A few of us got up at daybreak to catch the golden hour down by the piers. I had read that Something I noticed pretty quickly was the number of people gathered by the piers. The people washing boats, cooking fish, repairing lines, and going out to sea was endless. No sooner than I began to take photos of the scene, were we reprimanded by a man carrying a large bench. "Don't take photographs without permission, someone is going to get really angry at you!!"
Akunz motioned for me to put my camera away. "He's right, people here can be grumpy."
Soon the man came back. He quickly explained something to Akunz and then mentioned all of us to follow him. He led us into a relic of a building and into a small office decorated with a large metal filing cabinet in the corner, a bulky brown captain’s desk, and a smallish man with glasses.
"So what exactly do we need to do?" Akunz asked the two men. The
man who carried the bench spoke up first- you need to sign the guest book!" He pointed assertively toward the clerk behind the desk. The clerk bent down and retrieved a giant red book from one of the drawers of the desk.
"Please, we need you to sign this," the clerk said
"Okay then, I'll sign for everyone." Akunz said smiling
"Okay" the clerk said
"Now what?"
"Well, we need money. The fee is 20,000 cedis per person."
"Reduce it." Akunze said politely "We will give you 10,000 cedis each"
"Okay." the clerk said
Akunz handed him a five pesawa note (new Ghanaian cedi equivalent to about five dollars) and ushered us out the door chuckling to himself. Like many Ghanaians Akunz is very good at getting things done. This is one of his many qualities I admire.
The man had followed us out and was now our guide. This was good- he found us a kind of hidden place among the boats. He assured me that I could take photos here, just not of individual people.
What we saw was amazing- everything was very exciting there. Our guide explained to us that there was more people than usual because there was a
celebration taking place. I took as many photos as I could- and wished sorely I had brought my better camera. It was beautiful- the entire beach was covered in a light fog and the morning light was still a reddish-orange. We only spent a half an hour by the beach before heading up the large stone stairway for the view. Although some people were still very adverse to being photographed some people outright demanded they be in a shot. One man came and introduced himself to me on the stairs and asked me an interesting question.
"How do you see this place?"
"I think its beautiful, and alive, and different." I said
He nodded and said, that’s good, I'm glad you got the chance to see it. Other people waved and said hello as we continued toward a small community formed on top of the building alive with morning activities. It
was a collection of small tin
shelters, smoke from people cooking, clothing lines, basins, and a thousand other things I didn't have the chance to see. People there were the most interesting to me- they seemed tougher, rowdier somehow- I wish we could have stayed longer. We passed some children playing an energetic game of foosball and winded our way from between the buildings and on to the street. Soon we found another place to view the beach. A few men were talking at the entrance of a very old building. One of the men was sitting on an old fashioned cannon.
This man called me over to him and introduced himself. He began talking about working on a cruise ship and traveling the world. He also pointed to a building directly across from him. It was tightly locked by a giant metal door. This was a slave fort and prison, the infamous 
This man had connections and soon we were behind the door.
The building was built in 1649 by the Dutch as a holding place for slaves. After this, the fort was used for many years as a prison. The last residents of the fort were refugees from
The tour was really a sad one. It is hard to believe that people endured this kind of torture. My heart especially went out to those that were captured to be sold into slavery. What a dark period in the world’s history!
traveled with the GAPNET crew (Akunz, Isaac, and David) to a nearby restaurant and then down to the market for some last minute gift shopping.
--Danielle
We left Bolga today. It was sad to leave so soon- we have made wonderful friends and had such remarkable experiences while in Bolgatanga. In the short time we spent there, we have been transformed in a way. Getting the chance to know this community was extraordinary, the people we have connected with are so welcoming, energetic, funny, and sweet. There were many times during this trip that we were moved to tears by their kindness and sincerity.
This project has become so much more to each one of us. The people of
Yua, their home, and their life have encouraged us to examine our own lives and ambitions. Yua's biggest dreams for the future are simple: access to clean water, health, food, and education. These dreams are rare in our communities simply because most of us are never without them. Clean water, for us, is as easy as a turn of a knob. In Yua, it is a thing you work hard to obtain. Yet water like food and education is a human right. In this age, why should securing those rights be so difficult? The awful truth is that it is our lifestyle that is rare. Most people in the world live without full access to thier basic human rights.
For sure, we had a long way to go before
Our good friend and advisor Pok drove our team to the station and kindly gave us some hard boiled guinea fowl eggs for the trip. The bus was a little late so we got an opportunity to visit a local leather shop and talk more with Pok. I got stung by an innocent enough bumble bee and David left one of his bags at the station. Aside from this- we left Bolga without a hitch.
We made the trip to
--Danielle
