Vrony, who I have talked about in previous blogs, a missionary from Switzerland, working with an organization called Frontiers, living in Gushegu (about 2 hours from Tamale), and I took a road trip. We hopped in her “little” Land Cruiser and off we went to visit Pam and Yvonne in Sandema.
Sandema is a small town about 4 hours north of Tamale. They are a different people group than Dagombas, who I work with in Tamale. I have been visiting Sandema on and off since I came to Ghana in 2005. A couple men in Sandema, are good friends of mine, who started out as youth leaders, and are now pastors. So, during their youth-working-days we would collaborate on events or see each other in meetings. We also posted a few short termers in that town. The people were such a big help in getting our new people settled and teaching them culture, how to get going with ministry, and language. It is wonderful to see them following the Lord, seeing their families grow, and walking with the church even when times get rough. I always enjoy Sandema and wish I had more time to travel there.
Vrony had never been to Sandema. Yvonne used to live in Tamale and that is how Vrony knew her. She was able to meet Pam for the first time also. After conversation and conversation and conversation we arrived. We arrived Friday evening. The 4 of us together was lovely. I was able to greet my dogs! Yvonne and Pam cared for them when I went on Home Assignment and they are much better cared for there. They had a warm meal ready for us (Yvonne and Pam, not the dogs hahaha).
That night it rained. From about 10 pm to the next morning. Our electricity went out. (Not a surprise to any of us.) The weather was cloudy and cool. We had plans to explore different sites, but we waited and let the weather direct us. It was a relaxed morning. We were told to head to the main road and see the flooding. Unfortunately, Sandema gets flooding and it even uproots chunks of the road and huge trees.
The flooding was extensive but by evening was already receded. The interesting part is that some people from town come out and see how much rain has come. They watch and see the big trucks trying to get thru the waters from one end of town to the other. I was a bit nervous watching!
After that time, we headed to the crocodile pond in a different area. Crocodiles are a sacred creature in the land of Paga. There is a pond where you can see a crocodile and even sit on it, or even hold it’s tail! The caretakers of the place always say the crocs will never kill a human. They themselves wade through the waters. Vrony and Pam had never been to this place and they each got their fill (and pics!) of crocodiles.
Then we headed to a slave camp. Unfortunately, there was no guide because of a funeral in the area, so we just walked along the signs and Yvonne and I tried to remember what we were told from previous times. The slave camp is just terrible. There is a rock that you can see where the chains rubbed it from where they would tie people who are causing trouble. There are small “bowls” in the rocks where they would put food to feed all the slaves. Then those slaves would walk down to the coast!! That is like 400 miles!! I cannot imagine. The heat, the bugs, the chains, the being with so many different tribes and not speaking the same language. Brutal. What man can do to man…
Then we found some lunch, a classic fried chicken and rice meal, to strengthen us as we headed into Navrongo. Navrongo is a bigger city in the area of the Nankani-Kasena people. They have a very old Catholic Cathedral made up of mud bricks. Inside the church is decorated with traditional imagery. The church says it was founded around 1906 by missionary Fathers and used for service around 1920.
We all enjoyed the day. The evening included some friends joining us for dinner and talking and talking and talking! Oh, so lovely.
Sunday morning, we went to church, had lunch and then headed back to Tamale. Thankfully, we had safe drives up and down. Thankfully, Vrony was able to see all that she wanted. Thankfully, Yvonne and Pam are such amazing hosts. Thankfully, I did not have to drive and enjoyed being driven 😊. Thankfully, (so many reasons to give thanks, eh?) we were refreshed to get back to our normally-scheduled-programs 😊.
