The Enskinning of a New Chief

  Dipale just got a new sub chief. This means they initiated a new elder or advisor to the chief. There are several sub chiefs in each village. When this occurs they hold an enskinning ceremony for the new sub chief.
First all of the elders assemble at the chief’s palace.

The drummers play as they enter the chief’s palace. Each elder has their own rhythm. When the drummer plays their rhythm, they give him money.


Once each elder has greeted the chief, the sub chief’s new smock is presented

The new sub chief in his new outfit.  Next he dances around in his new clothes.




After the ceremony has been performed, he must then greet the chief’s wives.

Everyone then proceeds to take the new sub chief home. There is drumming and dancing the whole way and it continues throughout the day at his compound.

The Strange Extremes

  So we have had a really busy last few weeks.  On the 15th we left for our all volunteer conference in southern Ghana.  There were about 160 of us total.  It was really fun seeing everyone and finding out about their projects.  We had a talent show and Scott performed as the Magnificent Sandoo.  It was really funny he did a couple magic tricks with one our friends. Everyone was amazed. 
  After the conference was over we headed down to Accra to get our visas for Togo and Benin.  Well,  I say after. The first day we tried to leave, we got in a wreck and stayed an extra night because we did not feel like getting back into a vehicle.  The wreck wasn't bad it just shook us up a little.  The guy on the moto was the only person with an injury.  Thankfully he was wearing his helmet and his leg was just twisted.  Once we finnally reached Accra, it took us a whole week to get our visas.  Not very suprising, but frustrating at times. 
  So far in Accra we have gone to actual grocery stores, ate Thai food, went to the mall, ate pizza, went to the circus, and ate cheese!  Totally not what you think of when you think of Peace Corps.  There is a lot of wealth in this city.  The extremes are amazing.  Coming from our mud hut village with no lights to this is a bit of a shock. 
  Next week we will be going to Benin for the Global Shea Conference. It will be with representatives from the shea industry, policy makers, and volunteers. It is going to be a great opportunity to get ideas and buyers for our communities

It was an Italian circus.

These people are clearly not Ghanain.

Taxi Ride

For us to get from Tamale to Dipale, we have to take a taxi ride to Gushie, which is about an hour drive. Here is a video of a typical ride. Things you will see in the video include people selling and carrying things on their heads and traffic chaos in the taxi station. The main station has one has one small entrance and exit. Also, you will see a man jumping on to a moving moto king, then our driver yells at a woman on a moto. The video ends when we stop and fill the back of the taxi will frozen fish. We only almost hit 3 people and one moto, not to shabby.

6th of March Ghanaian Independence Day

On March 6, 1957, Ghana gained independence from Britain under the ruling of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. It changed its name from the Gold Coast to Ghana at this time as well. It was the first African colony to be granted independence. Many of the schools in our district came to the district capital, Savalugu, to celebrate in a marching competition this independence day. We got a ton of pictures because they were so cute!

Each school marches around the football pitch, dressed in their school uniforms.

The head of the district education service, the chief district assemblyman, and chief of police wait for the kids to pass by and salute them.

The drummers stand in the middle of the pitch and provide the marching beat. The Savalugu School for the Deaf marched as well. The video didn’t turn out, but their salute had perfect timing!

The carpenter’s union even marched