Day 54: Half My Kingdom for a Spark Plug

Accra - Today I had planned to go to the National Archives with Brandi to do further research on the food of Ghana, but I also needed to go with Philip our Guest House maintenance man.  I was ready to leave at 9:00 am but Philip wanted to finish raking the leaves in the front of the guest house before going.  He was ready at 10:00 am so we left at that time to look at lawn mowers and buy a spark plug.  Currently Solomon, our Guest House gardener, is cutting grass with an old 21" push mower which is beginning to skip on a three year old spark plug.  Easy peasy . . . you would think . . . but not so fast O'Bruni!  The store Philip knew in Usshertown named Kay Gee Enterprises had push mowers and lots of water pumps but no riding mowers or spark plugs.  They sent us north to the Industrial Area but on the way, as we sat stuck in traffic on Kojo Thompson Road, we saw a small lawn mower shop.  We talked to the owner from the truck, still sitting in traffic.  He didn't have a riding mower or a spark plug either but he said he knew another place that had both.  He got in the small two seat Isuzu pick up truck with us to show us the way.  You may now imagine me and two Ghanaian men crammed into two small seats and me trying to shift gears.  We we arrived at H. B. Duncan Enterprise in Freetown Adabraka.  The man there had a 24 hp Troy-Bilt lawn tractor mower with side discharge, 50" cut and made in the USA for ¢9,800.  I plan to pray for this mower.  Solomon needs it.  He's currently cutting what amounts to two football fields with a 21" push mower.  He's 64 years old.

Yet, H. B. Duncan had no spark plug.  We drove back to the Kojo Thompson store where we let our guide out.  He made us sit in the shade of his store while he went looking for a spark plug.  He disappeared around the corner and Philip and I sat and watched the traffic while talking about that particular place is such a bottleneck.  After about 20 minutes the man came back with a spark plug for ¢67!  That's over $22 for you guys in the US . . . for a spark plug.  Wow.  Philip wanted to hit the man but, thanks be to God, cool heads prevailed.  Yet we were still plugless.  We decided to continue to the North Industrial Area where we found a large wholesale supplier of generators, water pumps, lawn mowers, weed trimmers, chain saws, etc.  This C. Woermann place was big.  Check them out at www.woermann-ghana.com.  They sell lawn and garden equipment.  They repair lawn and garden equipment.  They sell parts for lawn and garden equipment.  Yet they did not have a spark plug.  Not one, not for any price.  At this point they gave us directions for yet another store but it now having been almost three hours Philip gave up and said, "Let's go home."  Wow.  We failed . . . and all we had to do was find one small spark plug.  Because it only takes a spark to get a mower going and when the mower goes, all of the missionaries can enjoy a lush green carpet all around the Baptist Guest House.

So now it was after 1:00 pm and the director of the Guest House, Christy, called me to say that Philip could start his driving school today.  So with directions to the Frank School of Driving from Charity, our guest house assistant manager, I sent him off to enroll and start the school.  But by that time it was after 2:00 pm and Brandi, who had wanted to go to the archives this morning, was very impatient.  She took off on her own to take a taxi and do research without me.  Ouch.  Yet, not ready to miss an opportunity I took my camera to the video studio at Christ the King Catholic Church where Millie is now helping me produce a professional documentary of our trip in Ghana.  We have 10 gb of pictures and video (1,515 files) for her to work with.  It took 150 minutes to download onto her editing computer so I walked up Liberation Road from Christ the King to Pizza Inn.  Here I found a decent meaty pizza for ¢19.  Pepperoni, bacon, ground beef, and ham.  While I was eating, I think I saw what looked to be an illegal driver's license transaction at the table next to me in the Pizza Inn.  Corruption Inn.  A woman who looked like a DVLA employee, and I know because I have been there twice, met with a man and a woman.  He gave her some papers that looked like driver's license forms and over ¢1,000.  I watched her count it.  They all smiled and shook hands and went their ways.  Why would that be happening at Pizza Inn which just to happens to be located next to the DVLA.  Hmmm.

Back at the Guest House I waited.  Brandi came home, now completely happy, from the archives in time to go back to Christ the King with me to pick up my data card.  The video will not be ready until next Monday.  I plan to get multiple copies if you'd like one.  You can order now.  All the money goes toward Solomon's new riding lawn mower.  At least a ¢30 donation is appreciated.

For dinner last night Adeline made baked chicken with spring rolls, rice, fresh pineapples, drinks, and brownies.  Ummm.  We ate with missionaries from Togo, two doctors from the Presbyterian hospital in Kumasi, and the Barnes, Phil, Laura, Jonathan, and Daniel who leave for South Africa on Thursday.

As the day ended, I sat and prayed for ¢9,800 and wondered how many spark plugs there are in my hometown.

A 24 hp Troy-Bilt Lawn Tractor at H.B. Duncan Enterprise, Accra, Ghana