Relief Society Sisters

These are the lovely women Sister Stoker hangs out with on Sunday mornings. As you can see, many of them still like to dress in their beautiful Ghanaian dresses and fabrics. The younger generation is turning more to western clothing styles. Lessons in Relief Society are given half in English, half in Twi, which calls for some serious concentration in order to understand what is being said. The bishop's wife kindly translates.       

Sister Stoker's friends are Patience, Bernice, Susana, Comfort, Beatrice, Lucia, Eunice,
 Monica, Flora, Mercy, Judith, Emilia, Eva, Rebecca, Deborah, Florence, Evelyn,
 Naomi, Abigail, Francisca, Ruth, Diana, Victoria, Rechel, Lily, Gifty, Tricia, Henrietta,
 Joyce, Augustina, Elizabeth, Margaret, Flora, and Fustina. 

Trade Fair Ward's Relief Society presidency (from left to right):
Victoria, 2nd counselor; Deborah, 1st counselor; Margaret, president; Rechel, secretary.
When Elder Stoker took these pictures, everyone asked: "When can we see a picture of
Sister Stoker's Relief Society sisters in Salt Lake City?  

Cocoa & Coconuts

One of the bonuses of tagging alongside the area humanitarian specialists is seeing parts of West Africa we would otherwise not experience. In a small Ashanti village in the Swedru district west of Accra, we were able to observe how the villagers grow, ferment, and dry cocoa beans before they are taken to a facility to be made into cocoa powder.

       

  

The seeds are piled up and covered to ferment for
three days before being spread out to dry.

Dark, bitter cocoa solids are inside the seeds. This is
 where cocoa powder and cocoa butter come from.

Child's Play

This entry is for our grandkids, who ask what toys the children in Ghana play with and what their favorite games are. A simple game, called Ampe, is played with four or more children. There is a lot of clapping, singing, and jumping involved. It almost looks like a dance. Mancala is believed to be the oldest game in the world and is still played throughout Africa. In Ghana it is called Oware. Shallow holes, arranged in two or four rows, are dug out of a small, slender board. At home, our family uses marbles with this game, but Ghanaians use small stones or seeds. If toys are not available, the children use their wonderful imaginations and available resources to entertain themselves. Here are just a few examples.

  

This old tree is just begging for a climb.

Bamboo, a gourd, a stick and a nail make a great car.