Independence Day

By Claire Barry
Today is the 6^th of March, Ghana’s Independence Day. On this day fifty-five years ago, Ghana celebrated the end of colonial rule under Britain. At this time Dr. Kwame Nkrumah became the first prime minister, and later first president, of Ghana. In Independence Square this morning, 900 officers from security agencies and 1200 teachers and pupils from the Greater Accra area, paraded in front of (what I was told by a Ghanaian friend) over 2 million people.

In my mind I pictured a parade like we have back in the U.S. where people stand on the sidewalks and the parade moves down the road. I was imagining lots of traffic and not being able to navigate the crowd because of how large it would be. For this reason, I decided not to take my camera, which I regret now because my imagination was a little off.

There were stands full of people surrounding Independence Square which appeared more like a giant arena of sorts. In the arena area the parade took place. We watched from the stands as the different agencies and schools marched in formation around the square. In front of us stood two women who started jumping up and down, getting very excited, while the military officers that were near us remained calm and did not even glance their way. We still aren’t really sure why they reacted the way they did to the groups marching, but we think it may have had something to do with the way that the formation turned the corner to continue marching.

I forgot to mention, all of the navigating to get there and suggestions about where to go, came from one of my friend’s (Amy’s) host brother Junior, and his friend Ken. We followed them around for the day, enjoying their company, and advice about where to go and what to do.

After we saw the parade in Independence Square we started to walk towards the Art Market, which I had not been to, but got stopped because Junior recognized the Brass Band playing in the park across the street. We stood and listened to them play for a while (it reminded me some of New Orleans) and then a man told us he wanted to take our picture. Odd? Very. Then he wanted to make sure that we mixed up our colors so that not all of us white girls were standing together and he also handed his baby over to one of my friends. Afterwards he told us that he would take us to the beach if we liked because he has happy to have a picture. Junior and Ken were good with the idea but we were all starting to get hungry so decided to wait to see.

At the Art Market I ended up doing more purchasing, of course. But my bargaining has definitely gotten better. Today I got a pair of sunglasses for four cedi instead of five (but he originally wanted nine). It doesn’t seem like much now that I’ve written it out but it was at the time!

We ate some lunch and then decided to head back home. At the last minute Nikki remembered she had a few things to get at the Makola Market so I went with her and we tried to remember how to get around. Eventually we got tired of getting heckled by the people selling things and decided to head home to what I will consider the worst trotro ride yet.

First things first, the mate decided to ask Nikki for her phone number (this turned out to be the first of four men this day that asked her). Ok, no big deal. Then the man next to her kept sliding over as if he couldn’t sit straight. The woman sitting next to me also thought it was strange and we were trying to figure out what was going on. But what comes next makes it worse...I realized we were crawling down the highway, literally. We were going maybe 5mph. We pulled over at a tire place. A tire place consists of a pile of tires on the side of the road where someone has a pump too. This didn’t really fix the problem but we continued inching along. I’ve always wondered what would happen if I was sick on the trotro well I don’t want to find out. Just being on the trotro with someone who was sick was enough for me. Nikki and I were relieved when we could get off and then had to decompress for a few minutes before heading home.

However, all in all the day was a success. I’ve decided to make another post soon about the things that can instantly change my day, make me happier, and add comfort to being here because those are the things that make trotro rides, like this most recent one, just a small part of a bigger moment.

"This day continues to be a constant reminder that with determination and hard work, there is nothing we cannot achieve as a people united in pursuit of a common purpose."

- President Mills' Independence Day Speech, March 6, 2012

( Reposted from http://www.ghanainspireclaire.blogspot.com/)