9 Litres of Petrol

GHC10 ($7.15) won’t get you 2 gallons of gasoline, goddammit! And still, Accra navigates a sea full of SUVs. Plus this equatorial fireplace demands the full nyanya.

*Nyanya = air conditioning.

No Cheap Movie Ticket

GH¢10 ($7.14) won’t admit you to Ghana’s only real cinema. It will take one-and-a-half times that. I’ve heard it said that most families, here, must live on less than $1 daily, judging from the wages.

10 Ghana Cedis

Dear Reader, this week, I will explore the theme posts again. I’m going to discover what GHC10 can do for a person. That’s about US$7.15. Maybe, I will rather discover what it cannot do. Maybe you want to share what you can(not) do with US$7.15, or its equivalent, wherever you are. First post coming up later today. Thank you.

I Wish I'd Learned That Sooner

I wish I had learned sooner the power of attention to detail.

I wish I had learned sooner the futility of getting a woman to like you simply by being nice to her.

I wish I had learned sooner the power of self-love.

I wish I had learned sooner who my real friends were.

I wish I had learned sooner the importance of food and sleep.

I wish I had learned sooner to do legal research well.

I wish I had learned sooner the perils of emotional dependence.

I wish I had learned sooner to speak my true mind always.

I wish I had learned sooner that ism would always be a part of life.

I wish I had learned sooner to live life less intensely.

What do you wish you had learned sooner?

The Merchant and the Leper 5

Part 5: The Liver of a Leper

The King’s beloved daughter fell ill
Could not be healed by prayer or pill
The Leper whispered in the King’s ear
Let the Merchant heal her or die here

He travelled to distant lands and ‘hoods
Until he met the Spirit of the Woods
Who knew an ancient healing plan –
The liver of a freshly killed man

The Merchant returned to the King’s palace
“I have the cure”, he said with a hiss
“Kipper, pepper, liver of a leper!
"I'm pretty sure that will help her"

Before the western sun went down
The Princess walked through the town
But the Leper was seen no more
It’s said his death was all agony and gore!

The End

The Merchant and the Leper 4

Part 4: The Bull and the Snake

A stranger plot is then hatched
Its evil intent most unmatched
“See the fiery bull in the fields
“Go yell till its life it yields”

Sitting on the wooden fence
The Merchant has lost hope and sense
His friend, the serpent, crawls to him
And offers to save his wealth and limb

“I will sneak upon the bull
“When you’re screaming loud and full
“Unseen by your foes and their gangs
“I will kill it with a stab of my fangs”

So, the bull was “screamed” to death
Seemed just give up on breath
(There were more tasks planned from hell
Until calamity befell)

The Merchant and the Leper 3

Part 3: Millions of Grain

The Leper goes to see the King
More intrigue does he bring:
“You made it easy, and he won
“Set him a more difficult one.”

“Take him to your Great Granary
(’Bout which you sing like a canary)
“Mix up all the grain of the land
“Let him separate each kind by hand”

The kind Merchant is sad again
As he walks, all can see his pain
He meets the Ant who he’s helped before
The Ant brings his colony to the grain store

Rice and Barley, Oats and Wheat
All are sorted nice and neat
When King and Leper come to check
They both go like “What the heck!”