February 9, 2008
With my driver Newton at the controls, we started out early Saturday the 9th to the Eastern and Volta Regions of Ghana.
That’s Newton.
Many of the scenes in my novel Wife of the Gods take place in Ghana’s Volta and Eastern regions, so this journey was going to be like tracing the path of Detective Darko Dawson, the protagonist in the book. Someone has been murdered in a rural town in the Volta Region and Darko is sent by Accra’s Crime Investigation Department to investigate.
Darko’s first order of business in is to go up to the Volta Region Hospital, built by the almighty Volta River Authority (VRA) that runs Ghana’a hydroelectric Akosombo Dam (built on the Volta River). The VRA gets things done, and it also decrees who gets power cuts and who doesn’t when the water level of the level of the dam falls.
The most important town just before Akosombo is Atimpoku, where the Adomi Bridge, also known as the Volta Bridge, was built in 1955/56 to span the Volta River. Fifty kilometers away from Atimpoku, the sign says. In the background, a small village and a wealth of palm and banana trees, which make up a large portion of the forestry here.
Villages line the roadside mixed in with lush green, even though this is the dry season of the year.
Atimpoku, featured in my novel, is a transit stop for many, so not surprisingly it’s a trading spot. Traders mob any vehicle that stops there, trying to sell bread and other foodstuffs. One product is tiny crisp-fried fish called “one-man-thousand” because one person can buy thousands of them packed in small plastic bags.
Here’s the Adomi Bridge from one end.
Here it is taken from the River. Very pretty bridge.
Watching the river and people in fishing boats on the river is very relaxing…
…but we really need to get going to:
This particular hospital has a scene in Wife of the Gods. It is a well-supplied hospital headed by the tireless Dr. John Nkrumah Mills, who is on call 24/7/365. When we arrived that Saturday morning, he was on his way to attend a funeral and was dressed resplendently in traditional ceremonial robe, or “cloth” as it’s usually referred to. Black, dark reds and browns are common colors for funerals.
I went to the funeral with Dr. Mills. It so happens there is a funeral scene in my novel! So I thought I might as well. Newton, not a fan of viewing dead people, stayed clear. There was a service held in both English and the local language for the deceased, Simon Anati. He was a faithful Senior Hospital Orderly at the VRA Hospital who suffered through a painful cancer that metastasized throughout his abdominal cavity. Despite being underneath the erected canopy during the service, I was sweating profusely from the heat.
The most interesting part of the funeral in a somewhat macabre way was the burial, in which the coffin was dropped lopsided into the grave and it was a devil of a struggle trying to straighten it out. Talk about tragicomedy.
After they finally settled the coffin in, someone proceeded to destroy its gold trim and emblems. Some local custom, I wondered? No, much more pragmatic than that. It’s a common defense against grave-robbers. They won’t steal a damaged coffin.
Anyway, enough of that. We went back to the hospital. It is a quiet, community hospital with low-slung wards and green lawns and trimmed hedges. VRA money keeps it well supplied and maintained. 
Dr. Mills took me around the wards, the well-stocked pharmacy, and the morgue. He also had to drop into see a car crash victim who was being taken care of by a junior physician, as well as welcome six visiting University of Virginia medical students. U of V has a successful ongoing exchange program with the VRA Hospital and other medical institutions.
As Dr. Mills gave me the tour, it was obvious to me how revered he is in the hospital and the wide area communities it serves. People greeted him with respectful, admiring smiles, even with a slight bow or curtsey. For obvious reasons Dr. Mills also seemed to know practically everyone for miles around. After all, you’ve either been treated by him or know someone who has. Being Dr. Mills also has its privileges too. Lunch with him was on an exclusive floating gazebo along the Volta River shore. As my tour of the hospital came to a close, the day was getting on, and Dr. Mills accompanied us to the Volta Hotel that overlooks the Akosombo (Volta) Dam. All six turbines are functioning at the moment, compared to last year when the water level was severely down and two turbines had to be shut down.
It was time to say goodbye and a sincere thanks to Dr. Mills for showing me around. I took a refreshing shower, and then feeling ravenously hungry, I went to dinner in the hotel dining room. I had a scrumptious chicken salad followed by succulent prawns in a wine sauce. Full and content, I went to bed in a lovely, cool hotel room.