Ghana natives' plea for heat gets chilly reception

David and Belinda Normanyo are still a little unsure exactly what Thanksgiving is all about. There is no holiday like it in their native Ghana. Still, they have something to be thankful for.

``I'll be thankful when I'm warm again,'' Belinda Normanyo said.

Yesterday, the couple were finally able to enjoy heat in their new apartment after five frigid days when they were unable to persuade representatives of Dominion East Ohio to turn on the gas.

Spending days and nights in an unheated apartment was a new experience for the couple, who say furnaces aren't necessary in their hometown of Accra. ``I've never been so cold in my life,'' Belinda Normanyo said.

David, 33, and Belinda, 30, moved to Ohio in October 1999 so Belinda could study at the University of Akron, where she expects to graduate with a master's degree in economics in May 2002. After graduation, Belinda Normanyo plans to return to her position in the regional banking department of the central bank of Ghana.