"Toto, I don't think we're in Kumasi anymore!"

By Ampomah-Adjei Afia 


Kumasi is a big city where everything is easy going. If I had to pick three words to describe Kumasi I would say it is: busy, fun and there is lots of food. I grew up in Takoradi, which is a city in the Western region. Takoradi is a really fun place but things are so expensive, which if you don't have the money you can forget about having fun! But in Kumasi, the prices are moderate, so everyone can afford to have fun and they can feed themselves.

I had never been to the North of Ghana before. When I applied to International Service I thought I would be placed in Tamale, which is similar to Kumasi but I was placed in Tolon. When I placed in Tolon I was like "Which place is that? Is it a village, like a typical village? It will be so boring." But when I got here, it wasn't a typical village, like I thought it was, although if you don't make anything fun out of it, you will be really bored. Staying in Tolon has changed my perception of village life.

This is a picture of a host home using the local method of plastering a compound .They first take off the old plastered cement off then pour sand on the ground to level it up then water after that to get the sand stick together and to the ground. After a while sea sand and cement is mixed with water to be watery but thick a little bit. It’s then poured on the ground and spared then hit for it to stick with the sand then left to dry up (this method can last for 2-3years). This is a wonderful way of making use of what they have available in the community because they do not have enough money to get a lot of cement and fine sand to mix with little amount of water so the compound can be cemented and last for so long and made use of the available resources. 

I was so excited to witness a cultural dance by the Tolon Senior High School which was done at the Chief’s Palace to let people in the community know there is a cultural group in the school and anyone in the community can join. One thing I learnt from this was that the people in the community are always proud of themselves and respect their culture so much and was happy when the chief came out to dance with them before he sat to watch them dance. The community members come round to watch them dance as well.

If I had not joined International Service and being on International Citizen Service project then I would not have known about Tolon and the life style of people here and what goes on in here. Being in Tolon and talking to the local people has taught me a lot in life. For example, I never knew of the local way of cementing a house till I saw it in my host home and living in a host home I can see how they cherish their culture. Coming on this project I set my mind that there is always something new to learn no matter where you find yourself because some people look down on less privilege people and mostly think they do not have a way out of anything but Tolon made me know a way out if you do not have enough money to get your house or anywhere cemented.