Drs. Raphael, Jay, and Christina at the prestige Accra chiro cinic
Every morning when I wake up, the first thing that I hear are the sounds of the sweeping of concrete. By taking very small, yet mighty palm branches and bundling them together with duct tape the locals have a very efficient and cost efficient mini broom. It matters not where the family domicile is or what the surroundings are, there are always dirt particles that settle within the city by the time the sun rises.
The pride and happiness that these people have is not reflected in what they own or where they live; instead it’s in how they live. The family I live next to is by no means rich by Western/American standards, however they have a nice large house with a large, red/orange grass-free, yard. In short they are well off, and by my inspection healthy. In contrast to the rusty tin roofed houses and shops that we drive past in the morning that are littered with discarded shoes, next to a feces filled stream, have open drain gutters and a constant flow of unfiltered diesel exhaust being pumped in from the bumper-to-bumper morning traffic. It should be mentioned here that many of the highways have large chunks of pavement missing, the 2 by 20 foot variety that are unavoidable, which further ads to the morning gridlock and the carcinogenic airspace disaster.
A very neatly painted and well maintained Ghana shop on the highway
Many of these small ‘shacks’ are wooden and painted in resemblance of the country flag; familiar red, yellow and green stripes with a little black star placed perfectly in the middle, and most if not all are adorned with phrases like ‘I love Ghana’. To me the greatest part about both dwellings is that they abide by the same principles: take pride in what little, or great amounts God has given you.
Typical workweek smog hour drive home in Accra
Thus first thing people in ghana do in the morning is to sweep the previous days rubbish and dirt from their paths and prepare to put the best foot forward. It’s just proper in their culture. Perhaps a good rule of thumb to live life by is that ‘rubbish does pile up in our personal lives, and ultimately it’s up to us to take the time and have the pride to start fresh and clean mentally each and every day.’ Everyday I have a new and humbling experience with the locals and am most curious as to what my first weekend will bring.
Posted to journeytosolidarity.org by Jay Breitlow
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