Commerce and trade everywhere

We understand that 80 percent of Ghanaian women work as market traders or sellers, and commerce and trade are everywhere. These are two images of a small roadside stand on the busy Cape Coast to Accra road. In any town the stands are very dense and the offerings very great. In addition, there are further retail opportunities at any intersection or stoplight where vendors venture out into the traffic with foodstuffs, drinks and just about anything else you could ever need. One of these nice pineapples goes for about one cedi (50 cents) each.

Bushmeat on the side of the road

On the way back to Accra today (minus the rest of the group), our driver Alex and guide Ernest did some roadside shopping. First stop: 'bushmeat,' in this case the 'grass cutters' that I have mentioned before. The preferred choice was the roasted/smoked ones rather than the fresh ones. There was, as usual, quite a discussion over the price with 50 cedis finally settled upon. The two split one and it was cut into pieces and put into two of the ubiquitous black plastic bags. It will be made into a soup with onions, tomatoes, eggplant, salt and pepper and eaten with fufu.

Anomabo

During the week ahead our students, pictured here with our bus driver Alex, are doing service learning around Anomabo, about half an hour from Cape Coast on the road back to Accra.

In the rainforest

Much of what was once rain forest in Ghana has been over taken by villages, farms and cities. But there is a 375 square kms park in Central Region, near Abrafo, where the rain forest remains - Kakum National Park. We visited there on Saturday. There is an informative museum and one can stay overnight in a vast tree fort (that holds 25), or in tents. We went mainly to experience a 330 meter canopy walk, in seven pieces, through the rain forest. It was very warm and humid inside the rain forest, as it tends to be here, and no cooling ocean breeze. The canopy walk was slightly intimidating but we all made it through. Afterwards, on the way down, we enjoyed fresh coconut water and coconut meat, as one can all over Ghana.

The Last Bath

Today I returned to the Central Region with our students. This time, shortly before Cape Coast, we turned off the main road to visit Assin Manso and the river where African captives were taken for their 'last bath' before they were imprisoned in the dungeons of Cape Coast or Elmina Castle before being loaded onto ships for the Americas. We were told about the last bath when we visited both castles last weekend. The 'park' also celebrates and commemorates those who fought against the slave trade, colonialism and racism and discrimination.

Kofi Annan Centre

Today we visited the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in the Teshie area of Accra - a southern part of the city on the beach. The KAIPTC was established around 2003 and serves as a center of excellence for research and training in peace support operations. While there we met with members of the Women, Peace and Security Institute who provided us with an informative overview of the important work that they are doing around the broader peace and security agenda in Africa. WPSI seeks to support women's contributions to peace negotiations and peacekeeping and security sector reform initiatives that support the peace and security agenda in Africa.

Making bracelets

A very common souvenir here in Ghana are black bracelets adorned with the Ghanaian flag and any name you would like. You just write down the name(s)on a piece of paper and in minutes you will have a personalized bracelet for three to five cedis. Here, watching and waiting while bracelets are made at Cape Coast.