Want to Own a Bar? Christian Group Micro Loan! wt…

I’d like to own my own bar/pub as much as the next guy (or girl), but who knew you could invest in one for less than $400? My kind of business grants. Just loan out money for this Christian Rural Aid Network project, and you can set up your own watering hole, your own place where everyone in Ghana knows your name. That being said, there’s something sad about a church group supporting the opening of a pub. I suppose we all need entertainment, but… it’s a christian group… and it’s a pub. Here is some information about Ghanaian culture and alcoholism in a book called Alcohol and Pleasure: A Health Perspective.

p.127
“A person who is dependent on alcohol is likely to be seen as being cursed or punished for sins committed in the past.”

p.128
“Over the years, prevention efforts have been aimed at total abstinence from alcohol use. This approach has not succeeded because alcohol is well established in the cultural life of Ghanaians. Although some Christian churches preach against the evils of excessive alcohol use, others see alcohol use as demonic and condemn its use in all forms. Some churches even have substituted mineral water for wine during Holy Communion.”

p.129
“It also is becoming increasingly clear that people will continue to drink alcohol no matter what laws are enacted. In the 1970s a military officer who was regional commissioner of one of the regions of Ghana banned the sale of akpeteshie in his area. The ban was enforced through prevention of importat of the drink from the south. Inhabitant immediately started distilling the beverage from local materials using rusty nails and powdered soap to enhance fermentation. The results were disastrous, and the ban disappeared quietly and completely.”

In any case, the culture’s relationship with alcohol is complex, and I’m not judging how people spend their free time. I guess I just find it a bit sad that the state of affars is such that a christian group would be compelled to support the opening of a pub, that’s all. Weird.

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