My experience in Ghana thus far has been a pretty even mix of good and bad. One thing, though, that has been consistently intriguing to me is the village women. They never seize to amaze me with their fun-loving attitudes, incredible strength and the most infectious laughs. For the past few days we have been working on the buildings’ foundations. Every morning the women would arrive bright and early with buckets, make no mistake these ladies aren’t here to spectate between their house hold choirs, but they are here and ready to do some heavy lifting. From the gravels to the mixed concrete or even the concrete blocks, they seem to be able to transport bucket full of stuff with unbeatable stamina while keeping up with the chatters and laughter. It inspired me to try to do the same, but all I accomplished was a head full of sand that made our already disastrous hotel bathroom even worse. I think there is something tremendous about these women, they don’t live materially rich lives, but they certainly seem to live rich spiritually. In many ways, Canadian visitors to Ghana are perceived by the villagers to be people who live wealthy and educated lives. While there might be some truth to the stereotype, I felt much more comfortable in this environment where people are simply genuine and honest. It is amazing when they feel that they can relate to us (i.e. when we clumsily try to learn their language and their culture or when we try to bring buckets on our heads), because it is a true honor to see and in a small way part-take in these women’s lives.
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