19 June - Pikworo Slave Camp, Paga, Upper East Region

This past weekend my friend from Tamale stayed over. He was in Bolgatanga to conduct some workshops for his employer on Friday and Saturday. Because our time was limited, we were only able to visit the Pikworo Slave Camp in Paga after he finished on Saturday afternoon. Though I had been there before, I enjoyed the second visit and seeing it through the eyes of someone from India who has a different perspective even from my own.

This is the music rock. The men bang on the rock with different size stones and sing along. It turns out to be quite melodious. We were told that he song that they sang was telling the slaves to be happy because they were going somewhere that would provide them with new jobs. The slaves were held in a field below this musical rock and were forced to dance and sing along, whether they wanted to or not.

This was a little further along in the tour. As you can imagine, the slaves often tried to escape, but the slave traders were very watchful and did not lose many slaves to running away. When a slave was captured, the slave would be bound to this rock where our guide, Simon, is sitting. A chain would fasten their legs to their arms and they would lie on this rock face up from dawn until death, in most cases. They would be beaten and would not receive any comfort, food or water while the sun beat down on them. The base of the rock is worn from the movement of the chained prisoners. When I first saw this, the temperature was above 40C and I couldn't imagine surviving long. This weekend the temperature was a more enjoyable 33C or so, but I still cannot imagine that very many slaves lived through the ordeal.

We had a good weekend and enjoyed doing something different. The weekend ended with rain on Sunday morning that cooled things to a cool 26C in the house, and some of us wore fleece jackets to keep warm (not me, by the way). It was cool, for sure. At church, the Ghanaians closed the windows against the breeze because they were chilled. And I found it quite comfortable, which shows how much I have adapted to the higher temperatures here.

Work is still slow as the districts are struggling to bring their new computers from Accra to their own offices. I contacted most of them and they promised to have the computers by the end of this month, so I hope to be busy in July. I also know that I have said that more than once. Eventually it will come true. I know the project teams are anxious to get started with the training as well.