On the road, part 2

Koforidua seems suspended, like so many Ghanaian cities, between the village life from which many of its inhabitants come and a noisome encroaching modernity. Cars move up and down the narrow streets beside farmers sitting sleepily beside a pile of dirty yams. Wandering goats stop long enough to stare dumbly at their reflections in a row of televisions in a shop front.

We had come to the city for its popular Thursday bead market. This busy collection of artisans and merchants is the principal source for the beads that go into Global Mamas’ line of jewelry. In the hour- plus we walked the market, we were stunned by the variety, dropped some more cedis and had a chance to meet a handful of the beadmakers.

Florence is a large woman with a small voice. She and her husband, Ellis, have built a successful business and these days look after the largest table in the market. It boasts beads of every conceivable design, color and size. One particular strand looks suspiciously to me like old Knicker Knockers.

Lizzy’s English is better than she lets on. At Renae’s urging, she tells us a story about how six months earlier her house had been burgled and she’d lost many strings of beads and about $300, a princely sum for a beadmaker. But when we gasped and asked what she did, she merely shrugged and smiled. “Make beads,” she said.

Happy proved to be aptly named and responded as if every question I put to her about her business tickled her to no end. Why does she make beads? (Laughter) Because her mother made beads. Why did her mother make beads? (Louder laughter) Because her grandmother made beads. This combination of practicality and good humor is as artful a cultural distinction in Ghana as the cuisine is in Italy or the impoliteness is in France.

All the women see Global Mamas as a lifesaver. By paying on time, keeping the beadmakers busy with regular orders, and offering classes on free trade and bookkeeping, the organization has enabled the women to save money and invest in their business.

The beads themselves come in two varieties: transparent and powder. Both are created largely from discarded beer bottles. I felt proud that in our short time here we’d already contributed mightily to their raw material stockpile. If you’re Irish, might I recommend the black beads: They’re taken exclusively from Guinness empties.

We spent the night in the Global Mamas volunteer house in the town of Odumasi. It is a simple, and in fact unfinished, cement block structure that despite being short on modern comforts, like a working refrigerator, proved a very nice stop. Thanks go to Jean and Laura, the two volunteers staying at the house, who greeted us with snacks and a surprisingly complete array of booze options.

(Picture: Florence’s table at the Koforidua bead market)