Journey to Upper West: What I Will Miss

Sunday, 8th January 2017

In my previous post on Journey to Upper West I highlighted on my Day 1 experiences. I spent four days in Wa : Wednesday to Sunday. On the Sunday morning, I went to the bus station to buy a ticket. The departure time was 5pm and I was to report at 4:30pm. We went to church afterwards at Jirapa. About 40 minutes drive from Jejeyire.

Around 4:45pm, we were at the station. As we waited for other passengers to get their bags tagged and packed, my host's mum asked me if I enjoyed my stay. I quickly reposed,  "oh yes mummy. I had a nice time." Seconds later, I began to think about why I enjoyed the stay and the things that made Wa interesting for me. I decided then to write it down. That's the the only way I know I can capture the memories, so they don't slip away, as I go back to my real life full of work, work and work". Charley, the hustle is real.

And so the minute I sat in the bus I took my phone, to put down what I will miss about Wa. So here they are in no particular order:

1. Kambu: Man, that transport machine is just awesome.  It's neither luxurious nor beautiful but sitting in it just makes you feel at home.  You feel relaxed in it like a tailored shirt! I had my last ride in it today and I savoured every moment. I took a last look at it and found it more fascinating that it has a wind shield and traffic indicators. Oh yes, and three wheels. (I forgot to mention that in my previous post)
If you've never been to Wa and you get the chance to be there, just try it. You can stop them by calling out, "Kambu Kambu".

2. Pretty girls and  motorcycles: You need to see the girls on motorcycle. The calibre of ladies who can be likened to our classic legon girls ride the motorcycle like nobody's business. I concluded that while my pretty Accra girls dream of riding salon cars, the ladies here dream of motorcycles. With their weaves and fashionable attires, they cruise the streets like queens.

3. Meat & Eating together: This is my second time in Wa. And strangely I always come with an appetite for meat. I still remember my meat eating escapades from my first visit to Wa. It was at a bachelor's party. The bride was my host's elder sister. And we boys, (my host , his brother and I) conquered three plates of grilled pork with soft drinks.
This time, the family together with the elder sister took me out on Friday. We all went over to Kpaguri  where the elder sister lived and then went to a grill bar called The Guys. The first plate was full with goat head. They called it "aponkye break". The second was the guinea fowl. We ate it with juice drink and talked and laughed about funny events that had happened to them since I last came.
The style of eating together as a family from one plate isn't something we do where I come from . I find it adds something to the meal as compared to eating the same meal alone.

4. A humble & respectful people: I know I will miss the kind of people I met in Wa. In the four days I stayed, all the young ladies we met had one thing in common; humility and respect for the elderly. It's not just the waitresses and sellers. It made me wonder who was raising most of our Accra girls.

5. Bakery: Did I ever dream of doing bakery business in Wa? No. Of all places to ever experience what goes on in a bakery, Wa was not in my expectations. However on my second day in the city I got the chance to help out at a bakery called Ebeton Bakery. Located at Snnit, behind 18th April (the address is cool huh? Lol, I wonder why 18th April too. But I'm sorry, I was too excited about baking to ask). Now back to the bakery- A growing business that will take over the Upper West region in a couple of years. Everyone who knows me knows that I like bread, especially fresh bread. And no, constipation isn't a problem! Thank you for your sincere concern. When we got to the bakery at 11:00pm -ish they had started baking. Imagine my disappointment,  I was hoping to see the flour mix and the kneading of dough, and moulding and any other process involved. What I got to do was still interesting- packaging. It seemed simple. Just put the loaves in the plastic bag and seal them- how difficult can that be? But boy, by the time we had finished with the GH5.00 loaves, I realised this wasn't a child's play. It was very adult!
We moved on to the GH3.00 loaves and then to GH2.00 loaves. By the time we were done with the last loaf, it was almost 5:00am. The CEO drove us back to Jejeyire.
He won my admiration as he shared some of his ideas about the bakery with us. He is a visionary and a man that has God at heart and a passion to help people.  Wa isn't like Kumasi or Accra where these kinds of businesses move fast but the CEO is a hardworking man so I have no doubt that Ebeton Bakery will be great. Ghana should watch out for this name - Ebeton Bakery!

6. Language: Lastly, I got to learn a little of the Waale language. I focused especially on how to greet since that's a basic way and perhaps the easiest way to make an acquaintance. So feel free to say "ansumah" when you meet someone in the morning. "Antir3" when it's noon and in the evening, "anuula".

And for reading this piece I wish to say, "barika" meaning, thank you.