Finding our way to Songnaayilli Eco – village was quite a
palaver and involved a drive through Tamale following a girl on a moto to the
offices of “Meet Africa”, another NGO. We met members of this organisation and
bought some drinks before continuing the journey to the village, where we were
staying a night.
We arrived and were
shown our accommodation. The round thatched huts with central support posts
were very nice and had mosquito netting that prevented the mosquitoes getting
out of the rooms! It was all a bit of a
rush as we needed to take part in some rural craft activities but there was
just enough time to test the deep drop toilets! However, Francis used a whole
can of Insect spray down them to reduce the population of mosquitoes to a mere
thousand or two. A thick carpet of dead ones greeted us on our next visit.
This is a village with a Muslim population who welcome
visitors and show them some of the life skills they use every day. The welcome
we received was genuinely friendly and some of the villagers came to the house
to greet us in the evening too. We were invited to take as many photos as we
liked. We were taken to watch a woman spinning cotton by hand with a spindle.
It looked simple enough except for the fact that the spindle rotated without
encouragement and she managed to keep the cotton the same thickness throughout.
I didn’t risk asking for a turn as I know I would have tangled the thread or
broken it at least. A large piece of woven white cloth was displayed and it was
explained that here they work towards weaving their own piece or pay someone
else to, in readiness for their own funeral. This is what your body is wrapped
in. To die without one is hugely regretful. The cloth was beautifully woven and
very soft to the touch. It seemed such a waste that it would never be really admired!
We just had time for a visit to the Soothsayer before
dinner. Individually we sat In a dark room whilst he shook a bowl of beads and
a very sick looking child lay on a sofa in the corner. I was assured of a long
life and wouldn’t end it poor, which was greatly reassuring. I was born to be a
“giver” (that could have been wishful thinking on his part), and my maternal
grandmother watches over me and I should be more aware of that. My friends
didn’t find out anything mind shattering or life altering either and I think
everyone was too focused on the imminence of a hot meal!
Our meal was lovely, I had fried plantain, palaver sauce and
Tilapia fish. We did the whole thing in pitch dark, which is tricky with fish!
We were mindful of the lightning and thunder rolling around the sky as well as clouds
of mosquitoes that appeared to want to share our meal and whatever else was
going on. A carton of wine helped to pass the evening along with the groups of
villagers who came to peer at us through the meshed doorway. The children, as always, the most inquisitive.
One rather wonderful experience was standing naked to the
stars, which were so plentiful, in the walled bath area, pouring cool buckets
of water over my sticky, tired body. It’s surprising I haven’t done this before
as millions of Ghanaians do so twice every day of their lives!
And so to bed! The biggest bed I have ever seen. The three
of us could have slept in it and not seen each other. With no electricity, no
fan so it was rather warm and with the incessant sizz of mosquitoes in your
ear, sleep was slow in coming, but eventually we succumbed, exhausted.
No comments:
Post a Comment