Business As Usual

Today Mandy and I got all dressed up and went all the way into the city to got to what she thought was a class reunion/get together thing.  Unfortunately, it was just like a class meeting, and Chichi wasn’t feelin’ it…so we left pretty much as soon as we arrived (I gotta say, getting ready with power is SO much nicer than without it = )

But anytime I get to go anywhere, I love it because it means I get to see more of Ghana and learn more about this place.  Today, I was struck by how hard working a people they are.  I can’t remember; I think it was Emmanuel who said that the unemployment rate is really low here, because everyone employs themselves.  And it’s so true.

First, there are all the people who sell things in the streets.  I don’t say on the side of the streets because they’re literally in the middle of the roads, walking amongst the cars (and they’re in the city, on the highways!).  Like yesterday, Amanda wanted to buy phone credits, so at one of the places where the vendors are (they choose stoplights or heavily congested areas), she held her had out the window and the guy came running towards her.  But the taxi driver kept on driving and changing lanes, so the man had to run beside us, weaving with us, and it really freaked me out.  I don’t know if I already mentioned this, but you can buy anything from these street vendors!  Yesterday I saw cold water (how it stays cold in the open buckets on their heads, I do not know), plantain chips, doughnuts, Mentos candies, Pringles, toilet paper, newspapers.  And I’ve also seen DVDs, maps, “tribal” masks (I’m guessing those are targeted especially towards the tourists), tons of other foods, and so much more.  It’s hard to not want to buy from all of them because they are so eager to sell their goods, and some of them are just young teenagers, and I wonder, “Are you not in school? Or is this just a Saturday/after-school job?”  Since education is not a mandate here, you just never know.  But oh my gosh…it was so sad!  Again, if I talked about him already I’m sorry (I saw him when I was riding the trotro to meet up with Chad), but a beggar came to my car window.  This man is crippled and doesn’t even have a wheelchair.  He sits on a skateboard, with his rail thin legs awkwardly folded under him, and his hands in slippers, as he pushes himself along on these super busy highways, trying to survive (you can’t even see him unless you’re leaning out your window…so he’s definitely below a driver’s line of view).  I found myself wondering what kinds of places these people would go home to.  Are they standing out in the scorching sun all day, everyday just trying to make enough to survive.  And is this what they’ll be doing for the rest of their lives?  How overwhelming and discouraging would that be.

Then, there are all of the little shops on the sides of the roads, offering every service from passport pictures to herbal remedies.  I saw this “shop” (they’re mostly all these metal boxes) that was about 8 ft. wide, but only 4 ft. deep or so…and it was a copying/laminating places.  So interesting to have such expensive equipment in such a run-down place.  And then there was a 6x6 (or so) place with a large lady right in the middle at her sewing machine, and then hundreds of dress designs all around the place.  So pretty much you can go and order the dress of your dreams from this tiny metal box.  You know, it’s everyone making do with what little they have, but not letting it stop them from pushing forward and persevering.  It’s truly amazing to me!


Like the other day at school, we had a man deliver boxes of these bottles of disinfectant, and when he had to run back to the car for something, I went out with him and saw a taxi waiting.  You think of deliveries being made in a delivery truck, but he had to lug these heavy boxes around until he found a taxi, then get the taxi to wait while he went in and made the delivery.  And it’s an everyday occurrence that we have people coming in to drop off applications (since there’s no DOE, they have to go to each individual school separately to seek employment) or business proposals (offering laundry services, textbooks, life insurance policies for the staff, etc.).  We pass all these things along, but it’s just kind of luck-of-the-draw, which letters get a good looking at and which are just glimpsed at and tossed to the side.  It’s a lot of hard work for what could amount to nothing…but they just keep at it.