Adinkra printing

I'm exhausted from a long but exciting day in Kumasi.  Even though Kumasi is supposedly smaller than Accra, it seems much busier (probably has to do with the hours we spent stuck in traffic) and incredibly hectic.  Early this morning we drove to a nearby village that specializes in printing the Adinkra symbols of Western Africa.  The Adinkra ink is made by boiling Badie tree bark for a couple of days.  We each took turns printing some of the symbols on the traditional "kente" cloths.  I spent such a long time pouring through all of the symbols, and probably would have stayed longer but I didn't want to drive my group crazy, before deciding on:

-Ntesie-matemasie - "I have heard and kept it" A symbol of wisdom and knowledge. 

-Odo nyera fie kwan - "Love does not get lost on its way home" A symbol of love and devotion.

-Sunsum - "The soul"

Kumasi this weekend!

On Thursday my group is leaving early in the morning to head to Kumasi, the country's second largest city located in the center of Ghana.  I'm very excited because, as Mercy (our Ghanaian group leader) recently informed us, the largest market in Western Africa is in Kumasi!  Kumasi is considered to be the modern capital of the Ashanti people, one of Ghana's prominent tribal groups.  While we're in Kumasi we're going to a market, a local elementary school, a small neighboring town where the traditional "kente" cloth is woven, and a butterfly sanctuary.  I took a ton of pictures on my trip to Cape Coast but my camera card mysteriously fried midway through the trip and I lost over 200 photos :( Hopefully the new one my mom sent me will get here before we leave for Kumasi!

The image below is an example of an Adinkra symbol (also produced in Kumasi) that represent different Ghanaian proverbs.  There are over 50 symbols, each with its own meaning.  This one is the "Aya" or fern and it represents endurance and resourcefulness because the fern can grow in difficult places.

Elmina and Cape Coast Castle

A week and a half ago, my group took its first trip out of Accra to Cape Coast and Elmina.  Cape Coast and Elmina, which are about a 3 hour drive to the west of Accra, are home to Elmina Castle and Cape Coast Castle, two of the oldest buildings remnant of European colonialism in Ghana.  Cape Coast Castle was one of the largest slave-holding sites in the world from the colonial era.  Thousands of Ghanaians were forced into cramped dark dungeons as they waited to board merchant ships that would take them to Europe and the Americas as slaves.

Viewing the castles from the outside, you can't help but acknowledge their architectural beauty.  However, upon entering the castles walls and walking through its incredibly small dungeons, these castles became two of the more horrible and sobering places I've ever been.  One room in particular, near the castle's exit to the sea, bears the name "the door of no return," where slaves were lined up in chains before they boarded ships to the Americas, never to return home to Africa.

Madina Market