Ghana-urbanemergencies: 8 March: Funeral & Akosombo Dam

For our 3rd day in Ghana we are invited by Fred to experience a Ghanaian funeral in the village where his father used to live, Krobo Odumasi. After a ride of 60 km over smooth asphalt roads and humpy sand roads we arrive to the funeral, which had already started. First thing that appears is that there are much more people than on most Dutch funerals. During the funeral people are doing all kinds of things besides paying attention to the ceremony. There are people walking around, talking to each other, taking phone calls. At the end of the ceremony the coffin is carried away to the car, under the guidance of the youth band from the church.

After this ceremony we drive further for another 2 hours to the Adomi bridge. This is the biggest bridge over the Volta River. The Volta River connects the Volta lake and the ocean. After stretching our legs and walking over the bridge we drive some more and accidentally take a wrong turn towards the east. We drive for what seems to be a long time, until Fred stops to ask a man walking beside the road with a big dead rat in his hand how to get to the Akosombo dam. Here we find out that we have to go back to the bridge. By then we have passed by the villages of Juapong, Frakadua, and almost reached the capital of the Volta region, Ho. After a 15 minutes drive from the bridge we finally arrive to the Akosombo Dam. This dam was inaugurated by Nkrumah in 1966 and is Ghana’s largest dam. The Akosombo Dam created the most expansive artificial lake in the world with a surface area of 850.000ha. It is one of the main causes of flooding in the north of Ghana, but also responsible for supplying water and electricity to the country.

On our way back we experience our first tropical rain. It starts with a gray sky. Then the sky becomes darker and the wind heavier until big drops start falling out of the sky. People who were selling stuff on the side of the road quickly gather there things under a roof. Between the houses the water started to collect and search for the lowest areas creating little flows. The rain becomes heavier and the roads started to flood. It even starts to get cold. We stop for dinner at a restaurant that Frederick recommends, and Gabriela tries fufu for the first time. It tastes really good, but the gooey texture of the yams is a bit unexpected. We watch the game in the meantime. The rain has almost stopped by then and we head back to Accra. Now the rain stopped, people are setting up there business and the streets become crowded again.

In the evening we come home to a dark house, because the electricity has gone out.

We end the day talking with Nana Kwame. He is the nephew of Leticia and staying over for the weekend with his aunt. Nana is a student at the Cape Coast University and studies Mathematics and Economics. He helps us to gain some insight into the economical situation in Ghana.