Week 14 - Holidays, Head Porters & Knock Offs

We are loving the African Holidays!  They sneak up on us out of nowhere.  We have another long weekned due to Eid al Fitr (Holiday of Breaking the Fast). This is a religious festival for all Muslims around the world. Eid al Fitr marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Eid al Fitr is Allah's reward for believers who fasted during the holy month of Ramadan. This is also focused around believers thanking Allah for giving them the chance and the strength to carry out His commands during the blessed month of Ramadan. Traditionally, Eid al Fitr is celebrated for three days in almost all Muslim countries.  After the Ramadan month of fasting, Muslims celebrate Eid al Fitr with feasts and family visits. The start of the holiday is traditionally based on sightings of the new moon, which vary according to geographic location.

So, Saturday was a busy day for restaurants!  We went with friends to get what they promised would be "the best burger in Ghana" and forgot about the crowds that would be out and about.  It was actually a really good burger, but watching the crowds was the highlight!  Everyone was dressed in special made clothing for the celebration and boy were they feasting!  Every table was laden with anything and everything from the menu, all being shared amongst friends and family.  It was a sight to behold.  I wanted to take so many pictures but restrained myself to just a few, as I know this is a very special day for them. These sweet ladies wanted us to take their picture!!  

 

HEAD PORTERS

There are female head porters popularly known as “Kayayei” in Ghana. "Kaya" is a word meaning goods and “yoo" is a "Ga" word (language spoken by natives of Accra) meaning woman, thus "yei" being women.

"Carrying on the head" is common in many parts of the developing world, as only a simple length of cloth shaped into a ring or ball is needed to carry loads approaching the person's own weight. 

In Ghana, affluent residents of the southern cities employ young women who migrate from the poorer northern region, to work for $2 a day. There are about 100,000 female head porters in Ghana with over 70% in Accra, the capital city of Ghana, due to high demand for their services.  Unfortunately, many are subjected to verbal abuse, sexual harassment, and discrimination. The difficult nature of their work and the maltreatment they face contribute to poor mental health outcomes. Studies show a majority suffer from poor physical and mental health including anxiety (94.4%), depression (86.6%) and stress (42.2%).

There is not a time out driving we do not see these incredible women, children and sometimes men, doing everything they can to support themselves.  They wander between stopped traffic, along the center medians and sometimes throughout dangerous moving traffic.  The hot and difficult conditions alone are grueling.  Knowing many are trying to support families makes it heartwrenching.  The amount of weight carried on their heads and necks is unbelievable.  They learn to balance by training from a young age.  We have seen them carrying everything including furniture, propane tanks, lumber, sewing machines (quite common), and much more.

 

    

    

TRADEMARK ISSUES?  NOT IN AFRICA!

We have found some awesome stores over the last couple of months.  It took a while of visiting, investigating, exploring and researching to find the ones that fit our style the best.  We now have a few standard stores that work for us!  However, some of them seem like a distant memory of a few stores in the USA.  I can't imagine why?  Can you identify what these might be likened to? LOL!

A LAUGHABLE MOMENT IN GHANA

After being here for a couple of months, we noticed there was no longer any wiper fluid to clean the windshield, which means there probably wasn't much to begin with since we had hardly used it.  I searched at gas stations as we were filling up and in the automotive sections in stores but had no success finding washer fluid.  One day I happened to pass the fleet manager for our vehicles at the church office buildings.  I asked, "Hey Hanson!  I've noticed we don't have any washer fluid and wondering where I might find that here in Ghana?"  He looked puzzled and said, "For your washing machine?"  I chuckled and said, "No, for your windshield on the car."  He again looked puzzled and said, "You mean water?"  I laughed out loud and about rolled on the ground.  "Really?  Just water?  That is what you use here?"  Hanson laughed and asked me what we use.  I said, "windshield washer fluid!"  He said, "Why?  Water works fine!"  So, Jordan found a hose at our apartment building and filled us up!  Actually works pretty good!  Wouldn't recommend it for colder climates where water freezes, but here we now have a cheap hack!

Much love from Ghana!!!!