Religion

At home, despite the fact that, on the whole, christian values are accepted by many people as a good way to live, the majority do not regard the bible as truth or accept it's teaching. I found myself living in an entirely reverse situation in Ghana where the scales are firmly tipped, publicly at least, from the secular towards the sacred. 

The country is overtly and loudly christian, and people, places, buildings and businesses all seem to be named or labelled to reflect this. Signs are posted up everywhere declaring Gods word and it is unusual not to be attending church on a Sunday: In fact if you don't look as though you have been to church at around 'church time' you might even be asked what your excuse is and given an impromptu sermon on the subject.

This was the experience of several of my fellow volunteers who, with Darwin on the side of science and evolution, were most definitely opposed to Creationism, and whose views were not culturally popular. Personally I didn't enter into any debates on the subject: it would have been a bit like trying to convince the Scottish or Welsh to support an English football team. Against anyone!

So it was a funny two sided world that I lived in: worship songs blasted from everywhere, most days of the week, most hours of the day (crucifying my favourite songs until they were almost unrecognisable), while Gods name was regarded with a degree of contempt in what was, for six weeks, my home. It struck me that, despite our differences in culture and background, experience and view of the world, I may have had more in common with some of the Ghanaians that I met, than with some of my fellow volunteers. 

However, even without the presence of foreign volunteers, Ghana has its inconsistencies and doesn't always seem so sure of its values. Patients in hospital, for example, suffer and die needlessly whilst the staff who are paid to care for them are busy watching programmes on TV about the love of Christ; it is unusual to see anything given freely unless there is a large audience (most people simply didn't believe that as volunteers we gained nothing financially from our trip); and 'the extra mile' is as yet, a road almost untravelled. 

There are of course many exceptions and there is much middle ground, but the contrasts in values that you see everywhere, living side by side, are striking.