Over the past several days, there has been a lot going on in Accra. 😏
The late Queen Mother of the Ga State passed away on Monday, December 26, 2022 at the age of 88. The Ga Traditional Council announced that the funeral and burial of the Paramount Queen Mother of the Ga State would take place on Saturday, October 28, 2023. That day has finally arrived, 10 months later.
Several family members went to court and tried to delay the funeral, citing that they were not allowed enough time to prepare, and not involved as much as they wanted to be. The court overturned the request in less than 24 hrs and the funeral marched on.
All businesses, shops, restaurants, etc. were ordered to be closed for the funeral day. A curfew was also put in place for 6 pm. Anyone disobeying the orders could be arrested or fined. So, we stayed home this weekend, and I became more curious as to proceedure around funerals here in this land and culture.
So, why does it take so long to bury someone in Ghana?
According to custom and tradition, which has been upheld by the law courts, once someone dies, the body belongs to the family. You would think you know what and who constitute family, but once there is a death, the definition of family changes completely. A spouse and children suddenly do not qualify as family once there is a death. It is only the family, referring to the extended family into which you are born, that decides on who the chief mourner is and all the other titles that come with a death. This "family" and this chief mourner might not have seen or spoken for the past 30 years with the dearly departed, but they are deemed to know more about the dead person than the spouse and the children.
There then follows the endless meetings which are presided over by the "family", where the word of the spouse and children can be ignored. It then takes weeks to draw up an obituary notice and it is an intricate business getting the list of the mourners in the right order, to ensure no offence has been caused and family feuds have not been started or old ones rekindled.
The choice of the chief mourner is critical because he is not only in charge of the funeral, he, and it is always a he, never a she, has the ultimate word on who succeeds the deceased. All this while the body has to be kept in the fridge as there will be disputes about when and where to bury the dead person. Not surprising therefore that they end up in court with injunctions preventing anybody from moving the dead bodies.
Sometimes the delay has nothing to do with disputes. They take seriously the idea of giving the dead a befitting burial. They refurbish the house in which the dearly departed lived and died or sometimes a new house has to be built to be able to stage a spectacular funeral. That takes time. There is much to consider when planning for a Ghanaian funeral.
BERNICE & SELF RELIANCE
Bernice is an amazing lady! She is so talented and has an incredible story.
Over twenty years ago, during a challenging time in her marriage, her husband gave her permission to attend any church she wanted, and before long she became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The main reason Bernice was prompted to be baptized into this church: “was the love, the love I received from the Relief Society sisters. I got much love that I needed at that time.”
She desired greatly to share this same love with her husband and gave him a copy of The Book of Mormon. He set it aside. One morning she begged him to follow her to church. He was so impressed by what he witnessed there that as soon as he got home he sat at the dining table and began to read. He set aside the food that Bernice put in front of him and continued to read. He turned the final page 5 days later. Within two weeks he had received and embraced all the missionary lessons and was ready to enter the waters of baptism. Listen to Bernice's Story here
After becoming acquainted with the church, Bernice participated in the Self Reliance course of Starting and Growing My Business. She loves to sew and create clothing, bags, aprons, etc. She had the courage to begin her own business and it is absolutley wonderful! It has grown over time and she has a large following. If you are ever in town, you will not want to miss a trip to her shop! We love her!!!
1ST ACCIDENT
Well, it was bound to happen. As careful as you are here, driving is crazy! You have to have eyes on every mirror at every moment. Last Saturday while heading to get groceries, our first accident occured. Jordan was slowly (maybe 3 mph) turning right into the driveway of the store, when out of nowhere a motorcycle tried to fly by us on the right side. His mirror and handle bar caught our side door and front panel and down he went. Good thing he was wearing his helmet (a traditional pink one, worn by many riders). He only had a minor scrape on his ankle and his gear shift got bent. We made sure he was ok and the bike was working. As we were ready to leave (and not ask for money he didn't have to repair our vehicle), he asked us for money to go to the hospital and get his scrape looked at. We've been warned many times as missionaries to not pay bribes. This didn't seem like that situation. So after giving him a little money to cover what would likely be the cost of getting a mechanic to fix the gear shift, we drove away. We realize it could have been much worse than a couple of dents and a little rust that will soon appear given the humidity here, so this is not a complaint -- just an observation. And we will continue trying to be as observant as possible when driving the crazy streets of Ghana!
Matthew 6: 19-21
19 ¶ Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Sending much love from Ghana!
💓💛💚
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