(Matt drove a car from England to Mali. The car will be auctioned off and that money will go to charity ... now he is traveling around Africa... he has a blog on Twitter called 'Anyone for desert?" I always wanted a reason to check out Twitter :)
And i was on my own again... which i was surprised to find out.. was really ok!
I have been looking at that anger i found inside myself which seemed to come from a hard, cold place that is however such a source of strength to me. I am starting to really see that i am two halves. The one half is gentle, loving and generous. The world responds to this half. This half is so easily hurt and humiliated as it loves and feels joy. It is the part of me i protect above everything. And then there is the other half that i have always tried to reject and push away. That half is hard, strong and implacable. She is like a solid rock. It is the one i see in the Ghanaian face....
I think it is what attracts me so much to the Ghanaian people.. there is such a feeling of stoicism and a hardness in their faces yet in a split second a smile shows their other half is right there as well...
The anger is what really put me in touch with this half but there is much more than anger there... Since opening up to this side a lot of the fear, humiliation and unease i have been dogged by all my life has eased. It is like i have found that person i have always been looking for. Someone i can trust and depend on no matter what. She is there for me.. i know that now...
Today Dela and i were going to check the cargo rates... It was great to be with him again as i got to go back to using the tro tro. In the city this is so confusing i think you need a Phd to work it all out!! Dela is completely at home in this world... especially in Accra as he grew up here.
We found our way to the base where the cargo planes are. First they insisted i pay 2 ghanas to enter! .... This is the sad part... corruption is rife here so you are continuously suspicious but if you are not on your guard you will be fleeced. Then we had to get through an onslaught of 'front men' all vying for you to go to their office... awful! Finally i just jumped into the first office i could find that actually was a cargo company as i couldn't find United Airline Cargo... the one i found myself in was British Airways... After a lot of hassle i found out that for me to send just a small amount would be very expensive but it would be worthwhile if i had over 200 lbs... in other words, it would be more economical for me to bring my stuff with me this time.. i would see about 'next time' ... but now i had more information so i was content.
Now came the fun part of the day. The bead search in Accra begins! Even though i knew i couldn't buy anything i was still really keen to see what the markets here had to offer... again research for the future was my thought!
Dela was in his element. He gave me a wonderful whirlwind tour of the three main markets of Accra. We were hopping on and off tro tros and on the go all day!
The first market was the Makola Market which is in central Accra. Dela asked people as we went... there were some beads but they were all the shiny baubles from china....The real draw here seems to be gold or gold plated jewelry... there were stall after stall all crammed together filled with the cheap glitter... like plastic has replaced the woven baskets of their ancestors so their rich heritage of beads has been replaced by junk. Progress.
One thing that is still very loved is fabric... there were piles teetering to the roof of the gorgeous brightly coloured fabric Africa is reknown for... Dela used to sell fabric so he was able to point out the fabrics still made in Ghana.. i bought one piece that i could not resist that was a genuine GTP fabric (guaranteed wax printed in Ghana) A thought was percolating that fabric could be a beautiful combination with beads!! ...even without bargaining this gorgeous piece of fabric was $4/yard!! Another thought to pursue in my future endeavors!!!
Finally after chasing in one direction to some possibility after another we both decided there were no beads to be found here!!
Next we were barreling along in a bus tro tro off to the once biggest indoor market in West Africa... Dela is not sure if it still holds this title today.
We go over a bridge... the river is a horrifying sight of pollution and garbage.. i cannot help but gasp and say 'my God!' quite loud...Dela takes the moment to say in a loud voice, 'That is why we must stop using the plastic bags!' ... this started a mini revolution!!!
When Dela had said to me it was futile for him to not use plastic bags as this would make no difference i had told him about the demise of plastic bags in Canada. I said it was not long ago that my son had told me i should stop using plastic bags. I had thought the same thing as Dela but since Etienne was passionate about it i did as he asked... Now a few years later no one used plastic bags ... everyone was using cloth bags ... for me it had been one person saying to me 'Stop using plastic bags'
Dela has taken this to heart but he is now a man with a mission!! He is not going to stop at one person!!!
The commotion that broke out over this statement was both humorous and touching. The woman who adamantly defended the plastic bag said it was the europeans that had taught them to put things into a plastic bag to conserve things and they were right!!! I was so moved by her vehemence... what good intentions can do... The 'idea' sold about the plastic bag is one that swept Ghana like wild fire... now that damn plastic bag is loved and given out lovingly for every tiny thing you buy!!
'We put things into the plastic bag all right but what happens to that bag when we take those things out?' Dela demanded. 'Are the Europeans going to teach us about this too? No, we Ghanaians have to think about it for ourselves!!'
I sat there a bit dazed as the battle escalated to war ... it did not come to blows but i wonder if we had not arrived at the market at this time what could have happend??
He certainly planted a seed there!
Kaneshie Market is truly massive... it is housed inside a three story cement building... surprisingly this actually works... the cement and the fact it is all natural lighting keeps the building quite cool. It is a relief to be out of the relentless sun... we stroll around in the dimness enjoying the market. Again the only stalls of beads we come across are the gaudy chinese junk...
Next Dela takes me to Jamestown as the next market is close by here. It was such a different visit than the one the girls and i made... He took me to meet his cousin who owns and operates a sewing workshop for making choir gowns and all sorts of church finery.
The little atelier was very clean and airy ... everyone working away happily... a different spectacle than i had imagined going on behind these walls..
He discouraged Dela when he heard he was taking me to the Agboblushie Market... he said the roads were very bumpy.. as i found out this was an understatement...
..the tro tro we took to get there was covered in a kind of upholstering inside... Dela started talking casually to the conductor and i wondered what he was talking about... noticing him gesturing to the roof of the tro tro much to my horror i saw bugs darting in and out of holes in the upholstery... ooohh! my hair immediately stood on end! Once i would have screamed for them to stop and jumped out but i am 'stoic' now... tee! hee! ... my skin crawled and i asked Dela what he was talking to the guy about... he said he was suggesting a product that could kill all of these creatures!! I laughed to myself because i knew exactly which product he was talking about!!
On the tro tros Salesmen have captive audiences and in between stops they drone on and on about some product... it just goes on and on... i swear it is a kind of hypnotism ... and it works! Here was Dela telling him about this 'Zapbugs' or some such stuff like people repeat commercials from the tv back home!!! The giggles eased the shudders for a bit....
Thank god we didn't have much further to go after that..
Then I saw some sights that made me burst into tears ... there is a section there that surpasses Dantes' hell... and human beings work and live there. What kind of world is this coming too?
Dela tried to console me but i was not crying for me i was crying for this earth.
He lead me away and we found ourselves in what i think Van Gogh must have seen with all the potato farmers during their harvest. There were millions of yams... Each stall was selling yams and there were piles of yams behind them with trucks with more piles of yams...
There was something quite beautiful about this that soothed my aching heart. I couldn't take photos as i felt that was too rude.. But imagine an orange hard packed ground with piles of brown gnarly root like vegetable that are quite big ... some about 2 feet long.. with the black skin of the vendors who are wearing the very wide brimmed straw hats... a peaceful and beautiful monochromatic scene..
then we went into the market proper and with all the familiar smells and sights of colorful fruit and vegetables my equanimity was restored somewhat ... but my heart overflowed with compassion and admiration for the cheerfulness i saw there in the face of such adversity as i knew they must face living in these surroundings...
It was here in this market i found the best stash of beads yet! Ironic.. i felt i had travelled far to find them. Even the starting prices were reasonable ... but alas i could only buy a few tokens.. Dela who has found a real love for his ancestors' craft, bought a small bracelet to go with the beads he got from Kumasi. He has a real eye for the beads. He like the millifori beads.
Milifori beads are also called Trade beads... the original millifori bead was made mostly in Venice for merchants coming to do trade in Africa. The Africans were trades but had no use for european currency but loved the beads. The original beads are made with layered glass and are all unique and very colorful. These beads are being produced today in both glass and polymer clay... the antique milliforibead is very expensive and hard to find... but the newer versions are still very beautiful.
I had a wonderful time just browsing around the beads ...
Next time Agboblushie Market would be the first stop on my route....
in the meantime i hope the Ghanaian government wakes up to the terrible and urgent disaster brewing in their front yard!
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