St. Val

Valentine’s is the biggest I’ve ever seen it here. No confection hearts or little dinky cards as far as I could tell, but lots of real cards, roses, and the chocolate all seemed to be missing from the supermarket. Businesses and restaurants have emphasized Valentine’s over the few years, offering discounts and specials. Celebration driven by consumerismm. I wandered down Oxford Street and it was crowded with couples decked out in red or singles on the prowl. The restaurants were packed; I settled on Nando’s to avoid a long wait (and because the pizza place next to it had stopped serving the small personal sized pizza! Hmph! We single people were most assuredly being discriminated against!)

Somehow Valentine’s Day in Ghana has become about sex, not love. I was told that condom sales always skyrocket and stores run out, meaning that either people don’t normally use condoms or else there is just a whole lot more action going down on Feb 14 than normal. However, I saw some prominently displayed by the supermarket checkout. Na tells me that some girls are more willing to sleep with someone under the rationale that “everyone else is doing it.” I’ve heard that preachers tried to reclaim the holiday for love through sermons this Sunday as well.

In yesterday’s local paper was a full-page ad from the Ghana AIDS Commission:

The Beauty of Love is in Careful Living
Let This Valentine Bring Out the Beauty of Love
Avoid Casual Sex Remember
HIV/AIDS is Real

Be Wise
Abstain
Be Faithful
Condom Use Consistently & Correctly

I read in the paper that there are 450,000 people in Ghana with HIV/AIDS; I think it said that's about a 3% rate. That's a surprisingly low figure given that this is Africa.