No Entry for Ghanaian Mosquitoes!

As the month of June slowly draws to a close, I think it's a safe point to express profound gratitude for ADP blog as it certainly has not been regular, due to many work pressures that have kept me away from my desk, even at lunchtimes!

July will come with a greater degree of levity work-wise as I would have acccomplished a number of tasks very necessary for, well let's just say, my peace of mind!:-)

In the meantime, I leave you for the weekend with this picture of a mosquitoe-proof net--a sight which graces many, many Ghanaian homes. At this very rainy season, which is likely to end end-August, our night foes come with more acute bites;-)

I am sure you can imagine, I will be doing a lot of this during this quintessentially pluvial season!

"Onyame Bekyre" Market Stall on Accra's Spintex Road

As I was going to work this morning, I was confronted by the sight of two bulldozers -- one on either side of the Spintex road -- doing the necessary grading of the road to expand it to the four-lane the new NDC government promised us.

Almost seven months into the government, this is an exemplification--if ever--of delivering on a long-held promise the outgone government failed to work on.

As Ghanaians keep their fingers crossed for the work to continue apace (and, frankly, where it's at, it would be ignoniminous to stop!), it might be a good idea to remember our market men and women who have stalls all along the said-road. Their livelihoods might just come at the expense of "development"--read: "a reduction in traffic for already-too many cars on the road".

This stall (pictured) is but one of many. Tomatoes are not the only food the market woman lady is selling, though the picture might belie this fact.

I'm all for development, but as they say in this part of the world (and as per the inscription of the market stall), Onyame Bekyre, or God will show the way!

Sights...and Smells of a Tro-Tro

You would not be in Ghana if you were not to see these commercial vehicles that litter the capital and beyond with yellow license plates.

Some of them are more sophisticated inside than this rudimentary one, and sometimes you'll be the worse for wear if you don't sit strategically, where that means you get stuck between a trader/itinerant vendor, or someone who had his bath aeons ago! Given it's the cheapest form of transport, small wonder you get all sorts!

Whatever vehicle you're in this weekend, ensure you either drive safely, or the driver does!

Busy busy, on the Spintex Road (I)

I like this picture because I think it represents the increasingly busy nature of parts of the Spintex Road.

Take the Chinese Restaurant--"Sweet Roses"--that I have referred to before here: http://accradailyphoto.blogspot.com/2009/03/when-commercial-enterprises-in-ghana.html. It is located just a stone's throw away from that hotel in the picture. I took this picture from the front of a pharmacy.

The man walking in my direction was going to the pharmacy.

Now these apparently-mundane activities to me highlight one thing--how "convenience" is becoming a catch-word for Ghanaians, and how the famed Spintex Road has created what I would call "clusters of convenience" for those who ply the road. That there is a bank--just metres away from all this business--can only testify to how entrenched the clusters of convenience are becoming more apparent on this road.

Ghanaian Pedestrians: Red, Stop,...Go!

I had to go to work a little later than usual yesterday as I had duties to the nation to fulfil. The magnitude of the work at hand did not prevent me from taking the time to catch a photo of this pedestrian "meter", located at the Tetteh-Quarshie Interchange.

Before you ask, it does work;-) I do need an answer, though--what do you call what I called the pedestrian "meter"?

Just in Case You Missed Obama...

...he was all over the news this morning when in an afternoon at the University of Cairo, he read his yet-another eloquent speech, in which he said:

Just as Muslims do not fit a crude stereotype, America is not the crude stereotype of a self-interested empire. The United States has been one of the greatest sources of progress that the world has ever known. We were born out of revolution against an empire.

We were founded upon the ideal that all are created equal. And we have shed blood and struggled for centuries to give meaning to those words, within our borders and around the world.

We are shaped by every culture. Drawn from every end of the Earth, and dedicated to a simple concept, E pluribus unum: Out of many, one.

Now much has been made of the fact that an African-American with the name Barack Hussein Obama could be elected president.

(APPLAUSE)

But my personal story is not so unique. The dream of opportunity for all people has not come true for everyone in America, but its promise exists for all who come to our shores. And that includes nearly 7 million American Muslims in our country today who, by the way, enjoy incomes and educational levels that are higher than the American average.

But if you really missed him, don't worry, he will be in Sub-Saharan Africa--specifically Ghana in July for two days!

The nation awaits with baited breath...

Snapshot of Wares at Madina Market

I've covered Madina before; it's in the outskirts of Accra, and plays host to an equally-vibrant market as in the centre of Accra.

This is a snapshot of that market some two weeks back.

Can you see the handbags, and the fruit? All common wares sold here!

Roll up, roll up!