"...by the sweat of your brow..."

Early Wednesday morning, I harvested Cocoa with the Oppongs. I have learned that I am out of shape and it is very hard work. Armed with a machete and a large pan on my head, I followed them into the bush. We followed a small trail that has been walked for hundreds of years by those farmers who farm in that part of the bush; it took 30 minutes to reach your destination. When we arrived, there were about 200 Cocoa trees on the hillside that the Oppong family maintains and harvest each season. Sister Oppong and I were to carry all of the pods to a central location where they have shucked cocoa for over 100 years. 3 generations of Oppongs have cultivated this small farm and great history was present as we worked. They sing and talk among themselves as if it were a social event and I believe it is for this family. After piling up all of the Cocoa pods, ( a pod is about the size of a large softball but looks like a football) you then take your machete and split this pod and dig out the Cocoa seeds (about the size of an almond) with is in a slimy white gooey protection. After splitting and harvesting the Cocoa seeds, you put your hands into the huge pan of white goo and pinch the seed out of the slim and put that into another huge pan. So in the end you have only a small amount of white slim on the cocoa seeds. After a piece of bread and a shared cup of water, away we went back down the trail with this huge (65 to 70 lbs) load on my head. I had the light load President said, as he carried his without hands all the way back. I stopped only once to give my neck a break and Sister Oppong showed me their trick, she would keep walking but lift the load off her head with her hands just for a minute to give her some relief. It took 2 of us to lift the filled pan off the Oppong’s head and put them on the ground. The beans are then piled up and covered under a black plastic for 5 days and then spread onto a raised bamboo mat to dry for another 5 days. Once fully dried, the beans are put into sacks weighting 65 kilos and taken to a buyer where you are paid 200 GHc. Our whole crop from that farm will fill only 2 sacks and the Oppong family will live on that 400 GHc until the next harvest in June. The June harvest is considered a “bonus crop”; if there is rain between now and then, they get a very small crop, maybe a bag and a half, which will get them through to next December. If no rain, no crop, so now all of the farmers are praying for rain during this dry season that has begun. Usually, it will rain small in March and then once in June, but really we don’t expect rain for the next 4 months at all- very dry and hot. So when I got home my neck ached, my back ached, my arms ached- basically, I just ached all over. Thursday I got up and felt much better so I just need to work the muscles again to get in shape. I have firsthand knowledge of what the scriptures mean by saying “ye shall eat thy bread by the sweat of your brow”.