A Trip to Tongo Hills

February 25, 2018

Another busy week down in Sagnarigu with 2 appearances on 2 different radio stations to raise awareness about various Human Rights issues. We have our second awareness raising event in our communities next week so like to do as much promotion as possible. Furthermore, as International Service is a human rights-based charity focussing on women, children and people with disabilities, it is a development area that is central to our purpose here. So far, we have covered areas like culture vs human rights, children’s rights (e.g. education, labour and protection), mental health rights and the right to justice.

This Friday was the end of week 6 of 10 for this cohort. In keeping with tradition, both groups currently in Ghana, met in Bolgatanga for our mid-term event to discuss our progress so far, share ideas and just generally see how everyone was doing. It was great to see everyone, and we got to have our cultural visit to nearby Tongo Hills as a reward for the afternoon. As usual with tourist sites in some parts of the world, our volunteers from the UK had to pay more for the tour than Ghanaians residents. After some bartering which seems compulsory here, we headed out into the late afternoon heat to wander through the black boulders that litter Tongo Hills. We did some climbing which is also compulsory when in the presence of boulders, I’ve found. Next, we moved onto the village of Tongo were we sat around the chief for 10 minutes while he told us (in a different language) about the local shrine where wishes come true and we had a summary from someone who could translate. We visited the graves of some of the previous chiefs with their “centrepieces”: a mixture of bones, feathers, blood and general gore. We also walked through the little round huts with a single hole in the wall that were used for the chief’s many wives and guests. After this, it was time to walk up into the hills across rocky terrain to appreciate Africa’s uniquely beautiful savannah. If you wanted to go into the shrine, you could roll up your trousers, take off your tops (yes ladies, that means no bras either) and go in to deliver your wishes to the religious male figurehead inside. We are also told not to worry as the carcasses inside were only animal sacrifices and not human. However, once someone goes to the trouble of pointing this out it makes you wonder if he missed the words “not human … anymore” off the end.

Everyone was still sleep hung-over on Friday as we had had to get up at 4.30am to get to Bolga and didn’t get home until about 9pm. To add to my sleep deprivation, I got the pleasure of my first Tamale hospital visit to help one of my volunteers. They don’t have local GP surgeries, so it is a case of get a quick pre-check, buy a medical folder, sit in the outdoor waiting corridor, wait for your folder to be picked out of the pile, wait to be allocated to a doctor, sit in front of the consulting room and wait in the final queue. In the end this process took 4 hours …... The evening improved though as I got to see my first storm which happens to be very early this year as the rainy season usually doesn’t start until May. The sky was pitch black and all around us were flashes of yellow forked lightening. The wind was so strong and carried a refreshing coolness until eventually it started to rain big, cold, droplets of rain. Yes. I did stand with my arms outstretched welcoming a break from the high humidity and constant sweatiness of my week. Some days we were sat in the office with sweat beading on our faces and freely flowing down our backs and we’re not even moving! I wonder what weather next week will bring?