Sisters woman recounts journey to Ghana

Attired in bright native dress, Sisters resident Ardie Winters enchanted her Lunch & Learn audience last week describing a recent visit to Ghana.

She was part of an 11-person group volunteering to work in the small village of Afadjato to help assist with school, medical and building projects.

Using pictures she had taken on her trip, the former public health nurse presented life in rural Ghana and the people she met.

"The people were friendly and shared their life and activities readily with us," said Winters.

Ghana is a Christian nation of 23 million people. The local village school where Winters worked was Catholic but other denominations were also prominent in the area. They all shared a common church for their services. She described the school day starting with prayer and dancing before classes.

"We ate home cooked native foods such as fufu and were entertained by local groups with drumming and dances. They enjoyed

practicing origami with us."

Fufu looked like a mash of beans, and the locals also fermented these beans to make "hooch."

A major source of local jobs was preparing cement blocks. Soccer is the favorite sport.

"The local women were very fashion conscious and dressed elegantly," said Winters. "We dressed in very comfortable clothing for the warm temperature - nothing as elegant as local women."

Polygamy is still practiced in Ghana, Winters told her audience.

"Ghana is about the size of Oregon, and the native language is English," she said. The latter is not surprising since the country was under British control until 1957. The country is preparing a large celebration this year commemorating the 50th anniversary from separating from Great Britain.

Winters described a history of the country as being the center of slave trade in earlier times and displayed pictures of holding cells used for gathering slaves before shipping them to foreign countries.

"More recently, Ghana was the home of Kofi Annan, former United Nations President," said Winters.

Citizens of Ghana have government health insurance, but drugs and alcohol remain serious problems.

Winters presented many colorful and sometimes humorous street signs advertising local businesses, which she found enchanting.The talk ended with a visit to the city of Accra where traffic was a major problem on scarce, crowded roads.

Along with her necklace from Ghana, Winters wore a colorful shirt she had

purchased while in Botswana.

For more information on the Lunch & Learn program call 383-7270.