November 1, 2008

Ghana Journal: Counting Ghana

I am sitting in a taxi in the heart of Accra. A tall woman dressed in dark stretch-fabric slacks and a faded T-shirt is walking along the side of the road. She is talking on a cell phone. With her free hand she is holding her small child’s hand. An infant is tied to her back. Balanced on her head, I count 16 dozen eggs. In a America we express disgust at someone talking on their cell phone while they’re driving. This morning, I watch in awe at a feat that perhaps deserves an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records.

***

Later in the morning I spot a woman carrying 20 large loaves of bread on her head. Again, I think about record breaking feats. A moment later, I see a woman with 30 large loaves of bread, six jars of peanut butter and three tubs of margarine balanced on her head and weaving through the crowded market.

***

It is not long until I see a woman carrying sixty 500ml sachets of water on her head. In Ghana, water is sold in 500ml plastic blister packs rather than bottles. When you finish squeezing out the water, you simply drop the deflated plastic sachet on the ground. There are no garbage cans here. In fact, huge piles of garbage accumulate at roadside everywhere. Goats scavenge among the refuse for a sound meal.

***

Objects Suction Cupped to the Windshield of a Tro-Tro: On my way from Accra to Cape Coast, I road in an air conditioned Tro-Tro (minivan). These are the items I counted suction-cupped to the windshield:

1 U.S. Flag
1 Ghana Flag
3 mini soccer balls
2 Winnie-the-Poohs
1 notepad with pen
1 lime/citrus air freshener
1 extra rearview mirror
1 facial tissue dispenser

The entire right side of the window was obstructed with these items swaying as we swerved to avoid potholes and speed bumps. I kept my seatbelt buckled.

***

After dinner this evening, I stepped out of the Sasakawa Restaurant to count 16 small toads, no more than two-inches in length, scattering when I opened the door. I assumed that they were toads, but they could have been frogs since I have never really been able to remember the difference.

Selected Works

1. Nonfiction

DJ Kool Herc
The first picturebook biography of the founder of rap and hip hop, DJ Kool Herc!

America Dreaming: How Youth Changed America in the 60s
"Phenomenal."–Howard Zinn "Excellent."–New York Times Book Review

Harlem Stomp! A Cultural History of the Harlem Renaissance
“Harlem Stomp! is a wonderous new book: it celebrates a time, a place, an energy, and a people who refused to be held back and so they created a culture the entire world is still reeling from.”

--George C. Wolfe, writer, director, and producer of the Public Theater, NYC

3. Poetry

Dave the Potter
A picturebook poem describing the life of the slave potter Dave. Illustrated by Bryan Collier.

Contemporary Poetry of New England
“Contemporary Poetry of New England offers a vivid portrait of a region, its colors and smells, its physical and emotional textures, and the people…. It presents a range of poets, few of whom would call themselves a “region poet,” although each has taken to heart in a private way Frost’s haunting dictum: ‘Locality gives art.’”

--from the Introduction

2. Fiction

A Brush with Napoleon
A seventeen-year-old is plucked out of the Grande Armee to sit in place of Napoleon for a portrait of the Emperor by the artist David.

Casa Azul
"I felt like a kid reading every word on the page! I liked the strains of "magic realism" coming through in Frida's house! Children will relate to this very much! The story is charming and reads like a thriller." –Margarita Aguilar, Assisant Curator, El Museo del Barrio

4. Middle Grade Series

Xtreme Mysteries
These kids love extreme sports--snowboarding, skateboarding, rock climbing, wake boarding--and are ready to fight when the right to do their sport is threatened.