Don’t Be An Idiot And Only Share Toxic Images From Africa

Do You Love Sharing Disturbing Images From Africa?

Well, do you? One image from Africa that I’m tired of seeing is starving children. So many writers and bloggers always focus on the poverty in Africa. All you ever see out of Africa is children that don’t have enough energy to wipe the flies from their faces.

Does that exist? Of course. There is poverty everywhere. According to the website No Kid Hungry, over 11 million children in America go without enough food every single day. And this statistic was before the Corona Virus completely invaded our lives.

I am sure if you go into your city, you will see homeless people and/or someone begging for money at a freeway off-ramp or at a stop light. Most countries have some type of homeless and hunger problem.

Ghanian School Children

When I traveled to Ghana, I knew I wanted to capture images that people didn’t normally get to see. It is important that we have visuals that represent some of the beauty that is found on the continent, and what is better than seeing well-groomed and healthy kids being educated?

If you are thinking about traveling to Africa, here are 5 things you need to know.

Ghana, like most African countries, is filled with children in bright uniforms according to the school they attend. In Accra, you will see them all around the city. These children aren’t crying and pathetic. These children are happy, vibrant, and thriving.

You may wonder why all of the girls have their heads shaved. In many African counties, it is a requirement for girls to have their heads shaved when attending public school. Find out why shaved heads are mandatory here.

Beautiful Children All Around You In Africa

Don’t the children look neat? Aren’t the colors vibrant? It’s shameful that we don’t get to see more images like this when we read about Africa. Each country on the continent has so much to offer, and all children Africa are not starving. They are not in need of saving, and they are not all destitute.

Even if the family cannot send their kid to school (families must pay fees to enroll their children in school), most kids are clean and well cared for. They may not have all of the things we as Americans deem necessary for happiness, but most have families that love them, food to eat, and a place to lay their head at night.

Are there children in Africa that are starving? Of course there are. But that is not the only story to be told. Children are starving all over the planet and Africa is no exception. However, when only one narrative is being told, that is dangerous and disingenuous. No one says it better than Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in her TED Talk. She’s magnificent.

If your travels take you to Africa, please do not litter your social media with images of ugliness. It is so easy to find the beauty when you visit Africa, as it is all around you. Take in the understated elegance and the grace you will see around you. Focus on the liveliness and happiness you will see all around you. Share those images. Share the joy.

Can You See The Beauty?

What do you see when you look at these pictures? I was taken by the colors and the elegance of this Ghanian woman. She was getting her money together and taking care of her business (that box on the rock was on top of her head).

There is something so striking about her that she caught my eye when I was driving by in a taxi. Yes, there is dirt. Yes, there is trash. However, those items pale in comparison to the class that exudes from this woman.

When I see her I see an extremely dedicated and hard working woman doing what she needs to do in order to take care of herself. Not many of us could carry a heavy box on our head filled with goods and stand out in the hot sun all day and look this beautiful.

Look beyond the dirt roads and see the true picture of elegance and grace. Don’t get caught up in the aesthetics but focus on the story unfolding in front of you. When you travel to countries that don’t have as much as you are accustomed to seeing, remember that most of the people you see work harder than you ever will and instead of pity, give them honor.

When you travel, do you try and see the beauty behind the poverty?

Massages In Accra, Ghana

Don’t you just love massages? I do and I was pleased to find out there are several places to get great massages in Accra, Ghana. We (my mom and I) made our way to Allure for foot massages. We didn’t have an appointment so we had to wait about 30 minutes which passed very quickly and then we were headed for bliss.

Check out those palm trees! They are all around the city.

The next three pics are of the waiting room, don’t you love the purple?

That is my mom’s therapist, she was very nice and my mother was extremely happy with her massage. We were in the same chairs as you sit in when you get a deluxe pedicure, so we had the massage chairs going while we got our feet and legs rubbed.

They wrapped our feet in hot towels after they had massaged them for a little while. The towels felt great. And you can’t get mad at seeing a big screen TV in front of you (even though it was football, I’m totally not into that sport).

The service was good, the ambiance was lovely and the people were friendly. For just walking in off the street I can’t complain at all about anything. They have a wide array of services such as deep tissue massage, swedish massage, hot stone massage, and reflexology, just to name a few. If you are in Accra and want to be pampered, why not try this place?

Do you like getting your feet rubbed?

Bojo Beach In Accra, Ghana

Bojo Beach

One of the things I loved most about Ghana was the beach. The beaches in Accra were amazing and the water was so clean and warm! These pictures are from Bojo Beach which is about 30 minutes outside of Accra and definitely worth a visit. You have to pay to enter and you can stay all day.

In order to get to the beach you have to cross over a bridge and take a boat. The boat has no motor, a Ghanian man will take you across. Please give him a tip as his job is a strenuous one and it’s very hot in Ghana.

I was in Ghana with my mom, she’s a great traveling companion. We laugh tons and she’s always cracking jokes.

There is a place to get something to eat and drink while you are there but no place to get towels, you need to bring those yourself. Make sure to pack your sunscreen because the sun is extremely strong.

Do you notice how clean the beach is? It’s extremely well kept and it was a pleasure to spend time there. Most people probably don’t think of fabulous beaches when they think of Ghana but the coast of Ghana is filled with lovely beaches. Did you know there were phenomenal beaches in Ghana?

Cleanliness In Ghana

I was riding in a taxi in Ghana when I spotted this woman on the side of the road. I was constantly looking out of the window because there was so much to see while driving on the streets of Accra. What struck me about this picture was the way she is handling the fruit. Can you see what I see?

The images we normally get from Africa are almost always poverty and pictures of people that are not clean. Or at least the appearance that their situation isn’t a hygienic one. But look at how she is cutting that fruit. She has it on a clean surface, there is plastic around her hands so she doesn’t touch the fruit and I noticed when she bit into the fruit she then took that plastic bag off of her hand and got a new one then started cutting again.

It’s a very small thing but to me it speaks volumes about her and how she was raised. Even though she is selling food on the side of the road there is nothing shameful about the way she is making her money and certainly there is honor in the way she carries herself. A lady is taught to keep things clean around her and this woman exhibited behaviors that showed she is a true lady.

Can you see the towel underneath the fruit and plastic bags? See how the tray behind her on the right is sitting on a clean bench? Even though there is lots of stuff on this table the fact that everything is clean and she is cutting fruit to be sold in an extremely clean manner is beautiful to me.

It’s so important to see past the poverty when you travel. When you do, you will understand that people all around the world no matter what color they are or what continent they live on, have more in common with you that you think.

What types of things do you notice when you travel?

Things To See In Ghana – Jamestown

Jamestown in Accra, Ghana is one of the poorest sections in the country. You can find out all kind of information about how poor it is and how the people live. In this blog post, however, I want to show you a different side of it.

Yes, there is poverty but the people living in this section of town are elegant, beautiful, and clean. Just because someone lives in poverty doesn’t mean they are anything less than anyone else. This post is filled with pictures and my hope is that you will see the life that’s in them and not focus on the poverty. This is part 1, I’ll post part 2 later.