The Kwaws

We are now very comfortably set up at the home of Wallace and Aba Kwaw about 20 minutes outside Cape Coast at the turn in a bumpy dirt road. Wallace, a tour guide at the Elmina Castle for over 20 years, is now a retired man of leisure. Possessed of great charm and wit, and the owner of perhaps the most mellifluous accent in Ghana, Wallace now devotes his energies to reading and watching as much soccer as his satellite dish can deliver.

On the advice of Kristin Johnson, along with Renae Adam one of the brains behind the creation and success of Global Mamas/Women in Progress, we brought Wallace a stack of books about American politics as well as a cache of magazines. Kristin lived with the Kwaws for three years during her Peace Corps years in Ghana and assured us this would be a most welcome gift.

Reading of this kind has made Wallace an astute observer of American politics and he is not the least bit shy about sharing his feelings about the same. As we drove into town together the other day, passing a shop peddling an array of rather weathered looking appliances, he said, “There’s all the garbage you sent us.” This was followed by his trademark laugh.

Our first night we spent asking and answering questions. When Shawn finally turned in, I stayed up and watched some soccer with Wallace, figuring it was time I educate myself about what is the world’s most popular spot and an absolute obsession in Ghana.

Aba, his wife of some 30 years, is a school teacher and cook and caretaker for the three kids still at home, Desmond, Mavis and Gifty, as well as the revolving array of volunteers and other short-time residents living temporarily in her large home.

For Aba, we brought a cookbook of American dishes, a pair of kitchen knives and some thin cutting boards. The arrangement is she will cook for us if we ask, charging 2 Ghanaian dollars a meal, which is equivalent to about US$2 and a steal.

The patriarchal nature of Ghanaian culture means Aba is not as open in conversation as her husband, preferring short answers and smiles to our questions. She largely concentrates on her chores in the house, with help from the kids, and then quietly retires to some other part of the large, rambling house.