinic at Gurugu presently stands. 

Today, the clinic in Gurugu, Tamale offers free medical care to the “forgotten ones”. The clinics are run daily, except on weekends on a first come-first served basis. However, emergency cases, mentally challenged cases, and the aged people are seen as soon as possible on arrival. An average of 60 to 70 patients are seen daily in the clinic. Surgical operations are also carried out as and when it is possible, especially when Dr. Erle Kirby, a Canadian doctor and his team are in house. Terminal care is provided to abandoned victims of HIV/AIDS and the poor who need help to care for terminally ill family members. It also housed COVID-19 patients in the early stages of the pandemic.

Other programs include:

• -        Feeding Program: a daily meals-on-wheels service delivers to an average of about 190 needy persons
• -        Food Rationing to Poor Old Ladies/Widows:  rations of food to some poor widows and vulnerable elderly women ("suspected to be witches") living on their own
• -        Support of Police: Occasionally cleaning and burying unclaimed bodies of persons who die without suspicion of foul play
• -         Cooperation with the Ghana Road Transport Union: provide transportation fee for stranded poor passengers to any part of Ghana
• -        Christmas Party for the “Forgotten Ones”: an average of 3,000 people from the nearby poor villages and any poor person who attends.  A separate Christmas party for the blind beggars is held annually because of the inconvenience to them when mixed with sighted people.

Because the Clinic has no regular source of funds it cannot employ salaried workers. Interestingly every member of staff at the Clinic is a volunteer.  They come of their own free will and may leave of their own free will.

It is only through Divine Providence and the grace of God that the mission and vision of Dr. David “continues to grow and the doors of hope and healing” have remained open for more than 25 years even after his death on October 2, 2016. 

The stomach knows no holiday.

                  - Dr, David 2016