ACCRA, TAMALE AND SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN
We wake up early. The birds are out, someone is sweeping their porch, voices and noises get louder and the sun is steadily rising. We eat breakfast, take our bath and get dressed. There’s no fixed plan yet but there are few things to be done.
We step outside, walk to the street to pick the Tro-Tro in Accra and the Yellow-Yellow in Tamale which will take us where we need to go.
During the day we talk, joke, laugh, negotiate and return to serious. We walk, sit down on a wooden bench or a plastic chair and wait. I listen to Hausa, Twi, Dagbani, bring out the few words I know, before we all switch to English or someone is called to translate.
When the sun is at its highest, we seek the shade, take something to eat and think about what is left to do before we continue our day.
We see familiar faces, greet, stop, talk for a while. We meet new faces, we ask for a seat, take our time, a number is saved, a name misspelled, a place remembered and a chance is born to eventually meet again.
The glaring sun dims its light. The heat loosens its grip, our sweat dries. We quickly pass the market buy kontumire, tomatoes, pepper. Although we’ve been gone for some time, we are their regular customers, we ask for Gara and get a few tomatoes extra.
With the black rubber bags in our hands we follow the shouting for our direction back, find our way in between people, we squeeze inside the Tro-Tro, the Yellow-Yellow. „Driver, bus stop.“ Carried away in our thoughts we nearly missed our junction. We leave our tight seats, step onto the quiet street and walk the rest to what we call home for the time being -
Accra, Tamale or somewhere in between.
We cook, eat, take our bath and lie on the bed the fan’s blades rapidly cutting through the air. The night has already long set, our legs and feet vibrate from walking in the heat. We talk about the day, about what we saw, what we heard and what is there for us tomorrow. At some point our eyes get heavy, our words slow down, until there’s nothing but the slurring sound of the fan blowing lightly onto our sleeping bodies.
Accra
capital city of Ghana
Tamale
after Accra and Kumasi the 3rd largest city located in the Northern Region in Ghana
Tro-Tro
main public transport used in Accra and other big cities
Yellow-Yellow
main public transport especially in Tamale
Dagbani
apart from English one of the main languages spoken in Tamale
Twi/ Hausa
Two languages among many others spoken across the country
Kontumire
big green leaves which is cut in small pieces for stew
Gara
(Hausa “add up”), Asking for a little extra to what you’ve bought at the market
“Accra, Tamale and somewhere in between” is a collection of photographs and text showing daily encounters in Accra, Tamale and somewhere in-between Ghana. The "we" in the text refers to Fibi Afloe, a Ghanaian documentary photographer and dear friend. (2022-2024)