Thanksgiving in Ghana:

How was thanksgiving in Ghana? It was awesome!

We had the WAR near Bolga (West Africa Retreat) which was great but is not the subject of this post. I am quite sure that many people have already posted thousands of lines about how inspiring and awesome the WAR was. It was good, don’t get me wrong but I will leave it to the academic types to chronicle all the workshops and the EWB stuff that happened there.

This is about what was the most memorable to me.

Karie and I on the motto

 It started with riding the motto from Tamale to the Farmer Training Center near Bolga with Karie riding shot gun. Sierra (one of my surrogated daughter) was kind enough to take our backpack on the Trotro with her. It took us all day to drive the three hours ride. We first stopped in a Japanese garden where they grow all kind of medicinal plants. We had a tour and were so impressed by the two kids telling us everything about the garden. We stopped chasing those yellow and fluorescent orange birds on the side of the road, taking pictures. We stopped having a chat with Mina who had the crazy idea of riding his bicycle from Tamale to Bolga. We waited for him in Whalewhale while having beans and a beer. He jumps on the Trotto from there and we carried on just enjoying the scenery.

Having a chat with Mina on the side of the road

Sidebar: A guy who doesn`t train or ride much and end up doing more than 100 kms in this kind of heat… kudos Mina.

Dan, a potentially crazy person like me if he doesn`t smarten up, brought a live turkey, it was thanksgiving weekend after all. The problem was, although the turkey looked fine, it was a small bird. After the plucking and the gutting it was a 10 pounds bird max and there were 30 of us. You don’t need to be an experienced chef to know that we had a major shortage of proteins. So I decided that we needed a pig… and I found one. Well, actually I found the person that knew where there was one and Karie walked for miles sealing the deal while I was doing some of the EWB stuff that many people have written thousands of lines about in their blog…

The guy selling the pig brought it to the center on a leash and did the slaughtering. It was a very good deal for him We paid regular price, I  think, and he harvested all the stuff that us North American don`t care much for (like the trips and the brain) and left us with a headless carcase.

Don and I massaging the pig

 Sunday morning after finding a shovel, digging a pit and lining it with stones scavenged from around we were ready to start. I bought a giant bag of coal, gather some wood and we lighted it up. A few of the kids, Maxim, Dan and Romeo, helped with the tending of the fire which was welcomed in the 30+ heat. Meanwhile Don and Dan killed the turkey and prepared it for the oven.

Don and Dan with the plucked bird

 I made a dry rub with whatever I could find and some of Mina’s coffee. Karie made an awesome BBQ sauce. The pig was firmly rubbed and then covered with BBQ goodness. The wrapping was a bit of a problem since we bought a long piece of cloth that we believed to be cotton. It was something synthetic. Since it was Sunday and most of the stores were closed we didn’t think that we could find something in Bolga. So we begged and bribe to get a used piece of cloth that, we were promised, was clean. It was too small but with the help of a few big banana leaves (that were inadvertently freed from the trees in the guest house inner court) we made due.

So we buried the swine in the hot coals and walk away for 7 hours.

Me crrying the coal.

Dan and Maxime helping withthe fire

Lindsay, Siera and Rebecca working at it

Bimu and Romeo working on the desert

 As dinner time came closer the kitchen just became very frantic. Rebecca was working on mash potatoes and Yams. Sierra was on the Tomato salad, Binue was on apple pie. Dinner came a little late which was great since the pig took longer than expected. The last time I cooked a whole pig it was buried in coals for 6 hours and the meat was just falling of the bones. This one after 7 hours was cooked but needed to be carved.

getting the pig out of the coals

Here’s a first for me; it’s the first time ever that I carve a large mammal with a Swiss army knife, the only sharp thing around.

The table got set up buffet style and we all dug in. At some point while eating I told Karie; “this really feels and smells like Thanks Giving”. Seeing all the people eating, laughing and enjoying themselves after all the hard work every one put in; it felt like a big family.

That's a table!

After dinner we had the poetry slam. Not being much of a poet I just told a story. That’s what I do best and like doing; cook and tell stories.

I am thankful that I came to Ghana.

I am thankful that I had Karie with me that wonderful Thanksgiving Sunday.

I am thankful that I got to spend that special weekend with all the EWBers from Ghana and Burkina Faso.

I am also thankful that I was born in Canada and that I am going back there.

There are many more things that I am thankful for, the list is long but it belong somewhere in a more private venue. It should be Thanksgiving everyday just to remind us to be thankful.

Cheers

Dom