14 July 2009

Elmina — the town

ElminaA photo from within the castle. A record shot, but from what I saw during my three and a half weeks there, this is how many (not all but perhaps most) of the people live.
All content © 2009 Pete McGregor

5 comments:

Anne-Marie said...

Well, it's different from Palmerston North :-)

I like the colours in this photo.

That yellow-fronted shop down the front, is that called God's Grace?

pohanginapete said...

Yes, the shop is called "God's Grace". The purple shop next to it is called "My Hands are Blessed". But on the outskirts of Accra (the capital) I saw a shop called "Jesus I Love Fashion Shop" (no punctuation). I also saw a shop selling tyres and nothing else; it was simply called "Jesus Jesus Jesus". Yes, it is indeed different from Palmerston North, Anne-Marie. In many respects.

Batteson.Ind said...

How many lives are lived out under each roof...? All the human drama that represents itself everywhere, day to day things... love the thing about the shop names!

robin andrea said...

Such a scene. Stark and treeless. Powerfully bleak.

pohanginapete said...

Watercats, the regions of Africa I saw left me wondering very hard about the future. Ghana's held up as a shining example (hence Obama's choice), but I'm not sure that's encouraging.

Robin andrea, here at Elmina and all along the coast, life seems to revolve around fishing, but trawlers from Europe are plundering the oceans continuously. I can't imagine any of the people in this photo have a future that relies on local fishing.