A few pix of life in Accra

Here's an advertisement for a local faith healer near our home .

I'm thinking of stopping in to visit her to see what it's all about, except I don't have any of the particular concerns listed on the sign. Although "all other types of sickness and worries" does leave a lot of leeway for personal issues, I suppose!

Here's a newspaper stand at Circle. Dozens of newspapers are published in Accra.

You don't buy newspapers here in stores or in newspaper boxes as you would in Canada. Instead, you buy them from street stands like this one, or from hawkers on boulevards and streetsides.

Most newspapers here sell for 4,000 or 5,000 cedis -- about 50 or 60 cents Canadian. I have no idea how so many newspapers stay afloat in a market where literacy rates hover at around 60 per cent and a third of the population lives on less than a dollar a day. Although some of the papers are clearly vanity projects or mouthpieces for particular political parties or ideologies, so I wouldn't expect them to be profitable.

Most Ghanaians I know have a local tailor custom-make their clothing instead of buying it at a store. I've taken to doing the same thing. It's great to have clothing made specially to fit!

Here's my tailor, Charity, with her sewing machine, in the converted semi-trailer which serves as her workshop and store:



Here's the first outfit she made for me. It's a real Ghanaian-style top-and-skirt set, with lining, made out of waxprint fabric I bought in Makola market. Altogether, with the fabric plus paying Charity, it cost about $20 Canadian.



Charity's since made me another outfit in a similar style in a black-on-black waxprint, and two sundresses which I suppose you'll have to wait until next summer to see!

Well, she's made three sundresses in total, but on one of them the sizing was quite off, so she told me to keep it and made me another one for free. So I have a spare size-large sundress to bring home ... if there's anyone who wants to match me next summer!