Kayleen Travels

I heard this phrase a lot in West Africa, especially from a Senegalese man named Karumba, whom Mel and I met at the Senegalese Embassy in The Gambia. Karumba was very kind to us, going out of his way to help Mel and I get our tourist visas for Senegal. After every nice thing he did, he would exclaim, "It is nice to be nice!" What Karumba meant by this was that his kindness towards us had no other motive, except that it was good. He wasn't being nice for us to do something for him in return, or for us to pay him, or for us to shower him with praises. He wasn't trying to get our phone numbers or take us out. He was simply being "nice to be nice." This concept has become very precious to me. Traveling in a foreign land, I rely a lot on the kindness of both strangers and friends. It is not something I take for granted. I cherish it. I honor it. I discussed this back in October also: http://kay-travel-africa.blogspot.com/2013/10/i-am-constantly-floored-by-kindnes...

Many homes in Ghana do not have running water. Families must fetch water from community water tanks. These buckets of water are used for washing clothes, bathing, cleaning, dishes, and flushing the toilet. Since fetching water is such a strenuous chore, Ghana has made me a pro at conserving water.  Side note: where I reside in Cape Coast I am lucky to have running water 60% of the time.  Here is a community water tank in Ejisu. It cost my friend and I 40 pesewas (less than 20 cents) to fill three buckets. The woman in the picture here is filling her bucket at one of the higher faucets, for when she is finished she will carry it on her head.  Here I am, making it look easy.  But it's not easy! I am glad I don't have to this all the time. Respect to those throughout the world who do. 

Kente weaving is an Ashanti craft that dates back thousands of years.  But it is more than just a craft, and it is more than just a cloth. It is a visual representation of Ashanti history, philosophy, and values. It is considered quite prestigious, traditionally reserved for royalty or worn on special occasions.  The colors and patterns of kente cloth all have symbolic significance.  There are over 300 different designs based on color combinations and weave patterns. The Golden Stool pattern , which I am modeling in the picture below, is the most popular design. The Golden Stool is the symbol of the Ashanti people and is central to their culture.  I bought two strips of kente when I visited Kpando (Volta region) in January. Below is a picture of me with Godsway, the weaver I bought my strips from. 

Kajetia (Kumasi, Ghana)

Here's a little history lesson- The Ashanti (Asante) people are a major people group in Ghana, and before Europe's colonization of the African continent they were one of the most powerful empires in West Africa.  Asantehene (King) Prempeh I was captured and exiled to the Seychelles islands by the British in 1896. Then in the year 1900, Frederick Hodgson (British governor) threatened to continue Prempeh I's exile unless the Ashanti people gave up the Golden Stool.  The Golden Stool, or Sika 'dwa, is considered sacred to the Ashanti people and is central to their culture and traditions. It represents Ashanti power and independence.  Hodgson demanded to sit on the Golden Stool to show British power over the Ashanti.  Thus Nana Yaa Asantewaa, Queen Mother and Gatekeeper of the Golden Stool, led a rebellion against the British. She was captured by the British and exiled along with Prempeh I. Though she  remained in exile until her death, her courage in...

I left for Kumasi on the morning of Valentine's Day. While couples everywhere were doing the Hallmark thing, I had a date with my love, travel.  I made it to  Kumasi after a 4-5 hour trip. I then spent an hour waiting in Kajetia, the largest car park in West Africa. Side note- traffic was insane, it's like an African New York City! I stayed in Ejisu, which is where Yaa Asantewaa is from! I learned about Yaa Asantewaa in college, so I was especially excited about this. A statue of Yaa Asantewaa to honor her.  On Saturday I visited Bonwire, a kente weaving village.  Here you can see the looms used to weave the kente strips. Very intricate handiwork. Here I am wearing a kente strip with the Golden Stool pattern. The Golden Stool is considered sacred. It is the symbol of the Ashanti empire. I spent the rest of my trip in Onwe, hanging out with the neighborhood children and listening to Ghanaian men drin...

Instead of shampoo, I have been washing my hair with either baking soda (diluted with water) or raw honey. For conditioner, I have been using diluted apple cider vinegar. Why? Commercial hair care products strip your hair of its natural oils, causing overcompensation in oil production. These shampoo/conditioner alternatives cleanse and condition your hair without stripping it, so over time your hair should start producing oil at a slower rate. This means that instead of washing your hair daily or every other day, you only need wash it weekly. Learn more here: http://www.love-yourself-naturally.com/2013/04/welcome-to-no-poo-hair-care/ This appealed to me as I knew there would be many times throughout my trip when I wouldn't have access to running water. Washing my hair multiple times a week out of a bucket would be a pain. So I began using these alternatives in August, hoping to train my hair by September. (Within the first month I switched over to raw honey, for...

and I have been here for over three months now.  Here are some aspects about life in Ghana that no longer phase me: Seeing people carry things on their heads. Seeing mothers carry their babies on their backs.  Drinking water out of plastic bags (which we call sachets ).   The electricity periodically shutting off. The water occasionally not running. Bathing out of a bucket more often than not. Cold showers.  Washing my clothes by hand.  Throwing used toilet paper in a trash can instead of flushing it down the toilet.  Hearing people around me speak in Twi or Fante. And b eing quizzed on my Twi or Fante language skills on a regular basis (often by complete strangers).  Putting canned milk or powdered milk in my coffee.  Yellow/green oranges, green lemons, and yellow limes.  Covering my food with another plate when I am not eating to keep away flies, ants, and other undesireable things.  Sharing a kitchen with almost twenty other people....

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/07/world/africa/africa-is-not-a-country-campaign/index.html?sr=fb020714africanotacountry2p Someone shared this with me because of its similarities to the mission of the cultural center I have been working with in Ghana. 

Here are some interesting articles on the origins of some racial terms. The first article is about a commonly used racial identifier and its racist background. The second article is about a derogatory racial slur and its wholesome, Egyptian roots.  http://raaw.wordpress.com/2007/10/15/caucasian/ "Caucasian is a Dirty Word"  Learn about the incredibly racist history of this term.  http://www.raceandhistory.com/cgi-bin/forum/webbbs_config.pl?md=read;id=127 "The Original Meaning of the 'N' Word" Did you know that n-g-r is an Ancient Egyptian word meaning God?

where I pretend to know more Twi than I really do, and have conversations in Twi with strangers that I do not fully understand.  It's all about body language and context. 

A couple snapshots from this weekend.  Fresh coconut on the beach.  The house we rented for the weekend.  Saturday morning fishing.  Kokrobite beach. 

While in Ghana I have learned to be ready for things to start on time, but prepared for things to be hours late.  For instance, a Christmas program at UCC was meant to start at 6:30pm. I was an hour late and the event had not started yet.  When I was in Asiakwa (Eastern region) the program our group put on for the children was supposed to start at 5:00pm and go until 8:00pm. We started at 7:00pm. The next morning we were to have church at 7:00am and leave promptly at 8:00am. No one was ready until past 8:00am and we left after 10:00am.  And every morning in my day-to-day life in Cape Coast, I am always ready to leave for Bronyibima (where I have been helping at the school) at 7:30am, though some mornings we don't leave until past 8:00am.  This may be why I have become a more flexible and patient person. I am constantly exercising those virtues here, to the point where it is natural. In the U.S. we can get so crazy when things don't start on time or when things go lat...