Kumasi Market
Kumasi, Ghana 2001
I left the group of tourists. I couldn’t waste my valuable photo time waiting for others to choose between colorful lengths of Kente Cloth. I bought some…I’d never heard of it before, but if the others wanted it, it must be good. It turned out to be one of my better purchases.
Then I arranged a meeting place and time and went off on my own.
The people of Africa live their lives outdoors. They drag tools and implements from their homes into their yards. This way they can work under a shade tree. They can chat with their neighbors or passers-by. They can learn the news.
Kumasi is a big city, but the people still live their lives outdoors. This young woman sits on the side of a street. She is selling kola nuts among other things. Kola…sounds like cola and I’ve read that it is one of the ingredients in Coca Cola. Africans chew the nuts for the caffeine and because they deaden hunger pangs. I’ve been told they don’t taste all that good.
Kola nuts were often brought as a gift to a respected person. See Chinua Achebe’s book, “Things Fall Down”.
This young woman has her hands full but she is managing. Her produce is arranged and looks inviting. Her babies look healthy and well dressed, as does she. She proudly turned their little faces toward my camera. Both of us were pleased.