Since arriving in Accra I have been constantly amazed at the strength of the people here, especially the regal women I have seen walking around in Ghana. It is hard not to notice how well every man, woman and child is able to balance huge items on top of their heads. And what is so shocking to me is that it is so normal here and I have yet to see one person drop anything that they have on their head.
I sent a picture to one of my blogger girlfriends (who makes adorable hairpieces for kids) and she said, “Look at how straight the women are standing!” which started me respecting them in a whole other way.
My mother said that when she was young, girls were sent to charm school and one of the first things the teachers did was put a book on top of their heads to make them have perfect posture. As you look at these pictures, notice the perfect posture of these regal women. And remember, these women are poor yet being poor doesn’t define who they are or stop them from being beautiful.
They are poor and regal.
Poor and strong.
Poor and elegant.
Poor and proper.
Too often in the news we only hear,”They are poor.” and the story stops there. However, as you look at these pictures you can see the strength and elegance in the way they carry themselves.
I truly hate the way that Africans are often represented…as starving people with flies on their faces. While I am sure that is true for some, that is not the majority and only telling one side of a very big story is disingenuous.
Do you think you could balance things on your head?
i know i cant; i tried.
but if it was the only way for me to carry items i would have to master it like the folks in these pictures.
lovely.
i’m enjoying your travels.
I just see strong people going about their daily lives. They’re working, doing daily chores or earning money, which is what we also do here in the States. The only difference is that they carry heavy loads (perhaps to my thinking) on their beautiful heads and we use our arms or whatever else we have, which I’m sure they use as well. I really don’t think “oh these poor people” , I just see people working, moving, doing something.
True, but they work so much harder than anyone in the States. And many of the living conditions are rural so they don’t get a break from the heat. Even when we work hard we get into our air conditioned cars and can pull up to a drive thru and eat then go home and watch TV. That is not the life of many of them. The loads they carry are so heavy and I have been amazed on a daily basis at all they are able to do and for so little money.
Hey there!
I don’t think they work harder than we do in the U.S. Perhaps the conditions in which they work are more difficult than what we experience here. Hmph! Not everyone has a car, ma belle. I don’t have a car and lady I can tell you, it’s very hard walking in the snow and freezing temperatures as well as in the heat. You do what you have to do until you can do better. Believe me, I’ve decided to not walk in the blazing heat and in the freezing cold from now on, but my finances right now tell me it’s not the time to buy a car, so get to walking! LOL! The funny thing about it is, I love to walk and consider it a blessing to be able to walk to work instead of needing a car to do everything and go everywhere.
We will have to agree to disagree. I don’t know anyone that has to wash clothes by hand, carry hundreds of pounds on their heads, cook on a wood fire they built and doing all of that with a baby on their back and never getting a real break. I don’t think you can compare your walking to the walking they do, I just don’t think there is any comparison.
No one is disagreeing here. You have your perspective and I have mine. We’re just sharing our perspectives, that’s all. For me, it’s not about who works the hardest, people of the world work very hard in their own way and may have to do that work in favorable or unfavorable, even paltry conditions, sometimes, dangerous. I’m not comparing my walking in my beautiful neighborhood to their walking miles to get water or whatever else they may need. I just want to say that people need to be careful when coming from their air-conditioned lives to areas of a country and assume that everyone has it hard or are destitute. I have met people in different parts of the world who at a glance you would think “have it hard” but in reality they are quite happy due to their bonds in their communities, families, etc. Life, in my opinion, is not just about having it easy. We all have our hardships, whatever those may be. There are people right here in our own backyards, the U.S. who don’t have access to food, shelter, medicine, education and they work, harder than you and me, just to make ends meet. Now that’s hard.
Let’s all discuss, if we have differences of opinions it doesn’t mean we’re disagreeing we’re just coming from different perspectives.
Never said they were destitute, just saying they work very hard in conditions that would make us stabby.
i know i cant; i tried.
but if it was the only way for me to carry items i would have to master it like the folks in these pictures.
lovely.
i’m enjoying your travels.
I was talking to our taxi driver today and he said it’s very easy, that I could do it if I tried. I just laughed…
I just see strong people going about their daily lives. They’re working, doing daily chores or earning money, which is what we also do here in the States. The only difference is that they carry heavy loads (perhaps to my thinking) on their beautiful heads and we use our arms or whatever else we have, which I’m sure they use as well. I really don’t think “oh these poor people” , I just see people working, moving, doing something.
True, but they work so much harder than anyone in the States. And many of the living conditions are rural so they don’t get a break from the heat. Even when we work hard we get into our air conditioned cars and can pull up to a drive thru and eat then go home and watch TV. That is not the life of many of them. The loads they carry are so heavy and I have been amazed on a daily basis at all they are able to do and for so little money.
Thanks so much for commenting!
Hey there!
I don’t think they work harder than we do in the U.S. Perhaps the conditions in which they work are more difficult than what we experience here. Hmph! Not everyone has a car, ma belle. I don’t have a car and lady I can tell you, it’s very hard walking in the snow and freezing temperatures as well as in the heat. You do what you have to do until you can do better. Believe me, I’ve decided to not walk in the blazing heat and in the freezing cold from now on, but my finances right now tell me it’s not the time to buy a car, so get to walking! LOL! The funny thing about it is, I love to walk and consider it a blessing to be able to walk to work instead of needing a car to do everything and go everywhere.
Keep up the great work!
Bises
Thanks for commenting!
We will have to agree to disagree. I don’t know anyone that has to wash clothes by hand, carry hundreds of pounds on their heads, cook on a wood fire they built and doing all of that with a baby on their back and never getting a real break. I don’t think you can compare your walking to the walking they do, I just don’t think there is any comparison.
No one is disagreeing here. You have your perspective and I have mine. We’re just sharing our perspectives, that’s all. For me, it’s not about who works the hardest, people of the world work very hard in their own way and may have to do that work in favorable or unfavorable, even paltry conditions, sometimes, dangerous. I’m not comparing my walking in my beautiful neighborhood to their walking miles to get water or whatever else they may need. I just want to say that people need to be careful when coming from their air-conditioned lives to areas of a country and assume that everyone has it hard or are destitute. I have met people in different parts of the world who at a glance you would think “have it hard” but in reality they are quite happy due to their bonds in their communities, families, etc. Life, in my opinion, is not just about having it easy. We all have our hardships, whatever those may be. There are people right here in our own backyards, the U.S. who don’t have access to food, shelter, medicine, education and they work, harder than you and me, just to make ends meet. Now that’s hard.
Let’s all discuss, if we have differences of opinions it doesn’t mean we’re disagreeing we’re just coming from different perspectives.
Never said they were destitute, just saying they work very hard in conditions that would make us stabby.