There is no lack of cuteness in this country let me tell you. The children are many and for the most part they are thrilled to see us. When we arrive in a community they gather fairly quickly and will happily sit and watch us for the hour or so that we are there. The kids in my neighbourhood are still just as excited to see us drive up even after four months of seeing us almost everyday. They still yell "Saliminga hello!!!" usually with their little hand near their ear like they are holding a telephone. I'm not exactly sure why or how they learned that but in Tamale it is pretty consistent when they greet us.
To add to their adorableness many of the little girls have on the cutest jewelry. Earrings are usually done very early, like in the first two weeks after they are born. They also wear little beaded necklaces or simple strings with leather pendants. There are also baby size bracelets of all kinds sold everywhere. Then there are the waist beads, worn for protection against negative energy or sickness. Ghana is often considered the bead production capital of the world so why not dress up for everyday occasions.
(see her bangles, earrings, leather pendant and sparkly sandals and although you cannot quite see it she is wearing her little earrings backwards probably so the back doesn't poke her)
(beaded necklace with what seems like the Adinkra symbol for "except for God" although it seems to be missing part of it)
(leather pendant here, accompanied by a lovely beaded bracelet)
(many pretty leather pendants here and with the traditional cloth dress could she be any cuter? Nope, I don't think so. Oh and the hair! The HAIR!!!)
Another great thing about these lovely little people is that it seems that as soon as you are stable enough to carry anything it becomes part of your responsibility to take care of those smaller than you. Children carry children and care for them like they were theirs. Both girls and boys do this. Since, often times, they are out playing while their parent's are working in the field or washing clothes or doing any other of the many tasks they must do to live here the kids are often on their own and so, need to take care of each other. When one falls or cries the older kids pick them up and wipe their tears. For the many many helicopter parents of the western world this would be mortifying. What!?!, kids playing on their own without a parent yelling at them all the time to keep clean, watch out for the rocks, don't use your imagination?
(little people taking care of other little people)
(mom is not the only one that can carry the little one on her back)
Ok now that I have bombarded you with absolute delightfulness lets move on to a more serious topic. These children are happy. They play and their parents love them but many do not have enough food to eat or the food they eat does not give them the nutrition they need. We are all familiar with the images of little African children, who oddly enough never come from a specific country on the continent but are just labeled as African, on television with flies on their faces and dirt all over. This does exist and it is a major issue. Many of the meals a lot of the children of Northern Ghana eat do not have the vitamins and protein they need. They are basically staple foods that fill the belly so that you do not feel hungry. Malnutrition is a real problem for children and adults of this country. BUT, it is not the only picture. There is hope. You can see this by all the smiling faces and piercing eyes in these photos.
(the second boy from the left shows clear signs of malnutrition since his belly button has pushed out completely)
Parents do the best they can with what they have but when you think that Ghana produces electricity for surrounding countries (and yet has trouble supplying it's own people), it produces cocoa for most of the world and has gold and natural gas flowing abundantly you wonder why it isn't easier. Most people in the North of the country are very poor and the money and power seem to be concentrated in the South but I digress. Lets get back to malnutrition. A sign that I did not know about was the discolouration of hair. It turns the hair a copper colour and it is much more brittle than normal.
(a lesser known sign of malnutrition)
A word on education as well, in Ghana, public primary school is free. This does not, however, include the uniform and the books and pencils and paper they need for the classroom. High school is not free and costs approximately 100 GHC per year so approximately 50$ CAD. Not that much right? Well, it is, in fact, quite a lot of money for these families. Many organizations concentrate on the building or painting of schools and, although having the infrastructure is vital, pretty coloured buildings does not guarantee education. I'm not sure what the solution is. It is layered and complicated but it is certainly food for thought. How can the system concentrate on both aspects while prioritizing actual education for its people? Is infrastructure the beginning and foundation of development or is it the bonus that comes with an educated, healthy people? Is it realistic to think that work can be done on all of it at the same time? If not, what takes the back seat and who suffers because of that? Back to smily faces...
(how do you not fall in love with this)
The children in these photos are pretty happy to see us but this is not the case for all children. Some are genuinely scared maybe because they are shy and don't like strangers in general or maybe because we seem so strange to them. Their first time seeing a white person might be a little traumatizing. I was even told that some parents tell their children (or did back in the day I don't know how common this is now) that if they did not behave that white people would come and take them away. Now, please do not be offended by this since both times that I was told this story it was told with jest in the person's voice and seemed to be something that was done a long time ago. Regardless, I can understand how seeing a white person for the first time when you are a little kid can be a little destabilizing.
(little boy in traditional smock sitting and listening attentively during a focus group discussion - oh the little hands and ears and curls)
The other day I was walking to a friend's house and there was a young boy and his mom ahead of me. When the little boy spotted me he immediately clung to his mother's legs. She picked him up as I was approaching. I said hello, because everyone says hello to everyone all the time here in Ghana, and waved to the little boy. His mother asked him in english why he was scared and I saw an opportunity to take away some of that fear so I stopped walking and went up to the pair. I put my hand out to him to shake his hand. He reluctantly did the same but when we touched he jumped and pulled back hiding his face in his mom's neck. After a few moments he looked up again and I tried again this time just putting my hand out without showing a sign of taking his hand for a hand shake. He crept up and touched my hand again as I said "you see it is the same just a different colour". It more or less worked and his mother seemed pleased. I walked away hearing the mom saying to her son "you don't have to be scared". Sweet moment but as I think back on it now pretty intense.
(running around and playing)
(making believe that she is cooking joloff rice maybe?)
(sleeping comfortably on mom)
Another interesting cultural practice that took me a long time to figure out is the eyeliner wearing babies. At first, I thought it was a sign of some kind of nutritional deficiency or even disease but it isn't. Women and babies and even men wear black eyeliner around their eyes as a sign of beauty. It is also believed, it seems, that this liner will protect the eyes from dust and other things that could get into the eyes. Although I'm not sure about the protection part of this habit it certainly is pretty darling.
(these eyes)
After a long day at work it is always a joy to see smiling faces and hear the laughter of all of these little people who run and play and, for now, don't seem to have a care in the world. For my part, forgetting that there are so many challenges to face does not quite disappear but its hard not to have hope when they are around.
Thank you. Inspiring and thought provoking.
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