Big Lions!

So this blog post is about a pack of lions I happened upon during my first couple weeks here in Ghana.

No, they are not the wild, carnivorous cats that exist in Africa, but another kind of lion. These are the Saboba football lions, a team of 10 boys in my village of Toma. 

One day I was back at my place after a day in the field, and heard a knock at my door. I opened it to see a group of boys standing outside staring at me. One of the boys walked up to me and handed me a letter. Naturally, I opened it and read it. 

It read: Big Lions

           P.O. Box 2, 

           Saboba, N/R

           26-08-20

Dear Sir,

I am very happy to write you this letter. I hope you are fine as I am over here. 

Timothy, I am writing you this letter to tell you that we are they Big Lions. 

Our name,s, is, #21 Timothy, #5 Kwesi, #17 Divine, #18 Prime, #13 Joshua and #4 Joe. 

     I was then asked "Master, will you manage our team. We have no manager to coach our team." I replied, that I would be honored to coach their team, but was unsure if I could do it. I did have a football however, that one of the other EWB people gave to me, and so offered it to them although it was flat. They returned 10 minutes later with the ball pumped up and asked when we could have our first practice. I suggested maybe after I was done work. They said "thank you Master", and were on their way. 

     I then would arrive home everyday to find the boys waiting with the ball outside my place, waiting to say "hello master" when I would arrive. I did not like being called "master", and so asked to be called Mark instead, but they would just forget my name and started calling me Master again. I then tried "Coach", only to then start being called "Master Coach", which is the one that stuck. I would go and try to coach them when I could, only to realize structured coaching and practicing was not what these kids wanted at all. What they did want was just to play a game and have a "manager" which was really just a referee who played with them. Any coaching would be to encourage fair play and resolve disputes and fouls. 
     After having played with the Big Lions for a couple weeks, I returned home to see that they were not at my place asking if I could practice with them on that day. I stopped by and asked what was the matter, and it turned out the kids had played with the ball so much, it died after only a couple weeks. I tried looking for a ball in town, but nowhere could one be found. I finally found one on market day and purchased it to get the boys playing again. Training soon quieted down as school started up again in late September, but I still try to meet with the boys on weekends when I am around. 

Since then, I was asked by my friend Mo and his brother Salifu, who run a mineral "pop" stand in town, to join them for a game sometime. I joined them one weekend, only to find that I was actually practicing with the city team, which consisted of super-skilled and very fit 16-20 year olds. I soon found that I had no where near the pace or endurance that these kids had. I was quickly thrown into the striker position, as here I could not do as much harm by not being able to keep up with these kids defensively. I soon found that the style of football here is played with the philosophy of going full out, full speed and just trying to score. I prefered to slow things down a bit, keep some possession, and play some defense. Surprisingly, I scored a few goals along the way, and won over the coaching staff a bit. I since then have been invited back to train with the team a couple times a week. It has been great to get some exercise and enjoy the display of skill these kids have. 

For many people in Ghana, football is the only sport that matters. Many in their youth see it as a ticket out of poverty, and thus all aspire to play in England one day for the top clubs in Europe. Most are fans of Chelsea in London, which have a Ghanian, Michael Essien, as a regular star on their team. Most boys tend to follow their games religiously, and can all be found on Saturdays or Sundays watching a 21inch tv screen in a crowd of about 50-100 people at Mo's pop stand.

Playing with a team in Ghana has been a very different experience. It has been fun to practice with the boys, and sometimes I get to even join in exhibition games against the secondary school team. Games tend to draw a large crowd in town, mostly made up of students. It is truly an electric and awesome experience. The fans all stand behind the respective goals of the team they are supporting and for a full 90 minutes are jumping up and down, singing, and banging drums. When a goal is scored they all rush the field to celebrate with the players, then return to behind the goal line. 

As my placement is coming to a close, I will miss my time as a coach and player in Saboba. I got to have some fun, experience something very different and make some friends along the way. I am sure the "Big Lions" will do well one day when they go off to play in national tournaments in Tamale. 

Don't Drop the Chicken!

Recently I did a village stay in Yankazia, a part of Wapuli township, about 30 minutes west of Saboba. This was an opportunity for me to truly live off the grid, experience a subsistence lifestyle and experience what it really means to live in poverty. During this stay I worked farming soybeans and maize, toured the village visiting the palaces of numerous chiefs, went to a funeral, visited a community farm project and got to also hang out and have some fun with local villagers. Being a guest, many people who I had visited in the village, returned to visit me where I was staying. To my surprise, after visiting numerous homes in the village, male members of the households would go out of their way to repay the favor and come visit me where I was staying. This sometimes meant the elder of the household would show up with a chicken for me to slaughter for dinner with the family. On my last day I was presented with my 3rd chicken just before heading back to Saboba. I already was sporting my backpack and had a motorcycle stacked with yams, beans, and a moringa tree branch strapped to my backpack. Since I had to graciously accept the chicken, I was asked if I could transport it back. I said I could try, and was then told "don't worry, just don't drop the chicken. Here, we will tie it's legs together for you and it can sit on your lap." Alright I said, and then I headed off for what was an interesting ride back. After making it back to Saboba, my host family was thrilled with all the goods I brought back, and that night we enjoyed moringa tea and fried chicken! 

Here are some photos from my visit with some brief notes:

My hosts:

Mr. Elijah Sibow (left of picture) - Farmer, Lay Pastor, Father of six children. Here Mr. Elijah is teaching me how to use my cell phone. He has the same Nokia as myself and is helping me with my texting. Since I have no cell phone in Canada and have never owned one, I am having to learn how to use one. Cell phones are huge here, as Africa has leapfrogged land lines and gone straight to cellulars. Even if people can not afford credit, as all phones are pay as you go, they will "Flash You", which means they will call you and hang up so you can call them back and use your own credit up, as only the person placing the call gets charged for credit. 

Elijah and I got to pick each others brains a bit over the one week of my village stay. A moment that sticks out is when he took me on a hike to show me his distant farm fields down by the river. After hiking for 45 minutes we arrived at his fields of maize, millet, cassava, yams, soybeans, bimbala beans, hot peppers, and guinea corn. Elijah then suggested we take a seat in the shade under a tree. I asked him what his aim for the future is. He said "I am a poor farmer , but one day I hope people will remember me as a good farmer . One that was able to provide for his family and afford to send  my children to school ." I asked how he will do this and he said "I will get a  tractor. " What he meant by this statement is that he hopes to get access to a tractor in order to increase his acreage farmed,  so that he can earn more income and send all of his six children to school. A big problem in this part of Ghana is that many farmers can not gain access to tractors and farm equipment. This is the case as no banks currently exist within the district to give loans to farmers. Also, no farm equipment retailers are located here, that would allow farmers to lease, rent or own a tractor. Thus, to increase acreage farmed, farmers must find a tractor to rent from another farmer, that is if one is available, and then they must pay a high cost as well as for the fuel to rent it to plough their fields. This has made me think that a rent-to-own type of program may be helpful here, where farmers or farmer groups can rent equipment up until one day that they have paid enough to own the equipment outright and call it their own. 

The home:

Here is the fence Elijah uses to house his livestock. His goats, fowl and pigs free range around the village during the day and are then brought into the fenced area for the night. 

The processing mill and grain storage bin with some pigs laying around

Elijah processing some maize for a friend from the village.

View of Elijah's compound: house on left, mill house in middle, animal storage area on right.

View of his compound home from behind, I stayed in room with the window on the left.

Outside view of Elijah's family compound home

The room that I stayed in.

Kosi Sadira and Rolf Manikina, his 6th and 5th born children.Sweet shirt Rolf!

Mrs.Mariam (mother -wife), Nala (aunt of children, sister to Mariam), and Abaana (Nala's Daughter). All beating soybeans to liberate the beans after harvesting and drying. This is hard work, which I am positive that if we did not have machines to do this in Canada, we would probably not grow any soybeans ourselves. 

Chief's palace: I met with the chief (seated in chair) and the village elders for a discussion about farming as a business. 

My first Guinea Fowl as a gift. 

Dora -sister living with him at his compound

Soyabeans

Kids chilling out and taking a break from the hot afternoon sun under a Baobob tree. My co-worker Grundow who introduced me to the village in the background with his moto while talking on his cell phone. 

Fetching dinner by sling-shot!

Diesel powered processing mill. This one was actually made in Canada. A lack of manufactured products exist in Ghana, as manufacturing barely makes up 10 percent of economy. 

A couple local village kids who were sent by there mother to get some maize milled for dinner. One thing that ceases to amaze me overseas is how much responsibility is bestowed on children, as well as how much freedom they have. This may be a result of lack of options, but one thing is for sure, no one can accuse these kids of being spoiled, unappreciative, disrespectful and lazy. Letting them do things like cut up a chicken for dinner, or hike 3 miles to collect water on their own, something that would probably not go over too well in Canada, are common chores for children here. 

Fulani man. The Fulani are a minority of people who live and work as herdsman in Ghana. They are a tribal people who have migrated to Ghana from countries that lay to the North and East. They are not allowed to own land or do other work, and are often accused of criminal activity. I like this one, as he has a Toronto Blue Jays hat.

Local football pitch. These kids are playing with a hard plastic ball. I have seen blown up water sachets with the ends tied up used as well.

 Group of farmers de-husking maize after harvest so it can dry out before de-cobbing

 Group of village youth in Yankazia near the river

 My tour guide Francis with his family at a funeral for his late sister in law

Ladies dancing at the funeral, as the fourth day of a funeral is a day of celebration, as the deceased person has been re-united with their ancestors in afterlife. 

Chicken # 2, given to me by the eldest man living in this part of the village that I had visited.

Mark with chicken #3, this one rode with me back to Saboba. Mark was great showing me all around Yankazia village. Even though we got a flat tire, ran out of gas once, and had our headlight stop working on the way back one night, we made out alright.