A New Kind of Traffic

My fourth and final day in Ghana was spent on a field lab (or field trip) for my Women in Literature class.  It's pretty common not to look forward to field labs, especially field labs on the last day, because knowing it's your last day in a country always makes you think of one last thing you want to do but can't because of class obligations.  But, because I'm a bit of a nerd, I was actually really excited about this field lab.  Our day started with a visit to FIDA, the International Federation of Women Lawyers of Ghana.  FIDA provides law services to women who may not be able to receive these services anywhere else.  For example, in Ghana, it is extremely common for men and women to live together for multiple years (more than the U.S.), even having children without actually being married.  When these relationships are broken, the woman usually has no claim whatsoever to the house, her belongings, and even her children.  FIDA provides law services to women in this situation to help the women get back their children and some of the assets.  FIDA also supports women suffering from marital abuse, rape, and HIV/AIDS, as well as unexpected pregnancy. 


After visiting FIDA, my class had lunch with Amma Darko, one of Ghana's most famous women authors.  We had read her novel, Not Without Flowers, and used our short amount of time with her to ask questions about the book and her views on women's experiences in her home country.  Hearing Amma Darko talk was one of my favorite experiences in Ghana; Amma Darko is one of the most impressive women I have ever met.  She works a 9-5 job every day, goes home to take care of her children, make dinner, and clean the house (since men and women don't share the work at home, something Amma Darko was very adamant in telling us she didn't mind), and then somehow still finds the time to write!  But she made a good point saying, "If you want to write, if you love to write, you will find time to write."  I strongly encourage everyone reading this post to read Amma Darko's novel, Not Without Flowers.  It has love, mystery, suspense, and so many twists and turns that I can guarantee you won't guess the ending until Amma Darko reveals it.  I'll be more than happy to lend out my newly autographed copy once I get home!


Our last notable stop was at Global Mama's, a fair trade organization that employs single mothers and women living in poverty.  These women learn a specific trade (sewing, tailoring, bead making, weaving, soap making, or Shea butter producing) and then create products based on their newly acquired skill.  Once their products are sold, all the proceeds go directly to the women and the non-profit program of Global Mama's that helps the women develop their business. Because of traffic, my class only had about 15 minutes to browse the Global Mama's store, but what I was able to see in that short amount of time was incredible.  The women made jewelry, clothing, household decorations, kitchen necessities, pet items, bags and purses, and a TON of other goods as well.  It was especially cool knowing that everything being bought was benefiting local women in need throughout Ghana. 

After stopping at Global Mama's, it was time to head back to the ship.  Let me just say that the bus ride back to the ship turned out to be a whole new cultural experience.  Since Global Mama's was in the middle of the city, Accra, we were trying to head out of the middle of the city during rush hour.  But rush hour doesn't just mean vehicle traffic in Ghana.  Rush hour also means people traffic.  Since it was already starting to get dark, marking the end of the day, all the market and stand owners were trying to sell the rest of their goods.  So, Ghanaian men and women were everywhere, weaving in between cars with baskets of fruit, household goods, snacks, ice-cream, and school supplies on their heads, gesturing at every driver they passed, trying to sell their items.  In addition, the big tour bus we were in was hard to ignore, so some stand owners specifically targeted our bus, running over to try and sell us last minute souvenirs out the window.  Many people in my class actually bought chips or other snacks out the window (to the great annoyance of our tour guide) and one person even managed to buy some fabric before the bus pulled away!  Apparently, buying goods from your car is a very common thing in Ghana, but since this was the first time I had ever seen this, I was freaking out (in a good way)!  This encounter made me realize how little I had actually seen and experienced in Ghana, since I was only there for four days, so it would certainly be interesting to travel to Ghana again someday! 

Fun Fact: There is an overwhelming number of Ghanaian shops named after aspects of Christianity. I'm not kidding when I say "Prince of Peace Electronics" and "To God be the Glory Cosmetics" are real shops in Ghana.