Trip to Kumasi

So I spent this week/weekend in Kumasi. The middle part of the week was spent in a safety and security meeting that allowed us to make sure that we are ready for any possible problem that might arise in Ghana (not that there has been any). I can honestly say that Peace Corps takes the safety of the volunteers very seriously and makes sure that we know what to due in case of any issue, from floods to crime.



After the meeting, I stayed to do some research on product development for the 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps in Ghana. I had never been to Kumasi and I had heard that there were some really good kraft villages in the area. I decided to use 2 days to explore at least 2 of them.



On Friday, I went to visit a fellow volunteer Kelli at her site. Her primary job assignment is to promote Adinkra printing on fabric. There is a traditional way to do this by using a calabash and a water based dye. It was interesting to see the prints and I did take some pictures that I will post tomorrow.



I was also able to sit in on a meeting with the MPs (Member of Parliments) who serve on the industry and trade committee. The meeting was interesting to watch. The meeting started with 15 minutes of greeting, the people hosting the meeting had to greeting the visitors and then the visitors had to do the same. Everytime a new person came in they had to stop the meeting and greet.



The meeting was nice to see, the MPs told the people of the villagers and members of the TMT (tourism management team) what they do and how they can help the town. They also asked the TMT what the government could do for them. The TMT was then able to stand up and say what they wanted and have their voices heard. I left after an hour of the meeting but it was still going on and the people were getting their voices heard.



On Saturday, my friend Georgette came in a few hours early for her VAC meeting and we went to the brass village. To say it was an experience getting there is putting it mildly.



We left around 11am and did not get there until 2pm. Here is the story. We left with some general directions on where the village was so we were off. We got into a tro and dropped where we were told to and got into a shared taxi. We thought that it might not be right since the price was too low. About 10 minutes into the trip a passenger asked where we were going and when we told him he told us that we were going in the wrong direction. He told us where to get out and how to get the village.



We dropped and grabbed a taxi to the teaching hospital. The taxi was so nice, it had A/C. We got to the hospital and tried to get a tro to the village. No one knew where we were talking about. We showed them the name of the village in the Bradt's guide and they were still clueless. Finally someone tried to help us and got us a tro. Problem was it was going in the wrong direction.

About 30 minutes into the trip on this tro I noticed that we were leaving town and the village was supposed to be in town. I looked in the guide book and found a map and so we got out of the tro and got into a taxi and finally got to the village. Little did we realize that the village is just past Sir Max's restaurant in Kumasi (a favorite pizza place for volunteers).

When we got to the village, I found the guy I was looking for, Paul. Of course he said that I should have called him for directions. So we spent some time looking at the things that the brass casters make and I took some pictures. I also bought some things there. I will post the pictures tomorrow. Getting back was much easier, two tros and we were back at the sub-house.

While I was at these two sites I was able to think of some good ideas of things that might sell during the celebration.