Makola

Yesterday it rained all morning. I decided to invest in an umbrella, and haggled one from the umbrella lady on the street to 5 Cedis from 15. After that, the rain couldn´t even handle me anymore and the sun came out. At the office, I´ve been working a lot on editing and drafting different press releases and publications that the CHRAJ sends out. I really enjoy it, and have also been working on writing some articles for a McGill online newspaper when I have the time. I´m hoping to write one of the articles on slum politics, and have been talking to one of the guys I´m living with at Rosa´s compound who is doing research on it. I think this weekend or early next week he´s taking me to Old Fadama, which is Ghana´s biggest slum. 


Today the CHRAJ staff stood in line to complete their biometric registration . Ghana started the exercise back in March and intends it to more easily facilitate the upcoming elections is December. Many Ghanaians see it as a very positive step, but there have been some concerns about the exercise being a tool of the government to manipulate citizens. Most of my coworkers laud it or have no opinion. After she got back, Evelyn took me to the Makola Market. 


I´m pretty sure Makola Market is the biggest market ever. 10 minutes after I thought we had already entered the market, Evelyn told me that we had gotten there and asked me how I liked it. Vendors line the streets and narrow sidewalks leading up to the market for several blocks, and once you enter the vacuum of buying and haggling and selling they double and triple. Piles of shoes and dried fish lie encircled by small children carrying heavy metal tubs and bowls of water and fruit on their heads. I was lost and overwhelmed and kept a steady eye on Evelyn´s back so I wouldn´t lose her. 


I really wished I had brought my camera, but it turns out that it´s not permitted to take pictures of the market anyways. Google still has lots of them:

After getting a nice farmer´s tan from two hours in the sun, I followed Evelyn back to the office and we had some watermelon. Maybe I´ll go back this weekend.