Village life in pictures

Here are photos depicting village life. Life has its own rhythm here: everyone wakes up and goes to bed early, always finds time for church, always goes to farms, and always invites a strange white girl for a meal.

Enjoy!

 Street food. Village women cook and sell some dishes to farmers. Notice a stylish jacket and long-sleeves - during harmattan season it's chilly early in the morning!

Artsy shot - Portrait of an African farmer (in honor of Andrew Whyett).

 Local children are very industrious and strong:they fetch water, gather wood, help with cooking and farming, and still have enough energy to play.

 Also, they wear cool clothes from the West that are bought from so-called "dead obroni piles" - clothes donated from US and Europe. Once in a while you can see a familiar logo or a sports team's name. My village has scores of "fans" of Steelers, Red Sox, Yankees and Canadian hokey teams.

 Local cuteness strikes again! These puppies are so adorable.... Unfortunately, animals are not treated the same way as in the West - they are kept as guards, and not as pets.

 Farmer Kuaku (born on Wednesday). I went farming with him a couple of times. He always gives me oranges, pineapples and other natural stuff. The white tank behind him is for fermented palm wine - apeteshi (disgusting, but drinkable).

 Kids invent their own toys (with wheels, tires, bamboos sticks, jar lids, tin cans and rice bags)....

 ...while adults saw their own fancy throws and jackets! When I asked Joshua about Ferrari, he said he didn't know what I was talking about; he just liked the design of the fabric.

 Ophelia. The village participated in the bicycle project in the past, but I was informed they need more...

 Cooking local dish - red-red (fried plantains). Delish! I also learned to make a groundnut soup, rice ball and pounded fu-fu like crazy.

 This is how abrobe (pineapple) grows. I will try to grow some myself.

Not sure what it means, but it is written on one of the houses. Usually houses are adorned with biblical proverbs ("If God says yes, who says no?") or have a name ("Small London House").


Ghanaians recycle everything: an old tro-tro seat is now a bench. Also, they reuse jars, bottles, newspapers, plastic (aka rubber) bags and cooking oil.


This is how I spend some of my afternoons (reading and napping).

Happy winter!