Moosa Yaloo - The Cow Man

We have a herd of cows that are stabled (fenced) down the dirt road from where we live. One morning while on our daily walk the cows were being herded along the trail. We see them often but they are usually led by a young man, but this day they were being driven by an older gentleman and a young girl with a baby strapped on her back, Ghanaian style. He stopped us and introduced himself as "Moosa Yaloo" and he was very proud that he was the owner of the cows. The cows are a very sad rendition of cows in America. They are all very boney, skinny and delapitated-looking. But they are very prized here and ownership definitely denotes a position of status.

Moosa is a Muslim and always wears a long gown and Muslim cap. He introduced us to Rita, his daughter, and asked if we had any job she could do and work for us. We explained that we were missionaries and really didn't have any work for her. She was truly a lovely girl. Her eyes were sad and she was very quiet but she was exceptionally pretty. I noticed a large scar on her left cheek in the shape of a half-moon. I thought that the poor girl had perhaps fallen on a broken bottle or sharp implement when she was young.

I have since noticed that same scar on the same cheek on many young people and have learned that it is a tribal designation and the small children are cut this way to denote which tribe they belong to. Sometimes the markings are different and sometimes they are on different cheeks. We even have a great-looking African Elder from Nigeria who has two scars, one on each cheek.

In Fiapre, a few weeks later during Fast Meeting, a very educated older woman who works for the government was attending and had a double scar on her cheek. As she bore her testimony she remarked about her tribal mark and then noted her "junior brother", also in the congregation, had the same scar.

Some of the customs of this land are very foreign to us but we are learning so much about their culture and beliefs. But whenever I notice the markings, I still always think what a shame it is to scar these beautiful young faces.