Timothy Niligrini showed up at the compound around 8:15 this morning. I completely forgot to call and ask him yesterday what time we needed to leave this morning; our destination was the village at Wadiig. I had thought we would leave around 8:30 because Wadiig is nearer to Kpamang which takes about 30 minutes to get to. Kandie was still working on her quilt top when he arrived. I had most everything ready so it didn’t take long to be underway.
Wadiig is situated in the Saboba District but it is in the deep bush. You have to cross a river to get there. When we arrived at the riverbed, we were surprised to see water in the riverbed. Normally, at this time of the year, the riverbed is dry. Timothy volunteered to take off his shoes and socks and walk out into the water to see how deep ii was. It was about 1.5 feet deep. That was good news! Having a diesel engine and a 4 wheel drive pickup could make mincemeat out of this pool of water. I had turned off the engine at Kandie’s request so she could video Timothy walking in the water without the engine noise in the video. I manually locked the front wheels and jumped in the truck. Guess what? It was dead! I thought “oh, this is going to be a long day”! To my amazement when I opened the hood, the positive battery cable had vibrated off the battery. The truck popped right off and away we went through the water and up the steep bank on the other side.
We arrived at the school block where this small church meets. Brother Noah, a church leader, welcomed us. Another brother, whose name is Samuel, arrived shortly after and also greeted us. We had taken the Church’s paperwork with us to have several of the men to sign.
During the question-and-answer period we learned a new tradition that is performed after someone dies. We were told that food is prepared and left outside the deceased person’s room. The Juju man (witchdoctor) is consulted about what food is to be prepared. This food has to be prepared on the third or fourth day after the burial depending upon if it is a woman or a man. If the family doesn’t follow the instructions, the spirit might cause some problems for the family like turning furniture over or something falling and breaking, etc. (some kind of mischievousness). Also, the family will be penalized by having to provide the food sacrifices every day until the final funeral is performed which can be several years. We asked what happens to the food and they said it is thrown away. What! A guinea fowl that is cooked is then thrown away! Please remember, this is a pagan practice that some villagers believe in. I took a 50 Cedi bill (the cost of a guinea fowl in the village) out of my pocket and threw it to the wind. I said would you throw a 50 Cedi away? Everyone laughed and said “NO”. I used the illustration to prove the dead do not eat but the money could be used for the poverty-stricken family for food or medicine.
The chief of the village is a church member; he is also blind. We were able to hand him the kola right there in the school room. After getting the paperwork signed, we headed off to Kpamang to see Brother Divine and get their paperwork signed. We had to cross the river again but no worries this time!
Divine’s wife, Gladys, gave us some shelled Bambara Beans. They grow like peanuts but are much starchier and one bean per pod. The people of the north prefer them to cowpeas if given the option. Kandie gave her a little money as a way of saying thank you. We both like to eat Bambara Beans when boiled like peanuts in the shell.
We arrived back at the house around 1:45 and Timothy scooted off shortly after. This week is a big week for him and his family. It is the final funeral for his mother and father. Lots of pigs will be killed and money used for hospitality for the guests. Some people have already started to arrive and the funeral doesn’t start until Friday!
That wraps up another Sunday for us. Hope things went well for you. Have a good week and may God bless!
In His service,
Stephen and Kandie Taylor
& Skeeter
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