Today was another exciting day for the group. We woke and enjoyed breakfast at our hotel. We are the only group in the hotel and it seems more like a giant house we are free to roam than a hotel.
In the morning we visited a Kente cloth making facility, a printing village and a wood carving village. Kente cloth is the traditional, brightly colored cloth common to Ghana. They are made on one-man looms that the designers operate with both hands and feet. Many looms filled the workspace and the walls were COVERED in various scarves. We watched the men work and looked at the many different colors and styles of Kente. Kente cloths come in all different sizes and are worn by both men and women for special occasions.
We then traveled a short distance to a village that specialized in making dye and using stamps to print on various materials. In Ghana, there are many different symbols that mean various things, much like the hieroglyphics of Egypt. We have seen many of these symbols as we’ve traveled and have appreciated learning what they mean and being able to recognize them and their importance. In the village we all had the opportunity to buy a Kente scarf and stamp them with symbols of our choosing. The dye is made by boiling the inner bark of a tree, crushing it to a fine pulp, and cooking it again until it forms a dark ink. The stamps are carved out of wood. All the students enjoyed picking symbols that represent them and then being taught how to stamp the dye onto the scarves. After we had completed the printing process some students had the opportunity to try on Kente cloth as men and women from Ghana would wear it.
Our final stop for the morning was to a wood carving village where everyone had the opportunity to practice their bargaining skills. Nearly everyone walked away with jewelry, artwork or wood carvings.
After lunch a few students went downtown Kumasi to be interviewed on the radio. Jodi, Darrin, Sarah, Matt K, and Josie communicated their objectives and purposes in traveling to Ghana and compared the culture, climate, and agriculture between Ghana and Iowa. The rest of the group enjoyed the afternoon in the hotel.
In the evening we were invited to the home of Mr. Yaw Aboagye who is the fiance of Ms. Sarah Mensah, one of our new friends and tour guide. Sarah has been influential in organizing our trip and tending to the many details associated with traveling as a large group. Mr. Aboagye has a beautiful home in Kumasi and the entire group enjoyed eating dinner and listening to music on the patio. It was the perfect end to our stay in Kumasi.
Click Here to view a map of our travels today.
