We’ve all received those emails; someone with the same name as ours has died and left cash unclaimed. We can get their money if we just send some money first or send our bank details. And then there are the emails from a friend who is traveling and in desperate need of cash. And of course, Raquel, Marie, Angelique who…

Poverty in Ghana is rife. The average annual income is about US$780 dollars. Begging is illegal but quite prevalent in Accra. Many of the beggars are disabled, perhaps crippled by polio or blinded by diabetes. Many travel from far away villages to seek their fortune in Accra, and find themselves driven to the streets by circumstances. This may sound unfeeling…

We stepped out of the grocery and headed for the entrance of the mall. As we approached the outdoors, my daughter asked, “Mommy, is it raining?” It was not raining, but her question was well-founded. The sky was shrouded in what looked like a sheet of steady rain. “No, honey,” I replied, “it’s Saharan dust from the Harmattan.”

Money is on the tip of the tongues of many in Ghana; just not in their hands. But this article is not about poverty, instead it is about currency.

This is a difficult thing for me to say out loud for various reasons, but it is true. We West Indians are lucky to live on the western side of the Atlantic ocean. I don’t intend to offend. Our life in Accra, Ghana is comfortable. We have the conveniences of modern living with some inconveniences thrown in, but life is…

In the Ashanti kingdom a newly elected king, the Asantehene is required to change his name and adopt a “stool name” (the King’s seat of honour is a stool not a throne). The reason behind this practice is simple. The king has a past. He was once a “small boy”. This boy grew up, went to school, had friends, made…

I hear it is a beautiful place: a crater lake and Ghana’s largest natural lake. We managed to glimpse Lake Bosumtwi in between the trees as we wandered around the back roads of the Ashanti Region. It was an uncomfortable yet enjoyable drive through the bush. At one point we were driving on a track in the middle of a…

Click here if you missed Part One We walked into the room, about twenty of us, chattering and laughing. Our guide shepherded us into the stone walled room and, when we were all inside, he slammed the door shut. The room was immediately pitch dark except for a single slim stream of light from a crack high up in the…

Ghana is located in West Africa. Its southernmost coast borders the Atlantic Ocean. It comforting to me, having spent much of my life a stone’s throw from the ocean, to know that the Atlantic is so near. This was not always a source of comfort, however.

Yesterday afternoon I passed by a store on the roadside selling bunches of coloured straw. I needed one to put in a vase. I parked the car out of sight, put 2 cedis (US$1.30) in my pocket and walked to the stand. I picked up one of the bundles and looked it over critically. “Good morning, madam, you are welcome.”…