(Spencer) Nyegbolo

(Continued from the decision)

Having made the tough decision to move to a new family, this the experiences from the first night in the village along with a few notes added these weeks after the delay in posting.

Nyegbolo

Nyegbolo is 4km from Karaga town and it takes between 30-40min to bike to the village. The bike ride is gorgeous and worth every extra minute that it takes, time will tell if that is still the opinion after 2 months (after taking it for one week I can say it is still wonderful, and I feel much healthier from the exercise). There are 30 households in the village and population of ~700 people. The very large majority of people are farmers at 93% farming and soon to include myself.

Immediately the feel of the village is vastly different from that of Karaga. No shops, no stores, no food venders, pump action borehole instead of mechanized, healthier animals, not packed with people, all traditional mud-hut compound housing, and beautiful open fields lined with Baobab trees all around. The language spoken is Dagbani as the village is also of the Dagomba tribe. There are very few people in the village who can understand any English at all, which is fitting considering it is I who am a visitor in their homeland.

My new host family is 28 people strong, with 12 children under the age of 12. All the compounds in the village have a name so that people can identify where you are from (it is the same in all of Dagbon, the land of the Dagombas). The name my host families compound is named Ca-Chara I Yeena which means that when there is trouble in the village this house will go and sort out the issue between the two parties, the village police. Think of a compound as a collection of one room mud-huts in a general circle shape connected by walls.

First Night

In thanks of my arrival I presented the old man of the house with cola nuts, a Dagomba tradition when meeting an elder. Next, I was taken to the chief of the village to be formally introduced and welcomed into the community; he was presented with very large cola nuts. In honour of my arrival they presented me with a delicious dinner of T-Z and baby pigeon, freshly slaughtered on my arrival. The most interesting meat I have ever eaten, especially after seeing the bird trash about after its head was removed. The first time I think that I have ever seen an animal slaughtered and prepared, it is remarkable how removed we are from the food system in Canada. The Ghanaians I have talked too cannot quite understand the concept of mass production and the sale of meat in Canada; there is nothing Karaga district beside street venders selling fried goat to make any comparison. After stuffing myself I discovered the chief had sent a meal of T-Z to me as a welcome, the children were very happy for the food, it was impossible to eat that much T-Z.

The evening was sent talking with Mohammed who is the brother of my host father, and the only English speaking man in the village. While he spoke my eyes drifted to the star speckled sky free from any light pollution and back down to the traditional compound, everything was in accord.

The Split Summer

This change in living situation presents a shift in community life in many ways. No longer will evenings be spent roaming the paths and streets of Karaga meeting people and experiencing life in a developing town. Instead spent with the host family engaging in what they do in the evening, this includes going to bed for 9pm and getting up for 5:30am.

From my short time so far in the village what is jarring is the lack of the option to use services which have always been taken for granted. They simply aren’t an option as they don’t exist in the village.

• No running water; this was quite true in Karaga town as well but in the village the woman walk quite a distance to the borehole, there is an added guilt of taking a bucket shower as it will mean half a trip to the borehole
• No electricity; perhaps I was spoiled at the DCE’s house…but not having the option to turn on a light, plug something in, or do anything electric is an adjustment. The village is without any mechanized devices or electric work multipliers. Everything is done by hand or with well-designed tools. Battery operated devices such as flashlights and radios are common.
•  No food venders; don’t enjoy T-Z? Tough love. There are no other options in the community as there was in Karaga town. Put a smile on and eat what is available or don’t eat at all.
• Sanitation; I’m quite sure the situation in the village is better than Karaga due to the smaller population however there is only one latrine in the village at the small. The very large majority of the village is going “free range”, when the community led total sanitation team arrives in Karaga this month I will keep tabs.
• Lack of employment; in Karaga there were no jobs available but in the villages there are simply no jobs. Which is why nearly everyone is a farmer but don’t ever underestimate the farmers, they are very intelligent in their field of mastery.

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It is an exciting change that hopefully will bring about greater sense of challenges that exist in village life.

Lots of Love

Suhuyini