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 Favorite Foods in Ghana

The month of February is ALL about FOOD!!  This month we are sharing images and descriptions of our favorite foods in Ghana.  "Foods in Ghana" do not need to be Ghanaian foods, only our favorites, so you're sure to see some foods you've never seen (or tasted), as well as some favorites from back in the States.  One thing is for sure, it's not hard to find tasty food in Ghana! 

UPPER WEST REGION

H.K.:  “Yam fufu [a dish made from pounded boiled yam] from the north [Ghana] is far more enjoyable than the yam and plantain fufu from the south. This yam fufu is served in groundnut [peanut] soup. Yum!  It’s sooo good!! Like a creamy, thick mashed potato!”

Lia P.:  “Chicken and rice is my food in Ghana! Five Ghana [$1.25 US dollars] gets you a portion enough for 2 meals, and I add pear [avocado] to every meal!”

Dean S.:  “TZ [ tou zefi – Ghana corn flour] with slimy soup; not my total favorite, but the best school food! LOL.”

Northern Region:

John M.: “My friend, Gifty, dishing me out a jar of groundnut paste [peanut butter] in Yendi!  I eat copious amounts of this this delicious nectar every week as a source of protein in my carbohydrate-dominated diet. ”

Spence W.:  "In some areas of northern Ghana, a sweet and sour (and slightly alcoholic) drink known as pito is considered a food.  Made from fermented sorghum, it’s a source of income for many women in Saboa District.”  Top left: Spence W. and John M. share some pito.  Top right: Pito served in a calabash (vessel made of dried gourd).  Bottom: A kitchen where pito is being cooked/prepared.

Brong Ahafo Region:

Charlotte C.:  "I have a lot of favorite foods in Ghana, but the one I eat most often is called ‘rice and stew.’  It is white rice with a red sauce made from palm oil, ground fish, tomatoes, and a variety of spices.  It is typically topped with any variety of toppings, commonly including spaghetti, a hot sauce called shitto, chopped cabbage, onion, and hard boiled eggs.  There is one lady who sells the best stew in town every day at school for any amount you would like.  You can get a serving the size of your fist for 50 peswas (about $0.12 US [that’s 12 cents!]).”  Top: Charlotte C.’s local rice and stew stand.  Bottom: Close-up of the ingredients used to prepare and serve rice and stew.

Billy N.:  “Apples reign supreme in my hometown in New England – from apple crisps, to bobbing for apples, and going apple picking – and I have many fond memories of that crispy fruit.

However, here in Ghana, oranges come in abundance and the teachers at school take turns buying them by the dozen for each other, so I'm finding a new love for oranges here. :)”

VOLTA REGION:

Jake B.: “Banku and tilapia [smoked fish]. [Banku] is a corn and cassava [dough] mixture, tilapia, onions, peppers, and peppe [a Ghanaian pepper sauce].”

Brenda G.: “My favorite Ghanaian dish is fufu with light soup, and either smoked Fulani cheese, chicken, or goat. Fufu, like most Ghanaian dishes, is eaten with your fingers, right hand only, since Ghanaians, like much of Africa and the Middle East, assume your left hand is used for other things.  Little do they know!  But, cultural considerations aside, the soup and fufu are served hot, so you find yourself blowing your fingers for the first few bites.  This is usually, but not always, from a shared communal bowl.  Fufu is made from steamed plantain and cassava, pounded in a large mortar, and equally large pestle [pictured above], called a fufu pounder.  Light soup is Ghana’s version of chicken soup.  You’ll have to research a recipe, because my [internet] connection with the outside world is tenuous at best.  If you are in the Bronx or LA, you can find a Ghanaian restaurant.  Until then, love to all you good cooks out there.”

David R.: “Goat [meat] in groundnut [peanut] soup, with [not pictured].  is my favorite Ghanaian food; it is not commonly eaten in the Southern Volta, so when I find it, it’s a treat.  The chop bar [like a restaurant] in town only has it during the weekends [for] 7-8 Ghana cedi [about $1.75 – 2.00].”

Winnie W.: “Some staples in Ghana, [but as pictured] doesn’t really have a specific name.  Groundnuts (10 Ghana cedis [$2.50 US dollars]), tomatoes, oil, goat meat (12 cedi/pound [$3.00 US]), onions (1 cedi [$0.25 US]), garlic (1 cedi), ginger (1 cedi), ripe plantain (5 cedi for 5 plantains [$1.25 US]), paprika/hot pepper, and salt.”

EASTERN REGION:

Ms. B: “This is my waakye[wah-chay] stand.  Wonderful ladies that sell at the nearby sports events.  For 3 Ghana [$0.75 US], I can get enough beans and rice to feed 2 people.  Second portion usually goes to the first student I see.  I usually get it with a bit of chicken.  Served with tomato based stew and black peppeh sauce.”  Left: The waakye stand from a distance.  Right:  Close up of the ingredients used in the preparation and serving of waakye.

Brittany J.: Top: “Queen cake.” Bottom: “Red-red is a popular dish in Ghana, and it is normally made vegetarian.  Red-red is made from beans, and it gets the red color from the red palm oil [made from the kernels (fruits) of the palm tree]. 

Do you want to make these tasty dishes at home?:

Top:  “Ingredients: 4 large eggs, 200 g (1 cup [c]) granulated sugar, 1 tsp pure vanilla extract, ½ tsp butterscotch flavor, 260 g (2 c) all purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp salt, the zest of 1 lemon, ½ c evaporated milk, 170 g (3/4 c) unsalted butter, and ¾ c raisins/sultanas/currants.” 

Bottom:  "Ingredients:  250 g dry black eyed beans, 2.5 c palm oil (the red type), 4 red onions (medium size), 1 small box [or can] tomato paste, 1 – 2 red chilis, 2 – 3 cm fresh ginger, 3 cloves garlic, 5 tomatoes, 2 – 3 dl water, 2 – 3 ts salt, pinch of sugar.”

Kyle L.: “This is a snapshot of my top 2 favorite meals in Ghana.  What do they share in common?  My favorite beer in Ghana, Castle Milk Stout.”  Top:  “Castle Milk Stout, the only dark beer in Ghana.”  Bottom left:  “Indomie.  An instant noodle dish (not unlike Ramen instant noodles in the States) to which I add an egg, green peppers, a small onion, and a tomato.  It’s amazing.”  Bottom right:  “Yam Fufu (my favorite kind of fufu – it’s less sticky than the cassava and plantain fufu) in groundnut (peanut) soup with smoked and fresh fish.  My friend Amos (a Ghanaian) eats the smoked fish, and I eat the fresh fish (called ‘salmon’ here in Ghana).”

Kyle L.:  "I live in a bungalow on the campus of the senior high school where I teach and, as a perk, I get lunch and dinner each day.  These are some of my favorite ‘school lunches/dinners.’”  Top left:  “This is a stew (which in Ghana means a thick soup more like a sauce) made with a green leafy vegetable called kontomeri (con-too-mury).  It is usually served with rice.” Top right:  “This is rice and red stew with fish (usually sardines, herring or smoked fish).  It’s just the right amount of spicy, and I like it best with sardines or herring.”  Bottom:  “Kenkey (kin-kay; a corn dough wrapped in corn husks, and boiled), here served with a red stew and fish.  Sometimes it is also served with peppe, a spicy red sauce made of mortared onion, tomato, and garlic, with the consistency of a well-pureed salsa.”

Kyle L.:  "These are some of my favorite breakfast creations since I’ve been in Ghana.”  Top:  “Eggs and toast and pawpaw.  I scramble some eggs with okra, tomatoes, and onions, toast some bread in a skillet, and add them together with my second favorite fruit in Ghana, Pawpaw (mango is my first favorite fruit).” Middle left:  “French toast with cinnamon and sugar, and a cup of real, French pressed coffee (compliments of my aunt and uncle who mailed the coffee and French press to me).  It’s difficult to find any coffee other than instant in Ghana.” Middle right:  “French toast, scrambled eggs, and bananas (my third favorite fruit in Ghana).”  Bottom:  “Egg sandwich (these are very common in Ghana – and delicious), plus fried ripe plantains (when they are ripe they are sweet!).  Here they look a little reddish because I added some chili powder for a kick.”

Kyle L.:  "These are some dishes I concocted with some odds and ends around my house.” Left:  “Vegetable soup with rice.  Here I used a packet of vegetable soup mix plus tomatoes, onions, kontomeri, okra, green peppers, and rice.” Right:  “Stew (like a goulash) with kontomeri, okra, green pepper, tomato, tomato sauce, garlic, sardines, and rice.  Only thing missing was the kitchen sink, but as I don’t have running water here, I didn’t have the sink to throw in.”

Stephanie R.: “[Grilled chicken sandwich] from Custom Burgers in Accra [the capital].  Natural chicken, grilled pineapple, jalapeño, grilled onion, and chipoltle sauce.  Thirty-five Ghana cedi [$8.75 US].”