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Published: July 24th 2006
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And I feel settled.
The road to Kumasi, the city between Accra and Tamale, began my journey into my new house. It was the chapter of the book Shadow of the Sun I was reading on my last night in the Christian Council hotel. The road to Kumasi for me was an introduction to Ghana to say the least. We had departed from Accra to our new home in the Northern region, only to find we would have a few bumps along the way. On the road to Kumasi, we popped a tire and only a short while afterwards a window smashed from all the bumps in the road. The roads here are like ski moguls, although I have never skied this it is how I would imagine it would feel going over it in a large vehicle, with all the passengers bumping up and down.
We arrived. Tamale. It’s larger than I imagined, although I am not sure what I was imagining before I came. There is a main road which I stick to like glue, not afraid of the interior dirt roads, but unsure of what lies behind the row of shops, other than houses and lots
of children yelling Saminga! (white person) as I pass.
Tamale has a large market, in which is best described when Chloe, a JF working with MoFA, said just head towards the light to get out of the market. Which side we ended on I still do not know. The market sells everything from material, to shoes, to tomatoes to goat meat.
Walking along the streets of Tamale, it is easy to find that everyone, and I mean everyone will want to stop you and ask you your name and address and they would like to take you as a friend.
In my first week in Tamale, I left to go to Karaga, with Chloe, to visit a village and visit with her family, as the father was an assemblyman. Assemblymen (and women) are voted in or appointed into the District Assembly (part of the Ghana’s decentralization of the government). They are the communities voice in the District Assembly.
Karaga is mainly mud huts, and one main paved road from what I saw. The way of life really slowed down for me here, as I watched everything go into slow motion around me. It was the weekend, the rains were not good and surprising to Chloe (and myself) the woman were sitting under a tree sharing a laugh, although only for a brief moment.
I watched as the woman and children pounded the banku, as the woman worked together to dry seeds, as the children walked with buckets of water on their heads from the well or dam to the house, as the moon grew large on the horizon and we feel asleep under the stars.
Gushiegu market only comes once a week. So we went. Meeting up with Jeff, another JF, we walked through the market. This market was very busy, as the busloads of people came in from all directions carrying goats and sheep on the roofs. We got off the tro-tro (which is a passenger van) and made our way through the market.
Back to Tamale. I fall sick. It’s my birthday. My friend Hardi has come to make sure I am still alive. Hardi is my new friend I met on the street one night going to the Internet café. I feel thirsty and stop for some pure water, but they are not selling any, so I decide to take a ginger beer type drink that is sold in plastic bags. Risky? Maybe. But it’s very tasty. So I get one and Hardi asks where I am going (which everyone asks). Realizing the power is out in this side of town, he takes me over to another internet café, which turns out to be the best internet place yet. He stays with me at the internet; I am really not sure what to do with him as he watches me check my email. He walks me home and from this day he is like my younger brother. He comes and greets me often in the mornings and after work.
One day, I decide to go greet him at his house, knowing only the general area, off the main road. Quickly a group of children form and lead me to his house. He was not home. They take me to another house. He was not there. He was in night classes, and would not be home until later. It would not be until the next week that I actually make it into his house and meet his family.
Hardi is one of 28 children. His father was the chief, but has since passed. His elder brother, Zachery, is now the acting chief until a ceremony has been performed for his father. Zachery is a solar engineer who is very ambitious and wants to develop his village. He is a great person to speak with and an awesome source of knowledge. We get along instantly as we both speak the same language (engineering) as we talk about the problem of the lake that divides his village, and many others from market.
Zachery offers me a room in their compound. So I go the next day to look and find that I could make this my new home, my door across from Hardi’s. They do not ask me to pay. The room is empty he says and you are doing a service to Ghana.
That night I read the Road to Kumasi, in the Shadow of the Sun, fall asleep early ready to move the next day to my new home.
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erin
non-member comment
wow kristy, i love your writing style. you portray such a sense of awe at the surroundings and the people. it sounds like you've experienced quite the range of activities so far! i hope you're still in high spirits. good luck!