Field Notes, Day 3

Jamestown Walking Tour, Smoothy’s, President John Kufuor, Shop Accra

Today we arrived in Jamestown where we had the privilege of being lead on a walking tour by Collins and Nii, two members of the Jamestown Community Theatre Centre. The two men grew up together and nowadays, work hard to break the stigma that Jamestown is dangerous. As they talked about their community, the parallels between Jamestown and Detroit particularly struck me. Both communities struggle with poverty, resources, and federal accountability. Both communities are experience a period in which the youth are being mobilized via development, entrepreneurship, and artistic expression. Our first stop was a shrine near the entrance of Jamestown where the men explained the persisting significance of local religious practices and the influence of chiefs. While Ghanaians may practice Christianity or Islam, many of them still go to shrines and practice local tradition and chiefs hold great influence. We also learned that shrines can take many forms, because of the importance of nature in local religions. Shrines are usually located at the entrance of towns, but they can be statues, waterfalls, trees, or even pots. We were also welcomed into Collins’ home where he emphasized to us the importance Ghanaians place on family. Collins and many Ghanaians still live in their family homes. His mother still runs the household as the matriarch and everyone still works to help support one another. Keeping close to ones family is very important to Ghanaians. Collins told us how the average Ghanaian adult belongs to four families. Their mother’s family, their father’s family, their mother-in-law’s family, their father-in-law’s family. It really struck me how strong family bonds are in Ghana, in the United States, it isn’t uncommon to see people grow more estranged from their families as they pursue careers. However, in Ghana, they still return to their homes - which are kept in the family for generations - to lend support and work together as a tight knit community. Collins did share that land disputes amongst family members who defy the strength of this bond to their home and their blood for monetary gain are among the longest and most brutal legal disputes. As we snapped photos outside of the home with Collins’ permission, we were stopped by a man who yelled in a mixture of Ga and English. “We are Africans! No Europeans!” Collins answered that man brusquely and calmed him down, Nii explained that the community overall values the work they do to bring tourists to Jamestown, but some still have animosity and suspicion because of the community’s history. We walked through London Market and learned about promises made by government officials to improve the market and institute health regulations that have remained unfulfilled - despite the taxes that are paid. Additionally, we learned that the government’s efforts to renovate markets usually lead to the institution of paid spots for vendors, which undermine the community and tick off the market women. It was really emphasized to us how strong market women are and the role the play in the community as leaders and matriarchs. From there we were invited to the Hansen House, which Collins and Nii, said was special because we were the first tour to have received that privilege. They told us stories about the Hansen House and rumors about a dungeon that may be underneath the building that leads to the prison which relates to Hansen’s possible connection to the slave trade. As we walked towards the beach, Collins and Nii told us that there one side of Jamestown is British while the other is Dutch, Collins lives on the British side while Nii lives on the Dutch - this accounts for the Ghanaians with European sounding names. While we walked towards he pier and enjoyed the ocean breeze, we saw men maintaining their massive boats, repairing nets, fishing, crabbing, and young children jumping into the ocean to swim - coincidentally, we even saw a man in a Tigers Jersey. We had an amazing view of the ocean and of the coast as Collins and Nii wrapped up their tour and we talked about the importance of learning history in order to understand one’s identity and recognizing facts even if they do not paint a pretty picture. We also learned about an effort to educate one another, many of the former slave trade sites and castles are now used to educate both local Ghanaians and tourists - so that the atrocities that occurred may be understood and never again perpetuated as people seek to establish their roles and identities in the world.

From there we had the opportunity to try Smoothy’s for the first time. I had one called a Trojan with a Chicken Wrap and after a long day of burning in the sun and getting served a massive headache it hit the spot perfectly. We then headed to meet President John Kufuor in his home. Our car drove into a gated compound that contained a beautiful home. Construction was being done outside, it appeared as if they were placing new pipes underground - perhaps for plumbing - and there was a cool bench with rubber tires on the ends as decoration on the porch. Kufuor’s meeting area was lined with awards, mementos, and photos of him visiting with other foreign officials from around the globe. After a morning sweating and burning up in Jamestown, the fact that his home had central air conditioning was a blessing. We even saw photos of his visit with U.S. President George W. Bush. Upon arrival, Kufuor greeted us warmly and proceeded to answer our questions about Democracy. Kufuor talked about Ghanaian interest in American politics and how we see all over the world that Democracy is something that must be sustained, but it is worth it. He also talked about the relationship between the private sector and public sector in Ghanaian markets in terms of economic development and the country’s globalization/global presence.

Kufuor said what his administration strived for was to pursue the establishment of capitalism in an accessible manner that did not alienate the people, but instead created a sustainable relationship in which the private and public sectors could work alongside each other. He referred to it as “capitalism with a face.” The meeting lasted for 25 minutes and Kufuor introduced a representative from the his John Kufuor Foundation which recently gave Ghanaian students from inner city schools the opportunity to study abroad and attend a conference in Tokyo Japan. Our meeting was followed up by an audience he was granting to those students, who were awaiting him. Nonetheless he allowed us to take photos with him and connect with his foundation representative. However, I think that the one thing I’m always going to remember is that, when Kufuor learned that my intention was to become a journalist, he told me I was a brave, brave girl. Afterwards, he told me that in Ghana, journalist are considered part of the “Inkies Fraternity.” A fraternity, a men’s club, yet, I’m a girl. I have a feeling I’m going to continue thinking about those words for a long, long time.

Later in the afternoon, Dr. Hart took us to ShopAccra, a cool, trendy store that reminded me of City Bird and Nest in Midtown, Detroit. In this shop, everything was handmade and sourced from producers in Ghana. We spoke to the owner who told us all about she started up the premise of her store, where she gets her resources, the importance of social media advertising, and the rising prominence of mobile payments via apps. I bought a postcard that fascinated me. The design combined photography, graphic design, and illustration. It was a photograph of a simple market scene and street in Ghana, yet illustrations of people carrying goods on their heads were superimposed into the photograph - a combination of what is real and what is interpreted by the artist. The owner of ShopAccra told me the artist Isabel works a lot with photo manipulation and graphic design. She takes the photo in real lime and then adds in her illustrations in order to give it a cartoonish element.