(A few pages from my journal with pictures added. Just for fun.)
May 16, 2021
We got home today from our first trip to Cape Coast. We left Thursday and today is Sunday. The reason for the trip was to participate in
a training for three new stake presidencies in and around Cape Coast. We did that on Saturday morning at the Abura
Stake House with Felicien Mobio doing most of it and me taking a segment called
“Tone at the Top” that I created.
Atobora decided to join us as well when he found out I was going to be
there. He drove in from Accra Friday
night. It isn’t often that three stake presidencies
are trained at the same time. The
meeting was successful. The participants
asked questions and seemed to have experience in church leadership
positions. I also felt good that they
had been called to these positions and would take their positions seriously,
from the perspective of a latter-day saint and not strictly as a Ghanaian might
approach it with a “I have authority over you” attitude. You know, the D&C 121 unrighteous dominion
attitude. These guys demonstrated a
great attitude toward their new assignments.
Two of our friends here at Alema Court, Elder Stephen and Sister Kathy Kittelson, wanted to go with us and see Cape Coast. It was great to have them come because they
are great people. So, we left a day
early to get a little “vacation time” in before our training.
We left for our little vacation/training on Thursday, late
morning. The ladies especially wanted to
visit the village of Otuam which is along the way. So that was our first objective. It lies along the coast and is the town where “King Peggy” has her seat of power. It is off the beaten path and we found that out
soon after leaving the main highway. We
left N1 (the national highway) and took what was thought to be a short
cut. It ended up being a ride through
the countryside on various types of roads, all of which were bad.
One of the fun outcomes is we saw places few Ghanaians see, and the Ghanaians we did see had fun seeing a truck full of four white people. Not the norm. Yes, people stared our way as we drove through their very small villages. Life is tough here. Everybody is poor. Everybody seems to help each other because
they are all in the same circumstances. They are all poor. Most people have a bright disposition, however, and will flash a broad smile when
I greet them or smile and wave. It makes
me feel good. And it makes them feel
good too. We eventually motored into
Otuam and drove through the busy part of town with the usual beat up little stores
on both sides of the road and up to a hill overlooking this main street which
includes the largest building in the town, a church.
Entering Otuam
We weren't sure we were in Otuam until we saw this sign with "Otuam" on it.
After asking the residents of the hilly part of town if they
had heard of King Peggy (while handing out all the cookies we have to the
children who gathered around to see this strange site; four white people in a
silver truck riding into town asking questions), we got various answers. Many variations of "no" and "who?". Their English was bad. Our Fante was worse. No one had heard of this King Peggy person. That made me wonder mostly about them, as I
know this King Peggy person does exist and she is from Otuam. I’ve seen the
book and heard her speak. On the internet! We soon rode
back down from where we had come and stopped in the only intersection, where the
road forks, and asked a taxi driver if he had heard of her. There seemed to be many taxis and drivers for such a
small town and these guys were shooting the bull in the afternoon heat. Very few people own a vehicle so small taxis
take people everywhere with everything they need to transport. After adjusting his ear to our English, he
stated that he was King Peggy’s relative and, yes, he did know where she lived
and would lead the way there. We
followed his taxi back to where we had been at the top of the hill and then
continued from there up a little farther to the right, past the clinic and around
the back a ways where there were two long one-story buildings with “apartments”
or rooms in them where many people lived in each apartment. Both long buildings resembled very old beat-up motels one might see in a B-rated movie in a "somewhere out in the dry, hot west" scene. There was also a large two story building off
to the left which turned out to be King Peggy’s “palace” when she is in town.
Elaine was sooo happy we found the "Palace". Isn't it palacious?
Peggy resides in Washington, D.C.. We parked in the shade of a large tree that
was in the middle of this half circle of odd housing. The relative, taxi driver, is Francis, and he brought a
friend to enjoy this visit with us. We never did find out how he is related to her. Likely a "cousin" because that could be calculated in many ways.
This is my good friend, Stephen and my new friends Francis (on the right) and his buddy.
Francis ordered
a woman to bring chairs to the shade so we could all sit down. She brought the chairs from somewhere near
the “Palace”. He knows enough English to
carry on a conversation. He knows we are
latter-day saint missionaries because of the tags we are wearing, among other
signs. These tags are very familiar in
this country, and we seem to stand out everywhere we go. (Can you tell we are white? I don't feel different anymore. I feel like I fit in.) We find out that the church is acquiring land
in the vicinity, closer to the Palace than downtown, to build a church house. As we talked about the land deal we felt he was wanting us all to go there and basically settle the deal now. Stephen and I looked at each other and declined the suggestion. We'll let the proper powers that be take care of that acquisition. Francis proceeds to call another friend, a church member, on the phone. A few minutes later, a tall, lanky, guy shows
up in a bright outfit, the kind that the shirt and pants match. His shorts going down midway on his
shins. He is currently the Elders Quorum
president and is the former branch president.
We talked a bit about that. And how felt about the Church. He is a solid member and believes it is true. His buddies are not members. And that's okay.
Here is the former branch president. His pants and shirt matched.
Our new church member friend (sorry I forgot his name) called the missionaries to get them into the meeting. The missionaries were close enough
that they showed up in maybe 10 minutes, walking. One is a Ghanaian and the other from Uyo,
Nigeria. Nice young men. They have 5 baptisms planned for tomorrow, Saturday.
Not a family, but five individuals. Pretty cool. We wanted to be there.
Our friends the Kittleson's and Elders Sampson, from Nigeria, and Nketsiah, from Ghana.
We
talked a little more and then everyone split up. In the conversations we learned King Peggy’s
long name (Nana Amuah-Afenyi VI), and that she doesn’t come here very
often. From her book, she had improved
the Otuam living standard somewhat, like getting several wells (bore holes) drilled, and also whipped the crazy elders (all men) into being
better stewards for the common good. Her given name is Peggielene Bartels, and for some reason, connected with her Ghanaian family, she happened to be the family member who was closest in-line to the throne and so ascended such throne upon the death of the former King. All this went on when was still living in America. The family tracked her down. They were not aware of how seriously she would take the job. Her book tells the story.
At the conclusion of this wonderful gathering, we drove back the way we had come. Stopped on the main street, before the
intersection. Steve Kittelson bought
some slippers and Kathy and Elaine bought more cookies to hand out to the
kids. The kids were a bit hesitant at first,
but soon became very happy to get them. It was
fun. Again, how often do four foreign folks drive into town?
(the view from the top of the hill looking East, the way we had entered the town)
We left town in a blaze of glory having discovered King
Peggy’s Palace, met a real relative (Francis!) along with his friend, a stalwart
member of the church and the two missionaries assigned to that town. We never dreamed of such a successful first leg of our journey when we set out from Accra earlier that day. How wonderful!
By the way, this "stalwart" member’s daughter
is to be married soon to a young man. He
had made a list of what he wanted in the “bride price” discussions that were
going on, the next day, that Saturday. The "son-in-law to be" was going to deal with that if he wanted to marry the young lady. I hope the price is not out of range. She is, of course, worth it all, and more. However, the young man's resources should be going into building their new family and not paying off Dad. The church has
asked the members to stop the bride price practice as it hinders the young from
marrying because they can’t afford it. True, and simple. There
you go. The older generation expects it
and seems to depend on it to help fund their waning years. Time heals all wounds and helps not-so-good traditions to fade away.
We drove on. Towards Cape Coast! This
time on the road that is used most often to achieve Otuam from N1.
Along the drive, along N1, we saw boats being built. Out of huge logs. Very cool. I had to take some pictures. This doesn't happen back home.
These are the fishing boats we have seen everywhere here in Ghana.
Stay tuned for episode 2.
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