Voice 1
Hello and welcome to Spotlight. I’m Ryan Geertsma
Voice 2
And I’m Robin Basselin. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
It is a hot day in the town of Teshi, just outside the capital of Ghana. The people are busy. Children are hurrying to school. Market and street sellers compete for customers. Other people own stores, others are traders. But there is one business here that is very unusual. In fact, people visit Teshi just to see the products of this business - unusual burial boxes.
Voice 2
People crowd inside the busy shop in Teshi. Inside, is Isaac Adjetey Sowah. He is the manager of the family business. All around him are brightly coloured wooden boxes. Isaac has made them himself. Carefully, he cuts them out of wood into different shapes. Some are cut into fish shapes, others look like vehicles. A woman and daughter walk into the store. They look at all the different boxes closely. They choose a fish box. They pay for the box and leave the store. The box is large, so Isaac will take it to their house later in the day. The old woman will use this coffin to bury her husband’s dead body.
Voice 1
Isaac and his family have designed many different shapes. There are animal coffins for the farmers, coffee beans for the land workers, elephants, mobile cell phones and many more. So what are the most popular or interesting designs? Fish coffins are popular. There are many fishermen in this part of Ghana. The fishing trade provides money for many families. So when a fisherman dies, his family often choose to bury his body in a fish shaped coffin. Another popular coffin design is the Bible. Many Ghanaians are Christians. Choosing this design helps them during their painful experience - as they remember their hope in Jesus’ promise of heaven. Isaac says that he has even designed a big white angel shaped coffin for one person!
Some people say that the idea of designing specially shaped coffins comes from an old Ghanaian story.
Voice 2
Local people tell of a man called Atta Owoo. He made fine objects out of wood. One of his best creations was a beautiful seat. He made it in the shape of a great bird - an eagle. The chief of the village sat on the seat. Local people lifted the seat high into the air. They carried the chief from place to place. It was a good way to travel. It made the chief look very important. In time, another chief saw the seat. And he wanted one for himself. But he did not want an eagle seat. He wanted one in the shape of a cocoa pod. The cocoa pod is a very important crop to the people of Ghana. The chief knew that a seat in the shape of a cocoa pod would make him look very important. But before the cocoa pod seat was completed, the chief died. So, his family decided to change the seat into a coffin. They then buried the chief in his cocoa pod coffin. And in this way, so the story says, a tradition was started.
Voice 1
Families today choose the design of a coffin carefully. They choose designs that show the dead person’s trade or interests. For example, Isaac made a snail coffin for a snail seller. He made a coffin shaped like a writing pen for a news reporter. Isaac’s show room is filled with many different designs - from body parts to a bottle of alcohol!
Voice 2
Sometimes families choose a coffin to express their loved one’s desire. For example, one grandmother had never been in an airplane. She would have liked to travel to a different country. But she died before she had the chance. Her family decided to bury her in a coffin shaped like an airplane. But whatever the members of a family choose one thing is sure. They will be paying for the coffin for a long time. These coffins cost over 400 dollars. This could be a year’s wages for many people in Ghana. However, people are willing to pay this. Funerals and burials are very important to the Ga people of Ghana. They have their own beliefs about burials. For them, it is important to show respect to the spirit of their ancestors.
Voice 1
Doctor Aksoua Darkway is a sociologist from Ghana. She said that not everyone believes in life after death today. But the coffin designs are a way of showing respect for a person’s life.
Voice 3
‘Maybe the person was an important carpenter, or teacher. If they were a teacher we bury them in a pen. It is one of the ways we show respect, honour and thanks.’
Voice 2
Isaac Adjetey Sowah is happy that his business does well. But it is not all about the money. He also believes that he is helping people. Mourning the death of a loved person is a very difficult time. Choosing a special coffin can help people to deal with their sadness. Isaac is happy to make any sort of coffin that shows respect to the dead person.
Voice 1
So has Isaac chosen his own coffin design? Yes, he says. It will be in the shape of a carpenter’s plane! A carpenter’s plane is hand tool. Isaac uses it to shape the wooden coffins. He will use it to shape his own coffin.
Voice 2
The Ga people’s coffin designs are not only popular in Ghana. The idea has been exported around the world. You can even order one on the Internet! It is a bit like looking inside a children’s play store, or a joke book. One site reads ‘Something to die for.’ ‘To die for’ is an English expression that people use to describe something they really want. People pay up to 1500 dollars for their chosen box. Death has become a costly business. Rightly or wrongly, people are willing to pay the price.
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