The Family I'm Staying With, Adugyama, Ghana

Since the beginning of April, I've been staying with a family in Adugyama, Ghana. I was introduced to the Atta family by Andrew Roberts, a former Peace Corps volunteer who lived with them for three years. I'm paying rent for a room and for the hallway area as an informal art center for children. They have been gracious in taking me into their family, teaching me Twi and Ghanaian culture, and helping me get oriented to the village.

Auntie Bea, Yao Bimpe, and Mr. Atta, Adugyama, Ghana
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

Here's a photo of Mr. Atta, Auntie Bea, and their 15 yr. old son, Yaw Bimpe. We had just come back from church. It was Holy Thursday and we were at their Jehovah's Witness church, my first experience in a Jehovah's Witness Church. We sang in Twi and passed the bread and wine and afterwards everyone wanted to shake my head and welcome me. Mr. Atta is a successful farmer who is often working at his cocoa farm some distance away. He comes back every two weeks for a week or so and works on the farm he owns in Adugyama.

Auntie Bea is also very busy working on the farm. She is often bringing back cocoa, plantains, casava, yams or maize. At home, she drys the cocoa, prepares and sells maize, and cooks fufu (the main staple food made of plantains, casava, yams). Every Sunday, I eat fufu in the evening with the family. Fufu's the main staple in the Ashanti Region. It took me awhile to get used to the doughy texture but kakra kakra (little by little). It's usually served with a stew made of peppers, palm oil, and tomatoes.

Mr. Atta and Auntie Bea are often laughing and talking with those who stop by. The family spends a lot of time just enjoying each others' company and people are always stopping in for a chat. Pretty much everyone's speaking in Twi and someone will help me with a translation, usually Yaw Bimpe.

Yaw Bimpe goes to school in Abuakwa, about 25-30 km away on the way to Kumasi. He enjoys soccer and is often playing in the evening in neighborhood matches. He hangs out with his friends a lot and is singing songs he learns on the radio or on T.V. He likes to joke around and reminds me of so many other teenagers I know.

Sarah, Ama, and Yaw Bimpe
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

Sarah is going to nurses training school in Kumasi. She comes back to visit occasionally and is outgoing. Ama (in the middle) is close to finishing her high school studies. She attends a boarding school in Kumasi. She said she wants to go into business. She was home for the month of April and helped me with translating Twi which was really nice. She and Yaw Bimpe are really close and entertain each other a lot.

Becky, Adugyama, Ghana
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

Becky has only been back home a couple of times while I've been here. She's studying geological engineering at K.N.U.S.T, The University of Kumasi. She has one more year left and says she'd like to visit the U.S. maybe in a year or two.

Nana, Adugyama, Ghana
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

This is a picture of Nana. She has a good sense of humor and as you see in this picture is not camera shy. She's often listening to her radio in the evening. I've gotten into the habit of drinking Chelsea tea and will often share it with her which she appreciates. She reminds me of my own grandmother. She'll sometimes bow down to me as a gesture of respect and then I'll bow down to her a little lower as a gesture of respect until we're both close to the ground and chuckling.

Nana has a room in the adjacent bldg along with Kwaku Baah, her grandson whom she takes care of. Nana is the mother of auntie Bea and Rose. I wrote about Rose and her daughter Sandra in the hairstylist blog. Nana's other sisters stop by and chat and it seems like family of one type or another is always stopping by. Her son also lives in a little house in the back. I see him occasionally. There is also a couple of farm laborers that live in the house. And then of course the goats have a room of their own and in the evening mosey into it or are coralled into it.

Kwaku Baah with a Cold 500ml Sachet of Hygienic Water, Adugyama, Ghana
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

This is a picture of Kwaku Baah. He lives in the house with Nana, his grandmother. He likes to draw and has been drawing a lot of houses lately. He also like to play soccer, joke around, and tell stories. Yaw Bimpe and his friends, Kwaku Baah, and I have been going on walks to neighboring villages.

Besides the family I'm staying with in these pictures, there are so many other friends and family that are always stopping by. Just staying at the house seems to me a pretty active experience. I do a lot of my painting in the back now by Nana's room and the kitchen. I have a little space to work and still be a part of all the family happenings.

Filling Stations, Tro-Tros, Chinese in Ghana

Unity Oil on Bantama Rd., Kumasi
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

This is a filling station, not far from the Cultural Centre in Kumasi. It's an example of many that are popping up. They are very large, containing many stores like a mini-mall. Their glass structures stand out amongst the many concrete buildings. Oil was recently discovered off the coast of Ghana, maybe a year and a half ago it was announced in the news. The government quickly said that they will use the resouces to the benefit of all. This probably due to the troubles in the Nigeria Delta where the riches from oil production are not benefitting most of the people in the region.

Star Oil Between Abuakwa and Tanoso in Ghana
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

This is where I'm typing right now. It's about 30 minutes from the village I live in, Adugyama. Kwame, a friend of Doris's first took me here, and it's the fastest internet cafe I have found in the area. The ones in Kumasi were much slower than here. Kwame and Doris both know the owner of this filling station and I had lunch with him one day. He lived in Germany for many years. He said the new addition (left in the photo) will be a Chinese language school. His wife does international trading and goes to China often.

The Chinese are very active in Ghana. They are doing joint partnerships with Ghana on road construction. On the road I travel on to Kumasi, I see advisors working on its expansion. I also have seen Chinese/advisors on the expansion of the highway north of Accra. There is a book that was making the news here in March called Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo. She has degrees from Oxford and Harvard. She argues that aid has actually been detrimental to Africa and the business/partnership approach such as what China is doing is a better approach.

At Star Oil, there is also a grocery market, an MTN phone office, and a restuarant. I usually eat Jolof rice(fried rice), chicken, and a salad along with a Star beer.

IMG_0232
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

This is a tro-tro. It is the primary way I get around and it's inexpensive. Kwame explained to me that the lowest pesewa is called a tro-tro, basically a penny. And it usually costs pennys to get from place to place, thus the name. The vans I see mostly are Nissan vans. They can get fourteen passengers in, not counting the driver, the "mate" (coin collector), or children.

The "mate" operates the van door, will chant the names of the destinations alerting people on the sides of the road. He often sounds like an auctioneer and it took me awhile to get used to the chanting. Abuakwaabaukwaabuakwa was what I would listen for. Or when I was staying in Kumasi studying batik at the Culture Center, I would listen for Santasisantasisantasi. This was where I went to for the night, my teachers residence.

Hand signals are also used. In Accra, I often would go to Nkrumah Circle, also called Accra Circle, or just Circle. The hand jesture I would look for from the tro-tro would by an index finger pointing down and making a circle. The chant would often be Circcirccirccirc.

When I was staying at Lincoln School and needed to get to Kumasi, the tro-tros would be going to Kejetia Market. The hand signal used would be an index finger pointing upwards and jabbing upwards.

If a tro-tro is not full, the driver would beep his horn and he or his mate will make a hand gesture with the hand open and upward going in a twisting manner, saying which way you heading? I often mouth the name of the city and they would stop. If it's the next place coming up, I will often make a gesture pointing downward and that's sufficient.

IMG_0223
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

I've had to wait a long time for a tro-tro and sometimes it gets competetive getting into one. In some cases, I'll opt for a taxi. A shared taxi is cheaper and fills with usually four other people. A drop taxi is one you take by yourself and I've hardly taken that one. Oftentimes I might wait inside of a parked tro-tro until it gets filled up. I've only had to wait 20 minutes or so, but I've heard it can be hours in some remoter places.

I like the tro-tros. It's not the safest way to get around, but when you're packed in with so many other people, there can be a community experience, an intimacy. Some of my favorite moments in Ghana have been looking out the windows of a tro-tro at the beautiful, lush countryside--trees, plantains, fields of green, maize, and rocky hills. When there's some nice African music, it doesn't get any better. Oftentimes, there's talk radio in Twi. It sounds similar to talk radio in the States, often very loud and constant.

Friday, April 17th: From Adugyama to Kumasi. This morning there were 4 goats stuffed into the back end. I was near the back and one of the passengers was complaining about the goats nipping them or hoofing them in the heels. The owner who looked like he came from the north because he had on a moslem like scarf gently moved to the back so that a woman complaining could be further from the goats.

Between Accra and Kumasi, I've taken the government buses called STC and also the O&A buses. They're similar to Greyhound. A 5-6 hour trip between Kumasi and Accra costs 10 cedis on STC buses and 9 cedis on O&A buses. They show movies during the trip, usually Nigerian movies because they're in English and are entertaining. I watched one that was about a father an son, called Ibu and his son. The father is a mechanic and his son is usually getting into all sorts of trouble. They make for a comical pair. I watched a horror movie based on African witchcraft about a young woman defying her father and going to a party. A demon comes and haunts them and kills them off one by one. There was another movie where a woman is tired of the way men can marry more than one woman. She ends up courting three men and gets three marriage proposals from them. In the end, they find out what she's up to and play a trick on her.

Ghana Money, Perspectives on Ghana, Cell Phones, Misc.

Ghanaian Money, Cedis (paper) and Pesewas (coins)
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

The cedi is the main currency of Ghana. I've been mainly using the one, five, and ten cedi notes. One dollar is equivalent to about 1.35 cedis. Only about a year ago, I believe, the cedi and the dollar were fairly equivalent. In the past few months, there has been inflation which has many people concerned.

The pesewas are the coins used. The ones in the picture from top to bottom are 5, 10, 20, and 50 pesewas. There are signs around Kumasi encouraging people to use coins. The coins were not too long ago meaningless until the new cedi notes were introduced.

The notes used to be in the thousands before the new system was introduced. One cedi was equivalent to 10,000 cedis before the change. 10 pesewas was 1,000 cedis. People often prefer will use the older system when asked about prices.

Perspectives on Ghana and Africa in General:

People often have certain ideas of Africa that are often overly simplistic from what the west is given in the media. I've talked to Ghanaians who tell me that the west only reports about the negative aspects of Africa and lump the whole continent together as if it was one country. When people asked me why I was going to Ghana, one of the reasons I gave was because my own ignorance was intolerable. I didn't want to just believe what I read in the papers. I wanted my own experience.

Ghanaians who travel overseas hear all sorts of crazy stories from Europeans and Americans who believe that they still live in trees or are all in little thatched roofed houses. They can't believe that Ghanaians would even want to return to their own country. This is what I've heard several times from Ghanaians.

Although there are certainly major problems in Ghana, it is considered one of the model countries on the continent for its stability, democracy, and economic growth. I have read that Uganda and Botswana are the other two model countries. Many people here in Ghana are thriving in business, building big houses, driving BMWs, Mercedes, Toyota SUVs, and all sorts of models associated in the west with wealth and financial status. Some Ghanaians I have talked to wish the west were more aware of these aspects as well.

Unfortunately, I am not that interested in taking photos and writing about nice cars, successful businesses, big houses, and other affluences and modern developments. I'm staying in a little village where they don't have as much financially. They are mainly a tight knit farming community who have some modern conveniences but also live traditionally.

I'm interested in witnessing how traditions combine, coexist, or get deferred to what is considered modern. I'll be mainly writing about these things and the people that I live with and meet.

That being said, I'll probably devote a couple blogs to modern developments and the increased affluence that is happening here in Ghana. Cell phones are everywhere now. Many people have maybe two cell phones, each from a different company. Those that don't have a phone, can go to a little kiosk, often a wooden box with an umbrella and pay to use the attendants phone. Kiosks and phone shops are everywhere The main phone companies are: MTN, Zain, Tigo, Kasapa, and Vodaphone.

Vodaphone, the recent merger of Ghana One Touch and Ghana Telecom, has done a big media blitz. Their color is red. Many buildings around Kumasi have been recently painted in a gloss red with the white Vodaphone symbol. Zain has T.V. commercials showing young people dancing and singing. One of their pitches is: Zain, your world of freedom...

My favorite T.V. commercial if from the cell phone company, Kasapa. It shows an older couple in their living room. It's late at night. The man is wearing a muscle shirt sitting on the couch watching T.V. The woman is in her night gown and wearing curlers. She is heavy set.

Her cell phone rings, she answers and begins a lively conversation. While talking, she walks back and forth blocking the T.V. Her husband gets irriated that she's blocking his view. Finally, she sits down and says goodbye to the caller. Her husband, exasperated, says something like, "Who was that? You were talking for two hours." She says, "Ahhhh, it was the wrong number."

Kasapa was advertizing reduced rates in the evening and night time. I bought one of the cheapest phones I could get for 30 cedis. The company I'm using is Tigo. I buy little cards of time that I punch into my phone.

Hair Stylists: Sandra and Her Mother, Rose

Sandra (left) Styling a Friend's Hair, Adugyama, Ghana
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

This is Sandra doing a really cool hair style for her friend using little sticks placed in her friend's hair. Sandra is five yrs. old. She spent a lot of time and was very focused on creating this really interesting hair fashion. I'd like to see this catch on and be seen on the streets of New York. An expansion of the two chopsticks style.

Sandra lives at the same place I do and is often drawing with me or hanging out and playing. She has many friends in the neighborhood. I see them playing hand games and 'kitchen' with tin cans and dirt and water. Her and her friends have all sorts of games they devise. They're often dancing and singing songs as well. Sandra's mother, Rose, runs a successful hair salon in town right on the Sunyani Rd.

Hair Style by Sandra, Adugyama, Ghana
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

Here is a top view of the hair style by Sandra.

Sandra styling her friend's hair, Adugyama, Ghana
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

Rose in Her Salon Striking a Pose
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

This is Rose, Sandra's mother. She is Auntie Bea's sister and lives in the place that I'm at where there are two houses right next to each other. Here she is having fun posing for a photo in her hair salon.

She's usually very busy in her salon coloring hair, adding extensions and wigs, and doing various types of hair cuts. She has a couple of assistants as well who are learning from her.

Rose taught me how to hand wash my clothes properly and will occasionally cook me local Ghanaian dishes. I also have difficulties with my back on occasion and she teaches me different exercises and stretches.

Rose and a Customer at Her Hair Salon, Adugyama, Ghana
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

Here is the view of her hair salon on the Sunyani Rd., the main highway between the cities of Kumasi and Sunyani.

A fashion note or cultural note: I noticed girls wearing two or three rows of beads around their waist, a belt of beads. I was told girls wear these beads because it will help them have wider hips and a larger bottom. Girls wear them up to ten yrs. of age or even older.

Another fashion note: I watched on the news that in Burkino Faso, the country north of Ghana the latest fashion trend is to create very dark, pronounced eyebrows using eyeliner. They showed all sorts of very long and interesting shaped dark lines on the eyebrows of women in Burkino Faso.

Children's Art from Adugyama, Ghana

I have fulfilled my mission. I came into the world with song. No one can sing with my voice. But I have nothing, neither children nor wealth. My reward is beyond, and here in the words I leave with you the youth. My songs are gifts from the creator himself.

--Hesino Akpalu, Ewe Poet from Guardians of the Sacred Word (New York: Nok 1974 Ed. Kofi Awoonor.

Papa Yaw Opare Writing and Drawing
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

I was working outside and Papa Yaw Opare stopped by. He was watching me for awhile. Then, I gave him some paper and a ballpoint pen. He did some drawings and then he started writing. Below is what he wrote.

"My Self" by Papa Yaw Opare
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

What Papa Yaw Opare wrote:

Narrated by Papa Yaw Opare
My Self

My Name is Papa Yaw OPare. I at the age of elevn years old (11) My mothers name is cinthia Asamoah and my fathers name is Kofi otu.

I attend school at hope international school. I am in class five (5). I come from Akwapim Manfi but I stay at Adugyama. I am Chocolate in complexion.

Children drawing and looking at books, Adugyama, Ghana
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

This is the table I've been working at. Children stop by and I will give them paper, a pen, or colored pencils, and then they draw with me. I also have books that they will read.

For two weeks I was working mostly at this table. Lately, I've been going outside to draw and paint. Maybe one or two students will drop by and I will give them some supplies to work with.

If some students are at the table, I'll give them supplies as well and stop by and see what they are doing. This past week, I started painting with dirt and charcoal, so that has been keeping me busy outide.

It's great for the students to see. I tell them it's Adugyama Paint, very affordable. They look inside my little tin can and see dirt. I show them all the different tones I can make by adding water or using dry brush.

Children Taking a Break from Drawing, Adugyama, Ghana
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

Drawing by Yaw Bimpe, Adugyama, Ghana
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

This drawing by Yaw Bimpe is based on one of my drawings. He came up with the idea of using Adinkra symbols in his drawing. In this one, there are two. Then, he took some of my elements and created a new composition.

Drawing by Vincent Asubonteng, Adugyama, Ghana
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

Drawing by Kwadwo, Adugyama, Ghana
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

Kwaku Baah and Sandra Drawing, Adugyama, Ghana
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

The age of the children drawing range between 3 and 19 yrs. old. A few adults have also drawn with us. I'll be gradually posting more photos to my flickr page, so you can see more there. http://www.flickr.com/photos/23472741@N05/

Batik, Ghana Cultural Centre, Ghana

IMG_0774
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

This is the Batik Workshop at the Center for National Cutlure in Kumasi.

For the past month, I've been studying Batik every Tuesday and Wednesday at the Center for National Culture in Kumasi. My teacher is David Anokye (pron. a-NO-chay). I was studying with University of Kumasi (K.N.U.S.T) students who were getting a degree in Rural Arts. They were studying various traditional arts and were at the Centre for a couple of months.

There are also a couple students who were doing national service. Students who go to a government school spend a year of service. The government then assists them with school funding. Some students go into the military or work in hospitals. These students were studying tradional arts.

The Batik at the Center for National Culture uses cotton as their main fabric. It is usually cut in yard lengths. Wax is applied to resist the dyes. Where the wax is applied, the color of the fabric will remain the same. The first wax applied to a white piece of cotton will maintain the white color of the cotton where ever the wax is.

Foam sponges, brushes, and wooden stamps are used to apply the hot wax. The wax needs to be hot in order to adhere to the fabric and also dissolve into it and through it. We use a charcoal burner to heat the wax.

Applying hot wax
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

My teacher, David Anokye, using a cut piece of foam sponge to apply lines of hot wax to the cotton fabric.

The wooden stamps are mainly Adinkra symbols. There are sixty symbols on the chart that I am using. These Adinkra symbols in Ghana are used to represent a moral, a teaching, or something related to a cultural trait. The ladder symbol called Owuo Atwedie Baako Nto (obiara bewu) means "All men shall climb the ladder of death." The heart shaped symbol called "Akoma" means, "Have patience." You can learn more about them at the website: www.adinkra.org

These symbols are seen all over the places I've been in Ghana. They are used on packaging, on clothing, on walls of houses and businesses, and many other places.

After the initial wax is applied, then the fabric is folded and places into a plastic bucket of dye. The dying process usually goes from light colors to dark. At the Centre, we have been applying three different colors of dye.

The fabric is kept in the bucket of dye for about 10 minutes turning it every 4 minutes or so. Then, it is layed out to dry. After it is dry, then wax can be applied to the design where you want the first color to remain.

After all dying is complete, the fabric is placed in very hot water to remove the wax. Then, it is placed in cold water and layed out to dry.

Tie and dye is also another Batik technique. I've seen strings, plastic bags, and rocks used to creat different effects

tie and dye
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

Here is an example of tie and dye. The fabric is folder and only the edges are placed in the dye.

Besides batik, the center also has programs in weaving, pottery, wicker, wood carving, and drumming and dancing. They have painters and crafts people also selling their work, and there are many giftshops.

Abraham Lincoln International School, Abuakwa-Manhyia, Kumasi, Ghana

I stayed for the month of March at Abraham Lincoln International School just a few kilometers northwest of Kumasi on the Sunyani Road. It was nice to stay here while I got acclimated to Kumasi and visited the village of Adugyama, the place I'm staying at now.

I was introduced to the school by Andrew Roberts, the Peace Corps volunteer who got me connected to the village. At the beginning of March, I met Madame Doris Osei, the Proprietor and owner of the school. I brought her a band flute from the Roberts family, a recorder, and some books.

She was so excited by the flute and said it was the first horn instrument for their future school band. I asked her about inexpensive places to stay in the area and she offered me a place at the school.

Madame Doris Osei holding the Ghana Flag
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

Madame Doris Osei spent twenty years abroad working to build Abraham Lincoln International School. She worked for about eighteen years in The Netherlands and a couple years in New York City.

She said that she worked three jobs a day in the Netherlands. During the day, she worked at a pharmacy filling orders. In the evening, she would then go to the post office and sort mail. And then late at night, often past midnight, she would clean a coffee shop. She'd often only get a couple hours of sleep a night.

From around 1991 to 2003, she would return to Ghana and build bit by bit the school that she dreamed of. The school finally opened in 2003. She is now in the process of adding on a boarding school for junior high school students which is expected to open in the fall. Her future plans are to build an orphange and a nurses training center. She's also taking evening classes working towards a degree in business administration.

On April 3rd, the school had a big party with lots of food and dancing. It was the last day of school before the students "vacate". For the months of April, the students are on vacation. There was a DJ providing the music, and the students created a big circle for students to dance in. I danced in the circle with the preschool teacher, Madame Becky. The students seemed to enjoy it!

Abraham Lincoln Intl. School, Abuakwa-Manhyia, Kumasi, Ghana
Originally uploaded by Daniel Kerkhoff

Here are some of the students in the cafeteria at Abraham Lincoln Intl. School.

If anyone is interested in sending school supplies such as pencils, colored pencils, books, or even band instrument books here is the address of the school. Madame Doris is trying to get marching band instruments as well, but I don't know how easy it would be to send them in the mail.

Abraham Lincoln International School
Abuakwa-Manhyia, Kumasi
P.O. Box KS 14652, Kumasi
Ashanti Region, Ghana, West Africa