Market towns: Where we go for food, phone credit, and so much more...

April is all about where we go to buy the things we need in our homes in the villages where we are hosted.  Many of these villages are not sufficiently large to support stores to provide food, phone credit, cloth, and other necessities for our homes.  Many of us make weekly, or bi-monthly, journeys to our market towns to purchase these types of items.  Next month's blog will feature what we buy; this month's blog features where we go to buy these things!

H.K.:  “This is the market town community members [near me] frequent.  It is located in Lawra.  There are piles of used clothes that come from other part of the world and are sold cheaply by locals.  The big criticism about the piles of clothes is that it has taken away opportunities for locals to have their own clothing businesses, reinforcing dependency on external sources.”

Grant L.:  “Nandom. The road will be finished ‘very soon.’”

Dean S.:  “The market [Nandom] before it opens on a Sunday.”

Spence W.: “Saboba is a small town of good food, good people, and good drink.  Stop by the egg sandwich place on your way to the market.”

Charlotte C.: “My market town is the largest day market in West Africa!  I’m lucky to be able to get a variety of fruits and vegetables throughout the year, though I’m not always sure what they will have in stock.  Here is my friend and favorite vegetable maame.  On the day of this picture, she had thee rare items: green beans, mint, and cilantro.  I told her that I wanted to remember how happy she was making me forever and asked to snap a picture – she thought the idea was hilarious.” 

Brenda G.: “Sister Happy has the best local spot, as well as being a cousin of my counterpart, so I really feel like I have a ‘local sister’ in her.  Many market days I go refresh myself after shopping.  At the end of a journey, I go there to wait for my ride back to my village.  If you come visit, unless you take Joe’s tro [a vehicle for public transportation like a van] from Accra, you too will have the pleasure of meeting her.”

Brenda G.: “My market town is a regional ‘Farmer’s Market’ so it is big, colorful and a crazy maze.  I find it easier of find my way around Ho’s market [another near by city] and I don’t shop [in this market] all that often.”

Ms. B: “There are several markets in my town but most often I go to the one under the umbrellas in this pic.  She has most of the things I need and always greets me with a smile.”

Brittany J.: “These women have a calm state of mind.  Equilibrium.” 

Kyle L.: “I usually only go to Nsawam, the major market town nearest to the village hosting me, when I need to buy brᴐdᴐ (bread) because I can buy it fresh, ‘in bulk,’ and store it in the fridge in my house (when I have power!).  Otherwise, I just purchase the small small food items I need around the village.  Nsawam is BIG and BUSY (as you can see above), and around a 45 minute tro ride (on a VERY bumpy road) from the village where I live and teach, so I try to only go when I really must.”

Stephanie R.: “My CP’s [counterpart’s] daughter introduced me to her [the trader in the picture] during my site visit…I never really know her name, but I mostly buy [from] her mostly because she has a lot of potatoes. J”

Our Daily "Commute"

We are all teachers, so each day we start and end our days with a commute to our junior or senior schools.  For some of us, this is a bit of a journey, but for most of us, we live quite close to our schools so our "commute" is only a 3 - 5 minute walk.  We hope you enjoy the views of Ghana that start and end each of our days!

H.K.:  “I walk to and from school. It’s a short and leisurely 5 minute walk on a dirt path, farmland, and must-cement huts flanking either side. I enjoy the calm environment and the satisfying crunch of stones under the soles of my sandals.”

Grant L.: “Here is my commute.  Sometimes, I have to leave my house a whole minute before school starts in order to get there in time.”

Lia P.:  “I actually live on campus so I don’t have much of a commute. This little red car often hangs out in the shade of the mango tree and it always catches my eye!”

Dean S.:  “My walk to school starts with this small hill outside the teacher’s quarters flanked on both sides by small trees.”

Dean S.:  “After the hill, it’s just a short walk to my school on the left.”

John M.: “Luckily, I only live a few hundred feet from my classroom, otherwise I would have to wait at the bus stop every morning for the founding members of On the Go Kids to take me to school.”

Spence W.: “The best part of my commute to school is stepping out my front door.  The livestock of other teachers are meandering around the front yard, and I can watch students bike to school on the car path.”

Charlotte C.: “My commute to school is a very short 50 meter walk along a sandy pathway, mostly in the shade of mango and cashew trees.  This picture is taken in front of my house, and you can see the school just past the trees.”

Billy N.: “My commute.  There’s enough cashew apples on the trees that the air smells sweet.”

Brenda G.: “My morning commute, as seen from my front porch, stretches all the way to the far JHS building.  In the morning, the commute is punctuated by cross traffic of some twenty or thirty munchkins on their way to kindergarten, which is held at the Catholic church due to limited school space in the primary buildings in the forefront.  Note the soccer field on the right often busy in the cooler hours before dusk.  I like it best at this hour when it’s peaceful with the orange ball of an Africa sun setting.”

Seth K.: “Every morning, I head from my house and travel up the road leaving my village.  While my commute is not normally so eventful, it is full of greeting some of the community members and the students from the schools along the way – from the young primary school students who will often cover their face before greeting me, to my own students who will sometimes hitch a ride on the back of my bike.”

David R.: “I live on the school's campus so my walk to school is very short. I pass through the cashew and mango trees, cross the football (soccer) field, and I’m there.

For the half of my students that live in the school’s dormitories, the walk is similar; for the day students, it takes about 30 minutes to walk from town.”

Winnie W.: “My commute to school involves me weaving in and out of people’s compounds and eventually ending up in this clearing of the school.  I’m greeted by children cycling into school, sweeping, or picking up fallen leaves from the trees.”

Christina A.: “My walk to school is short.  I pass the lady that sells fish and the primary school and Catholic church until I reach the JHS.  I chose this picture because it’s at this point in my walk where I realize if my students have arrived to school.”

Ms. B: “This is the view from my front porch.  I live on campus next to the school block I work in.  I can easily pop in and out of my room all day while at work.  Can totally get power naps in during breaks.”

Kyle L.: “This is the view of my walk to campus.  I only live about 5 min from campus.  The leaves you see belong to one of the many mango trees around campus.  When they are in season, I can grab one for lunch on my way to class.”

Kyle L.: “This is the view walking back from school.  (Although this particular picture was taken in the morning, and I usually walk home in the afternoon.)”

Our Ghana Families

The month of January showcases pictures of our Ghana families, from across the country.  As you'll see, we have a LARGE family.  These are our friends, coworkers, neighbors, and anyone else we consider family.  We hope you enjoy the pictures and descriptions, and learn a little about our lives, and life in general, in Ghana!

Upper West Region:

Northern Region:

Brong Ahafo Region:

Volta Region:

Eastern Region:

Central Region: