"Best of" Ghana album

Many of these photos are a repeat of what's been posted on the blog...but I figured I'd share it on here, too...just in case you're craving more :) Click on the link to see the "Best of Ghana" photo album I created to share my experience. If you click on the first photo and go through the photos that way, you'll see the captions, which explain a bit about each photo. It truly was an incredible experience!

A typical evening in Kpendua

Each late afternoon/evening, a crowd of kids would gather outside of the clinic, where we were staying. Usually, Derek would play soccer with a group (or frisbee), and I would bring out crayons and paper. The children were so excited by crayons and paper--something that seems so simple to most Americans. One time, Derek folded a paper airplane for one of the kids...for the rest of our time there, no matter what we were doing, kids would approach him, hand him paper (some would say "plane," make a gesture like an airplane, or just assume he knew what they wanted.) You can see some photos below, including one such crowd of kids surrounding Derek! Eventually, it would get dark and we would go in to get ready for dinner (put lots of bug spray on and long pants/sleeves). Sometimes the kids would still hang out for a while, but they eventually went home too and we started again the next day.

Kpendua: Greetings

Greetings are a very important part of the culture in the village (though I would say greetings are important to Ghanaian culture in general, just usually less formal than in the village). Luckily, Mumuni Zakaria was kind enough to tell us who to greet and how to greet them, translate for us (as most, probably 95+%, of the people don't speak any English) and make sure we did all the appropriate things (giving kola nuts and squatting for the chief, telling us when we could take photos, etc.)

Below are photos of the kola nuts; it is customary to give kola nuts to the chief of a village in the North when greeting him. Also below is a photo of the chief (back left with stripes and turquoise hat) and his elders after we greeted them. The chief gave us 20 eggs (!!) to welcome us.

Kpendua: A Welcome Fit for Royalty!

Upon our arrival in Kpendua (pronounced "pend-u-a"--"K" is silent), Mumuni Zakaria, the community's former assemblyman, met us at the "station." (Everyone called it the station because it's where the bus stops, but there's not actually a station of any sort.) He and another man tied our backpacks to the back of bikes and rolled them along as they walked us to the clinic, where we would be staying. Along this walk, everyone wondered who we were-- the adults looked at us with curiosity, as Kpendua doesn't get many visitors, and the kids yelled a mixture of "silaminga, silaminga!" ("white person" in Dagbani, the local language in the Northern Region), "N-gang Nguni, N-gang Nguni!" (my friend, Cheri's local name--she spent two years there as a Peace Corps volunteer and, though she finished over two years ago, was kind enough to connect us with the village), and "Jisonaa, Jisonaa!" (the local name of the last Peace Corps volunteer, Connor, who left only a few weeks ago). The children were convinced we were Cheri and Connor at first, and though the calls of "N-gang Nguni" and "Jisonaa" subsided a bit as the days went on, people (adults and children both) insisted that we looked just like them. (Cheri has straight blonde hair.)

After putting our stuff down, we began our greetings. See the next post for more on greetings...

After greetings, Zakaria said we should rest so we began settling into our room (a room in the clinic building--one of only a few concrete buildings in Kpendua--where Connor had lived during his stay in the village; you can see some of it in the photo of me drinking tea below). As we were relaxing, we heard stirring outside of our door. About 6 women, including Queen Mother (whom we had already greeted), and numerous children were outside, so we welcomed them into our room. With them, they brought a bucket of unknown items. They put it down, but we couldn't see anything...and since we spoke no Dagbani and they spoke no English, it just sat there and we sat and smiled a lot at each other. After a few minutes of semi-awkward smiling, I got out some tissue paper I had brought and taught a few kids how to make a tissue paper flower. Both the women and children were excited by this. About 10 minutes in (still not knowing what's in the bucket, if we were supposed to unpack it, or if it was even for us), Mumuni Zakaria came and informed us that Queen Mother and her company had come to welcome us with tea, at which point we were left alone to drink our tea and told that Queen Mother and her company want to do the Tora dance to welcome us when we are done with tea.

The tea was our first of many encounters with the very large portions we were given in Kpendua! Between the two of us, we had a large pot of hot tea to drink, complete with milk and sugar, and an entire loaf of bread! Besides the fact it was very hot outside and drinking hot tea seemed absurd to us, the sheer amount was so much! But it was such a nice welcoming gesture. More on portions in a future post...

After we did what we could to make a dent in the tea and bread, we started to hear drumming across the road. We headed over there, where people had started to gather. The drummers led a large group of both adults and children over to the area near the sub-chiefs house, drumming the whole way. While the people gathered, Mumuni Zakaria took us to greet the sub-chief. When we returned, there was quite the gathering--probably about 75 people! A group of 10-15 women danced the Tora dance, something I pictured as a short dance with a few people. Instead, this was a large gathering, and the dancing went on for 45 minutes or so! It was clear from this dance how fortunate and unique this community is--everyone was having a blast, dancing, laughing, watching, and welcoming two strangers into their community. The drummers accompanied the dance, which took place in a moving circle and after some probably basic (but seemed fancy to me) footwork, two women would bump butts, before returning to the outer part of the circle. They even invited me to join in, so I did...and in true Amy/Ms. Gale-form, I stumbled my way through it but had fun doing trying (& everyone REALLY enjoyed watching the silaminga try the dance!) There are photos, below, but the video captures it best. The app won't let me upload video on iPad, so hopefully I can add it from home in the next several days once I'm at a computer.

The welcome was so overwhelmingly warm and kind. We did not expect any sort of formal welcome outside of our greeting the chief, so the tea, dancing, drumming and huge gathering in our honor was beyond anything we could've imagined. It was hard to believe that all the effort was for us, just because we had come to visit the village! The tremendous kindness continued throughout our entire stay, but I'll continue with more tomorrow...

A photo to go with my last post...

After three nights in the village of Kpendua and a night on either end in Tamale, we're now back in Accra for a night before flying back tomorrow night (& arriving in Chicago Monday).

Today, we happened to walk past the "Hilarious Services" place I posted about last time, so we took a photo. Pretty hilarious, eh?

Lost in Translation...

Tonight for dinner, I decided to order an egg sandwich. I thought it was a pretty safe bet, as we had delicious egg sandwiches in Cape Coast which consisted of fried eggs (sometimes with some veggies in it) on toasted bread. So, you can imagine my surprise when the plate, below, appeared in front of me! Our server could see my confusion, and she said, "I'm coming back with the bread." Certainly not what I think of when I think of an egg sandwich! Now, it may be hard to see, but this "sandwich" consisted of a salad of spiral noodles, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, onions, some sort of beans, and a few pieces of hard-boiled eggs, then topped with swirls of ketchup and mayonnaise. Yum! Besides the fact we're not eating fresh vegetables like that here (been advised to avoid getting ill from bacteria), the combination of items wouldn't be appealing in the US either. Oh well, shared Derek's fried rice...something we had for lunch today too, but it's randomly widely-available here and usually edible so it's become somewhat of a staple.

Other funny things we've seen here:
- Burger Queen, not a fast food place but a clothing store
- Hilarious Services, which offered faxing, copying, passport pictures, etc.
- Lots of Obama stuff, with the occasional LL Cool J hair salon

The list goes on, but I have to pack and get ready for a very early morning bus to Tamale ("TOM-aly," not like the Mexican food) tomorrow...too bad they don't actually have tamales to eat there! Not sure if I'll have Internet tomorrow, but we will be in the village (Kpendua) Tuesday-Friday so we definitely won't be in touch then... I'm sure I will have a lot to share when I write next!

BON

Today we met with the artist and retired professor, BON (his initials, which is how he signs his artwork and how he's known). He had told me he'd meet me at the University (KNUST) and we'd go from there. I thought maybe we'd talk for a bit there, since it's about halfway between where we are staying and where he lives. Instead, he picked us up and took us to his home. We met his wife, Jane, and twin 30-year-old children, Afua and Kofi. He showed us his studio and his many varied artworks. BON works in many different styles and, when asked why, he replies that he "doesn't eat rice everyday...why should I paint in the same style all throughout?" However, almost all of his works have a single central figure, surrounded by either impressions of other figures or traditional symbols. He loves pastels and oil paints, but he works mostly in acrylic now because it's what's popular here. You can see a few examples of his varied styles below...you wouldn't even know its the same artist!

What we thought would be a short talk with an artist, actually turned into a full afternoon at his home. He and his family were so welcoming and excited to have us as guests. We sat and talked with them for nearly 3 hours! We even got to try Jane's tiger nut mold (tasted like a nutty custard, but slightly different flavor than any nuts we could think of). It was delicious! We really enjoyed the time at their home and look forward to keeping in touch with them! Who knows...perhaps one of them will make it to Chicago one day so we can return the favor!

Kejetia Market

This morning we visited Kejetia market, the largest open-air market in West Africa. It certainly was huge! Although many stalls weren't open because it was Sunday (& many are at church), it was still bustling with energy. I snapped a few quick photos, but as I mentioned before, people often don't like photos taken of them or their products...though some will let you of you're buying from them. We roamed through the maze of a market for a while...unfortunately, we found ourselves in both the fish area and the live poultry area at different times. Not my ideal areas of the market! Here are a few pics from in and around the market do you can get a sense of how busy it is, even on a Sunday morning.

Carvings, Adinkra, Kente...oh my! (Part 2)

Thanks to a fairly new visitors center with tour, Adanwomase is a great place to learn about kente and see kente cloth being made, as it is one of the five original kente villages. Often, I feel tours geared at visitors can be very gimmicky, but this tour was very authentic, interactive and informative. Our guide started by introducing us to the steps that have to be taken prior to weaving on the loom and explaining the meaning of the various colors and patterns used in kente. First, you have to spin your yarn--moving it from the skein to the cone. (See photo--Apparently, according to the guide, I had a natural talent for this...) Then, you must fold the thread to prepare it for the loom (see Derek walking near one end of the area and the 3 pegs are on the opposite side--where yarn is hooked). When finished, it should look something like the white/black/red yarn below. Finally, you're ready to weave!

Adanwomase has a community weaving project so all the money from the tours and the selling of Adinkra belong to the whole community, not just one person. They also have a community weaving workshop with several rows of loom after loom (see photos). The guide explained that men are the weavers (various reasons why women couldn't weave...mostly having to do with childbearing and cooking) and everyone in the village knows how to weave, starting around age 6! Considering the coordination necessary for weaving, I thought this was very impressive! Our guide demonstrated how to use the loom to weave (using both hands and both feet), and then it was our turn to try. He definitely made it look much easier than it was!

There are three types of weaving: simple (which we tried), double, and triple. The triple is very complicated and takes about a month to complete a set! I've included some pictures of each--
- simple: yellow with 4 black stripes and 1 red stripe that we tried weaving on
- double: green, yellow, red with diamond shapes and small vertical stripes
- triple: the most complicated-looking one with red, green, yellow, black and white

After seeing the workshop and trying weaving, our guide took us to a shop where we were dressed in traditional kente cloths (see photo!). It's important to know that kente is not everyday wear, as it's very heavy and hot to wear. It's used mostly for occasions--funerals, baby namings, festivals, etc.

One thing I loved about these tours was their authenticity. When we arrived to these villages, there weren't other tourists and the villages were making the inks, printing and weaving as normal. It is what they do everyday, not a show they put on for visitors. Also interesting to see was the funerals as we drove through the villages, as Saturday is the day for funerals. Funerals are big occasions and more celebratory than somber (...in fact, we were told many people meet their husband/wife at a funeral!) People mostly dress in traditional kente cloths in black, red and brown for funerals.

Time for bed! Tomorrow we will head to Kejetia market (West Africa's largest open-air market) and hopefully meet with the artist, BON, before heading to Tamale on Monday. Good night!

Carvings, Adinkra, Kente...oh my! (Part 1)

Wow, today was a pretty incredible day (...and no, not just because I finally caught up in blogging!) Today we had a private tour of the Ashanti craft villages which surround Kumasi. What he told us yesterday would be about 3 hours ended up being closer to 6...and he didn't even mention it. Another example of how Ghanaians are so relaxed about time.

Our driver/tour guide started us at the Manhyia Palace Museum, which was a surprisingly informative tour, providing a lot of history of the Ashanti people. It was a good starting point before heading to the villages. Plus, our guide's name there was Opoku Obama--which was not his given name, but he changed it to that when Obama was elected President. He kept referring to himself as our President, asking us if we were excited to be meeting the President, etc. Pretty hilarious.

Our first village stop was Ahwiaa, a woodcarving village. We were told the carvers weren't carving today because there had been a death in the village, but it was still nice to be able to see/purchase beautifully carved wooden pieces from the source and meet the craftsmen themselves.

Our second village was Ntonso, the center of Adinkra cloth design and manufacture. Here, we were able to visit the village and see the entire process, beginning with making the ink from the bark of the badia tree. The bark has to be purchased, as the badia tree is found in the north of Ghana (see photo of raw bark). Then, it is soaked in water for 24 hours to soften it before it's mashed to a stringy/pulp-like consistency (done in a similar way to how the glass was pounded into powder, see photo of Derek mashing below). In the close-up photo, the closer wood needs to be mashed, and the wood in the background is already mashed. Seems simple, but again, it's really hard work. Then, the mashed bark is put in cauldrons with water to boil (see photo that looks like a bunch of metal...that's the first boiling area). However, the first ink that is produced is very light and transparent. So, from there, they boil that ink again for a long time to reduce it to a tar-like consistency. All this, just to get the ink!!

For the Adinkra symbols themselves, stamps are carved from calabash and bamboo is used to make a handle on the back (see photos). Each Adinkra symbol has its own meaning. We had the chance to make our own Adinkra cloth (see photos below)-- the symbols we chose mean "together in life and death" and "bravery."

I'm excited that I was able to purchase a couple authentic Adinkra stamps for my classroom--I can't wait to share them with my students!

Ok, second post for Kente so pictures don't get all mixed up...

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)

Prof. Glover had recommended that, while in Kumasi, we visit the big university here, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, where he taught for 30 years and was also the department head at one point. Without having a contact there to talk to, I was a bit hesitant as to whether it was worth going, as it's a bit out of the way... But in the end, it was tremendously worthwhile.

Luckily, our cab driver seemed to know the university quite well and was able to drop us right in front of the Fine Arts department (the campus seems huge & we would never have found it otherwise!) We saw a sign for the Office of the Dean of Fine Arts, so we went in, explained who we were and what I was doing in Ghana...and the Dean met with us right then! Dean Daniel Ohene-Adu was able to give us an overview of the different departments within Fine Arts and then introduced us to Nana Afia Opoku-Asare, the head of the Arts Education department. Our meeting meeting with Nana Afia was very interesting to learn more about KNUST's art teacher training program (which is strictly a graduate level program), how there are jobs for all graduates when they're done, and how the program helps students to learn to adapt and blend the traditional crafts with contemporary art to bring into their teaching in the classroom.

Nana Afia also connected us with BON, a colleague of hers and a widely-respected Ghanaian painter, with whom we are supposed to meet tomorrow afternoon. It's wonderful--I think traveling as a Fund for Teachers Fellow and telling people I'm a teacher from the States here on a grant to study Ghanaian art has given me opportunities and access to people I would not otherwise meet. People here have generally been extremely helpful and friendly, and they don't seem to be wrapped up in the sense of busy-ness that Americans get consumed with. This is not to say they're not busy--because they are; however, people here seem more willing to stop what they're doing to have a conversation with a visitor, even an unexpected visitor. It's quite refreshing.