Funeral
Travelled to village of Vakpo this weekend to attend a funeral service which was an incredible experience. Ghanaians, like all Africans, have special rituals for funerals and the customs in the Volta Region are really amazing. The entire community, even people from outside the village, showed up to attend the funeral. Not sure how many hundreds of people were there. Traditional funeral colors are red, black, and white. A preacher gave a very loud and emotional sounding sermon in Ewe, which was difficult to understand. There was also singing, dancing, and drumming around the casket at certain times during the service. After the service, those in attendance followed the casket to be buried. Directly across from the burial site, men drummed & women danced.
Several hours later, we saw Borborbor drumming and dancing, which was cut short when 2 groups started fighting over which one had rights to the best drummer in the Vakpo Borborbor drumming group.
Ghanaians from the Volta Region believe funerals are a time to express both happiness and sadness. It was an amazing weekend and so moving to witness the funeral.
Had a wonderful time but it felt a tiny bit strange being the only "Yevu" (white person) in attendance at the funeral. However, the villagers were extremely welcoming and friendly, it was amazing. Met Godwin, a little boy who started to cry and scream, refused to shake my hand, and ran away when he saw me because I was the first white person he has seen. Quite funny- gave all of us a big laugh!!!!
Several hours later, we saw Borborbor drumming and dancing, which was cut short when 2 groups started fighting over which one had rights to the best drummer in the Vakpo Borborbor drumming group.
Ghanaians from the Volta Region believe funerals are a time to express both happiness and sadness. It was an amazing weekend and so moving to witness the funeral.
Had a wonderful time but it felt a tiny bit strange being the only "Yevu" (white person) in attendance at the funeral. However, the villagers were extremely welcoming and friendly, it was amazing. Met Godwin, a little boy who started to cry and scream, refused to shake my hand, and ran away when he saw me because I was the first white person he has seen. Quite funny- gave all of us a big laugh!!!!