Exploring the Upper East Region

Last week, I was honored to accompany the Coppola family on an expedition of the Upper East Region Ghana.  We stayed in the town of Sirigu, at the Sirigu Women’s Organization for Pottery and Art (SWOPA).  It was beautiful, with grassland pastures surrounding the guesthouse, which was set up as a traditional family home.   In the mornings we learned about the traditional art of the area from local women and in the afternoons we struck out in the car exploring new towns.  Over four days we covered over 300 miles of dirt roads (a bigger feat than it sounds) visiting chief palaces, crocodile ponds, local chop bars, a slave camp, and even made it all the way Ghana’s northern border where we waved hello to Burkina Faso.  The best part about it was getting away from hustle the hospital for a few days!

 

I am not sure what this is called but Tongo Hills was full of this tree.  It grows right up out of cracks in the rocks and the pink flowers really stood out.

Enjoying fresh lemongrass tea for breakfast



The "Senior Wife's" hut at the Chief's palace at Tongo Hills.  Above the door and to the right are offerings made for various reasons.  They still practice animal sacrifice, in fact while we were visiting the compound they were boiling a dog for a sacrifice. 

 The Chief's palace at the base of Tongo Hills.  They are known as a tribe that resisted the British rule and eluded the British by hiding in the many caves in the area.  There is a shrine in one of the caves for peace, but we decided not to visit since everyone that enters has to do so topless.   

 We thought that these rocks looked liked kissing dogs!

 In the evenings we played with the local kids of Sirigu.  Here I am trying to learn game from one of the girls.  I was not very successful at learning their games because they were all about jumping and clapping to rhythm . . and I have NO rhythm.

 On the watch tower rock at the Pikworo Slave Camp.  This camp was active between 1840-1870 and was the most important slave holding area in this part of Ghana.  Slaves were gathered from the surrounding areas of Ghana and Burkina Faso and would be held at Pikworo until they were sold to slave traders that would march them south to the Cape Coast (you can see an earlier post on Cape Coast).  Here in Africa you realize how complicated the slave trade really was and how Africans and Europeans are equally as guilty that it occurred.  Pikworo Slave Camp was not run by Europeans, but rather Africans that wanted good like gun powder, ammunition, cloth, etc, in exchange for people that were captured in tribal wars or enslaved due to crimes committed.   

 

 These are bowls cut into the rock at Pikworo Slave Camp, where the slaves would eat their meals.

 Grinding millet at the Pikworo Slave Camp.

 The view across the grassland from the rocks at the slave camp.

 Traditional homes in the upper east.  They are very different from the homes found around Nalerigu.

 

We had a great time playing Ghanian Bingo in the car!

Wearing a traditional battle helmet

The entrance to the rest house in Sirigu which shows the traditional painting style of the area

The SWOPA guesthouse. We had meals in the courtyard, a great breakfast every morning and dinner under the stars in the evening.

 In the SWOPA workroom with the Coppola family.  It is farming season right now so there were no local women working on projects, but a women from the community came to teach us about the traditional painting.

 A fish is the symbol for a happy home

 In Sirigu the women traditionally painted the exterior of their homes.  SWOPA has taught the women of Sirigu to transfer their traditional symbols and techniques to canvas paintings that can then be sold and bring extra income to their families. 

 Putting the finishing touches on my painting. 

The outside of the SWOPA workshop. 

We visited the Chiefs Crocodile Pond in Paga where we met this beast.  This is the second time I have held a crocodile tail since I moved to Ghana . . . basically the definition of insanity.

The Basilica of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows is located in Navrongo.  Northern Ghana is predominantly Muslim, but in Navrongo a Catholic mission was founded in 1906 by a Canadian priest, the church was built in 1920 and Navrongo became the home of Catholicism in Northern Ghana.  

 The interior of the Basilica was painted by the women of Sirigi in their traditional style.  It is beautifully simple

 Mark and I eating at a local chop bar in Bongo.  I had ground nut stew and it was the spiciest meal I have ever had in my life . . . my lips were literally numb by the end and I think my face was as red as my shirt!

The chop bar in Bongo is typical of those that you will see in Northern Ghana

 Playing with the children in Sirigu.

Over the course of my year here I have met many other missionaries.  We were able to visit one missionary family in their town of Zibilla.  I was amazed at how rural the area was and isolated they live.  It made me feel really blessed to have lived the year on the BMC compound.  We went to church with them on Sunday.  This church was in the middle of corn fields about a 10 minute drive out of town.