Trip to Yendi

I had a change of plans this weekend because Jessica didn’t feel she would be the best host as she was vomiting and had diarrhea.

We had a presentation for the Department of Education for the district of Savelugu on Friday morning and I met a Canadian volunteer, Kerry, who is here for a year working with Girl Child- which is the division in charge of increasing retention and enrollment for girls within the school district. She lives near a Peace Corps volunteer, Bill, and a JICA (Japanese equivalent of Peace Corps) volunteer, Mary, and they were taking a trip on Saturday to visit Yendi, the seat of the Paramount chief for the entire Dagomba tribe.

The Dagombas are one of the largest tribes in the country, reside in the northern region and speak Dagboni. I am really bad at Dagboni and have only managed to pick a few choice words and the greetings. If in doubt, just answer, “Naaaaa,” you will almost always be right. (Except for the times when you’re not right and they laugh and mumble how you don’t really know any Dagboni.)

Yendi has been the site of unrest in the past because of a dispute involving the succession of the Paramount chief between two rival clans within the Dagomba tribe. In March, 2002 a group of men from the Abudu clan murdered the chief, 5 sub-chiefs, and 28 family members/associates. Since this time there has not been a Paramount Chief for the tribe. In place is a regent that is acting as a mediator and is trusted by both clans to select the next chief.

There have been flair-ups of violence between the tribes since 2002. Here’s a picture of some of the homes that were burned more recently in the continuing clashes between members of rival clans. (ok, no picture this thing doesn't like pictures today.)

Yendi is about an hour and a half by bus, southeast of Tamale and is about an hour west of the Togo border. We were welcomed by Sara and her boyfriend, Hassan, to her very cute home on the eastern side of town. Hassan is also a foreigner, originally from Sudan, they met while working in Rwanda together.

Yendi is a fairly quite place and there isn’t much nightlife- probably because the town is primarily Muslim. We relaxed on Sara’s veranda all afternoon swapping stories and then went to the only restaurant in town for some beers and French fries. Our lodging was a small guesthouse where Sara spent her first five months in the country and cost $3.50 for one night.

Sunday morning we had breakfast and then took a walk through town and the market, enjoying the clean paths and roads. Yendi is very conscious of the garbage problem and keeps the streets and roadsides very clean- surprisingly! People were very friendly and we were able to meet some of the people Sara works with as we took our Sunday morning stroll.

The best part about meeting Kerry is that she is able to go to Mole National Park this weekend! Thank God for travel companions. Elephants and baboons. . .here I come!