The Very Heavy Yoke

I grew up in Saltpond, otherwise known by her traditional name as "Akyemfo".That ancient town happens to be one of the strongest Christian towns in the central region and indeed the whole of Ghana.Being a coastal town, it definitely was among those places the white missionary set foot on before making incursions inland.It also had its fair share of those dastardly slave trade activities.The Religious proportion of that ancient town is well balanced.We have Methodists, Roman...
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I grew up in Saltpond, otherwise known by her traditional name as "Akyemfo".That ancient town happens to be one of the strongest Christian towns in the central region and indeed the whole of Ghana.Being a coastal town, it definitely was among those places the white missionary set foot on before making incursions inland.It also had its fair share of those dastardly slave trade activities.The Religious proportion of that ancient town is well balanced.We have Methodists, Roman Catholics,A.M.E.Zion followers,Ahmaddyis,Muslims,Mozana Disco Christo Church(M.D.C.C.) and other Religious groups.Between Methodists and Roman Catholics which happen to be the two biggest in Akyemfo, it will be difficult to tell which has greater numbers, congregants, and followers.What is so beautiful about Religion in that old place is the fact that there is no tension. There has never been any tension between the various sects.In fact, there has never been any Religious tension at all.Never.Ahmadiyya movement used to have its headquarters in Akyemfo until it was relocated to Accra in the late sixties.The Mosque used to look so beautiful and huge when it was first built but now looks so, so small by current standards.It was during the annual "Nshyiamu" (Conference) that you experienced the Religious harmony in the town in action.What happened during the Conference baffled everyone.Ahmadiyya followers would literally descend on Saltpond in their thousands on a Friday and literally invade on people's houses to ask to be hosted for the duration of the conference period; Three days. Friday to Monday. Others had standing arrangements, though.The remarkable thing was that no one, absolutely no one got stranded, slept by road sides.Those three days were rent free.At least that was what happened in our household; it was free accommodation.The three days created short term businessmen and women for the locals. One of the unforgettable features of the Saltpond Roman Catholic Church is the fact that we all depended(and depend) on the Church bells to tell us the time; six o'clock in the morning, twelve o'clock ,to wit, midday and six o'clock in the evening.If you happened to be close to a Roman Catholic, you would see him or her doing a sign of the cross on hearing the midday bells toll.Then there were those tolls to call Catholics to worship; High Mass, Low Mass; not forgetting the special tolls that tell followers there was going to be a funeral service for a departed member of the Church.If you knew the deceased, you attended and in the course of the service, followed the sequence, rituals.The Catholic Priests lived and live by themselves at a place called "Fathers".They had their caterers and others who attended to their domestic needs."Fathers", the Catholic schools and the iconic Catholic Church building are all located on a very sizeable land.From primary class one to middle school standard seven, they are separated, boys and girls. There are also the "Sisters' Convent" not far from the Girls' schools.In the midst of the buildings, roughly in the shape of a quadrangle is the open sports ground; football, athletics, local matches all took place there with spectators serving as perimeter boundaries.All sporting events took place there until the construction of the Saltpond stadium, a wholly dysfunctional piece of wasted effort. People preferred the Catholic park to the stadium!All beautiful, serene and very relaxing indeed.No segregation.Nonexistent, no.Young boys frequented "Fathers", many of whom (the Fathers) were white men. Those were the sixties.The boys hoped to run errands for the Fathers and in return be rewarded.Let me put it on record here that there was never any rumour of any inappropriate behaviour by any of the Fathers, never.That was in the sixties and early seventies.Congregants were devoted, very devoted indeed.