Stepping out of Arik into Accra at mid day, the fiery embrace of the sun greets me first, and then in the cool of the busy terminal a dazzling poster of a girl in a traditional piece of colorful embroidery around her curvy waist and firm breast as she sifts maize in a calabash. The word above her head says: Akwaba – a Twi word for welcome.
Outside the terminal, the bustling activities of street vendors marvel me.
“Cold Cocoa for fifty pewsua!”
“Tro-tro, Charley?”
Their insistent calls in the nonstop heat astound me. I settle for a bus for Buduburam to conduct a research on Liberian refugees. And on the bus, I ask a man the secret behind his energy under the fiery Sun.
“This is Ghana now, Charley. Our culture be hard work. We chop plenty corn for power in the sun, craaa.” His dark plum face burst into an exaggerated mirth as he boldly made his point.
My host, Aunty Glorious, a Liberian refugee woman, did me the favor. The Banku is the most widely eaten corn maize, she says as she empties a 1 lb bag of maize in a calabash of water, and uses her right hand to mix into a watery porridge. She pours the mixed into a pot on the stove and stirs meticulously until the porridge is cooked into a pasty blob. “Prepared along with mixed vegetable stew and tuna fish, it’s very nutritious."
The mixed vegetable stew is next. She fries the tuna in hot vegetable oil. Next, the fusions of vegetables paste go in. And to the reddish mixture seasons and spices.
Hmm, my mouth waters as the aroma of the cultural meal permeates the humid air.
A 2 lb blob rolled into a double fisted ball along with the reddish sauce and two fried tuna fish are set before me in plates. Not even the heat of the day can deprive me of the moment. I devour the voluptuous meal in the traditional fashion- with my bare hand.
In awe I find the secret to a culture of hard work weave in a delicious dish. The energy I feel is great, despite the day’s heat.
