The search for fresh fish

Accra is coastal but fresh fish is hard to find. Unlike other coastal towns there are no large fish markets around. I need to get to the bottom of this. My search for fresh fish took me to a market behind a castle. The squalor was heart rending. I came back disturbed. The music, the art, and the manners of the people camouflage the material discomforts. The initial awareness of problems dims as time goes by. The trip to find fish brought me back to reality again. No people should be treated thus. The government must act and clean up the drainage system at once. Clean surroundings
brings in prosperity along with it.

Music in Ghana

Music in Ghana is awesome. The place can easily become New Orleans.

Public transport in Ghana

Public transport in Ghana is mostly taxis and tro tros. There are buses too but it is difficult to find any information about it. Yesterday, we decided to go to Koforidua using a STC bus. We got to the Bus station and there are no people manning the information counter. The lady at the ticket counter only said "Go to the circle" and she would say nothing more. Miss the US VTA systems, where the person on the other end of the phone line, will give you the best possible routes, and more than one option. So then we went from one bus stop to the other. Finally, we went to Nkwakwa instead of Koforidua. It was 4 hrs each way and it was really late when we got back home. When on work vacation, the best part is going any where is quite fun. But I need to find a way to extract information from non cooperating STC employees in Ghana.

Art in Ghana

Art in Ghana is sophisticated, contemporary, and affordable. I hope it always stays so. Its quite a thrill to explore art in Ghana.

The new site for Ashesi university

Ashesi university is shifting to a new site on the outskirts of Accra. Ashesi means
"The beginning" in Ashanti language (Tre). I think it is a start too. When I look at my students I am kind of sorry because they carry a burden of expectations. The expectation to change Ghana for the better. It a humongous task. We all expect them to measure up.

Witchcraft and tradition

Yesterday I watched the documentary "The Witches of Gambaga" at Ashesi university and got a chance to speak to the director of this documentary. The documentary was very disturbing and I did not sleep a wink last night thinking about the women who were branded as witches and living in camps for witches. Any woman can be branded as a witch and when she is branded so, she has to leave home, family, and land, and go live in a camp for witches. If men are found guilty of witchcraft they do not have to leave anything. Every woman in Northern Ghana may be afraid that this could happen to them.

This is injustice. When I asked whether there is a punishment for people who treat women so, the director said this was tradition. And change will be slow. People want to preserve tradition. I do not understand this. If something is wrong, the culprit needs to be punished. I do not care if the crime is traditional or not. All the people who are involved in making women suffer after branding them a witch must be punished.

Moreover, if a woman needs to leave home for being a witch, she should be allowed to take her children with her. These women witches who do not seek justice, and have no desire for revenge against society who treated them so, kept me awake last night. I am seriously touched and concerned.

Slavery and West Africa

West Africa was worst hit by slavery. The Cape Coast castle is a grim reminder of a horrific past. The dark dungeons where slaves lived among defecation, or the coffin ships (in which slaves were packed like sardines) that carried slaves far away from Africa was inhumane. The slaves had to lie down for the entire journey. In no trade even of the worst kind, did so many people die. It was a dirty war on these people. As we witness the door of no return for a slave, we are relieved that slavery is abolished and will never return.

Cape Coast Castle

Find me my African god

I went to a discussion last Friday where people were looking for an African god. The theme was most cultures have their own gods but Africans have lost theirs. Their gods are given to them by the West or the Middle East. It is kind of funny. Mainly because Europeans got their god from the middle east. Jesus now looks European with his blue eyes and blond hair. But most of us know that this is just an artist's interpretation of what Jesus looks like. Or do we? The people I was talking to in Ghana think that Jesus looks like a white man so he cannot be our god. But Europeans on the other hand took a middle eastern god and made him look European. The Chinese god Buddha also came from India and is not Chinese. But now Buddhism is a Chinese religion and China do not think of Buddhism as foreign. If Africans are truly looking for a religion from Africa then the Egyptian ancient religion is a good option. It might be interesting to see how that will go and who will be the new priests of this revived religion.

Also this conversation made me realize that every one needs a religion. Religion gives you a backbone of morals and also a means to analyze your life time and again. I for one do not care where my religion came from as long as the bunch of morals proposed appeals to me.

Where is the Fufu?

My search of fufu always resulted eating banku. Banku is fermented maize and is quite yummy. I ate the meal below all wrong. You are supposed to put pieces of fish and chilly paste in to a small ball of banku and eat it. I ate the fish first and then the banku and chilli paste. Not bad but would have been better if I had eaten it right. Our friend only explained the proper procedure at the end of the meal. Anyways, this is a meal I am looking forward to eating again. Cheers!

The not so impressive Okra soup: The okra soup was really sticky. This comes from adding water before the water of the okra is dried. This would be a strict no no in India. But I am told that is how Ghanians like their okra soup.

Three weeks in Accra and no Fufu to be found. So I made some myself from a powdered version. In Accra no one uses this version. They pound boiled yams and cassava. But since they were not selling any I had to make my own. Its not kneaded in to perfect balls but it tastes awesome with home made okra soup.

The university of Ghana

The university of Ghana is a huge lovely campus. The Botanical garden had plenty of blue birds I am guessing are hoopoes and rollers. Beautiful butterflies flew all around. We walked a long way till we reached a lake. The trees by the lake was full of nesting egrets. I saw baby egrets for the first time. I also saw a pied king fisher. Unfortunately the bird book I borrowed from the library is outdated and inadequate. University of Ghana looks a lot like IIT Mumbai with its tree lined roads. At the lake a man came and asked for money to visit the lake. Apparently the lake was private property. I first thought he was swindling but later we got a receipt.

University of Ghana

National museum in Accra

I really liked the national museum. We were supposed to go to National art center but the cab driver took us to the museum instead. This is a museum which is also a shop. The products are quite good and reasonably priced. The entrance fee is 7 cedis per person. I picked up an earring with symbols that say god is within me. I did not know that the symbol meant that in Ashanti but now I know because a few people told me so. I also picked up a nice original painting. My goal of no more decorating with prints like a grad student is completely plausible in Ghana with the choice of art and pricing. The national art center in turn turned out to be very hassly. The shop keepers were aggressively trying to sell their products and they crowd around you. I did not like the center much because of the attitude but I found one shop to pick up good bead products. I might have to return to the center to visit that shop again.

Ghana Beads are really beautiful and I plan to explore it more.

Some images from the national museum in Accra