There Are No Words.

The Witches of Gambaga

Here in Ghana I am taking a class entitled "Documenting the African City". With the assistance of this class, I will be producing my own documentary, with a classmate of mine, on the Accra Hearts of Oak soccer team. Prior to starting production, the documentary class has been focusing on looking at other works and learning how to use NYU's video equipment and editing software. 

This past week NYU took part in the 6th Annual Real Life Documentary Festival in Accra. As a sponsor, we were able to attend any of the films and panel discussions that fit into our schedule. I chose to attend a screening of a documentary entitled "The Witches of Gambaga" by Yaba Badoe. While at church, on my home stay, the preacher talked a great deal about witchcraft and this heightened my curiosity about the subject. 

"This is the extraordinary story of a community of women condemned to live as witches in Northern Ghana. Made over the course of 5 years, this disturbing expose is the product of a collaboration between members of the 100 strong community of "witches" and women's movement activists determined to end abusive practices and improve women's lives in Africa. Painful experience and insight come together to create an intimate portrait of the lives of women ostracized by their communities. Told largely by the women themselves, their incredible stories and struggles are conveyed to a wide range of audiences by the director's narration"

The story is truly remarkable. It is crazy to think that this is going on in a country that I now live in, or that this kind of stuff takes place around the world. I heard in the news several weeks ago that they may be closing this very camp focused on in this film. I wonder what the fate will be for many of these women who find shelter in such "witch" camps. The government searches for ways to deal with such camps, and such beliefs that have become so intertwined in Ghanian culture. They seem to be struggling, as closing down camps like these is not a very well thought out solution.

As an American it was difficult for me to understand why so many Ghanaians believe in witchcraft, but as the director pointed out in our panel discussion, the idea of witchcraft is just as unrealistic as many of the ideas that Christianity, or any other religion is built off of.

On second thought, I was reminded that even the US had a fear of witches at one time, recalling the Salem Witch Trials. In fact, two very distant cousins of mine (sisters) were burned at the stake during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. 

You can visit the Documentaries website: http://www.witchesofgambaga.com/

Or you can view the trailer above!

@ The Tailor

There are lots of wittle kitties at the tailors.

Here is my tailors shop... It is very little.

New Threads....

I don't know how people take pictures of themselves... it is quite hard.

Had this little number made for GH 20... aka $15.

I Went to Ghana and Rode a Lion

 Close enough....

So Much To Be Thankful For....Smile

"While we try to teach children all about life, children teach us what life is all about" 

24 Hours in Kumasi... Ready, Set, Wait.

This weekend we went to, what is often referred to as, "The Heart Beat" of Ghana...

Kumasi!

Kumasi is located in the southern central part of Ghana's Ashanti region, 250 kilometers northwest of Accra. With the rough terrain, poor infrastructure and TERRIBLE traffic it was an estimated 6 hour drive, but of course nothing ever goes according to plan here in Ghana. 

We started our journey at 4am Saturday. I slept the entire way there which I could not have been more pleased with. I awoke to find that we were at a farm, our first stop of the day. Kumah Farms Complex is supposedly the second best farm in all of Ghana and we got to experience it first hand. I can't say too many people were thrilled about this, as NYU is notorious for its large number of vegetarians and vegans. While I eat and enjoy meat, I can't say that I really want to know where it is coming from, especially when it comes to the meat I am eating in Ghana. 

Thankfully, we skipped over a lot of the animals, do to their aggressive nature. Although, we did get to look at some very cute baby bunnies. I was so over joyed when I saw the bunnies, until I found myself asking "why are there bunnies on this farm?". I am going to pretend that I don't know the answer to that question.

We got to see some neat ostrich's... they were slightly intimidating.  

Exhibit A: Giant ostrich egg....

Held by Exhibit B: Over tired, sweaty NYU student...

The man made ponds in the picture above have tilapia and catfish in them. This particular farm is known for its tilapia. The farmer rings a giant bell and throws the feed into the water. The fish go nuts at the surface jumping at the food. Apparently the goats on the farm have figured out that the sound of the bell means feeding time, as every goat came running instantly and we quickly found ourselves standing  among tuns of hungry goats.

When it came time to leave the farm, we found ourselves in quite the predicament. The morning rain had destroyed the road to the farm, which resulted in our giant bus getting nice and stuck. We sat and watched for two hours in the hot sun as local men, our resident assistants and workers from the farm made attempts at getting the bus out of the mud. 

When we finally got the bus out of the mud... correction: When the nice men finally got the bus out of the mud... we headed to our next destination, the Manhyia Palace Museum, or the old palace of the Kumasi king. There were some beautiful peacocks in the area that I stopped to admire. 

Following the palace we went to our final and my favorite destination, an area where they make Kumasi's famous kente cloth and the west african adrinka clothes. A local man took us through the process of how they make the ink to print on the clothes. The ink is made out of a specific tree bark, which they crush soak and boil.

Here are some examples of the adrinka clothe that they had for sale.

Do you recognize this man?

yep... you got it.

Obama.

People in Ghana love Obama, hence his face has been printed on the adrinka cloth. You can also find Obama fabric in the market place on occasion.

These stamps are used to decorate the kente cloth. 

I got to try my hand at the craft.

After our tour of the cloth making process we all got to purchase items that were being sold on location.  It seemed as though the entire village had been notified of our arrival, as in a matter of minutes the small shop area was filled with local children begging for money. The swarm grew larger and larger with each passing minute and a lot of the group grew uncomfortable. There was no way to hand out some of your change without being bombarded instantly by more children. For the first time here in Ghana, I found that I was frightened. I was not scared so much by the fact that I was being grabbed and pulled in every which direction by a number of children, but I was frightened by what was taking place on a whole. I never felt endangered, but rather hopeless. 

I went back to the bus and stared out the window at the crowd that was forming around it. One girl tossed a granola bar and a pack of gum out the window and I watched terrified as the children piled one on top another fighting tooth and nail for a piece of gum, or a bite of the granola bar.

Once everyone was back on the bus, we departed for the hotel. While the hotel was only several miles down the road, it took us two hours to get there due to the insane traffic. The group of us, who don't usually represent typical college student, resorted to drinking to pass the time. It did not seem to help.

After what felt like the longest day of my life, we finally arrived at the hotel. I passed out face down in my bed instantly. 

The following day we went to the Kumasi Market, the largest market in all of West AFrica. It was indeed huge, but very similar to the markets that I frequent in Accra, aside from the fact that there was far more fish and meat for sale. The smell of rotting meat was overwhelming. I thought that perhaps breathing out of my mouth would help the situation, I was wrong. I could taste the air. Knowing myself and that I was about to throw up, I grabbed a cab back to the hotel.

Back at the hotel I sat pool side and attempted to teach our RA Kalvin how to swim... I failed.

At 1pm we boarded the bus back to Accra. I stared out the window for the 8 hour drive home, watching as the rain dripped down the window and the african landscape rolled on by. 

This is Africa.