A City of Its Own, The Market in Kumasi, by Jordan Dunn

As our cohorts third and final weekend trip approached, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Every one of our trips out of Accra had been special in their own right, but I hadn’t heard a lot about the Kumasi trip and pretty much went in blind. While I knew I wanted to buy some Kente cloth at the Kente factory at Bonwire, I didn’t know what to expect out of Kejetia, the massive market in the heart of the city of Kumasi. After some reflection, I’m glad I went in with no expectations because I’m not sure if anything could have prepared me for what I saw and experienced there.

What immediately stood out to me was the fact that this wasn’t a tourist market. Nobody who was shopping there or selling their wares seemed to care about the large group of foreigners filing through; if anything, they just pointed our group out in amusement and made comments to their friends. Having dealt with pressure sellers at Bonwire earlier that day, it was a welcome change of pace. The market itself was immense, and as soon as I stepped into it, I realized it would be easy to become lost in its various alleys and corridors. Everything you could think of was being sold: fabrics, machetes, pharmaceuticals, and a wide array of foods. As our group wound its way through various alleyways and past countless shops, I found myself having sensory overload, and I don’t think I was alone there. The people of Kumasi use this market for everyday shopping, and I gained a lot of respect for their navigational skills with every corner we turned. I felt like I could spend weeks working my way through the various sections of Kejetia and still find something new and unexpected with each passing day.

While working our way through the market, rain began to fall, and shops began to cover their wares; it quickly raised a question that had been lurking at the back of my mind: how do these shops close? The answer seemed strange but only because it is so unlike how businesses close up shop back home in the states. When people are done selling their wares for the day, they simply pull a tarp over the front of their shop and head home. The amount of trust in your neighbors that it would take to just cover your shop and call it a day does not exist in the US. The people of Kumasi understand that they come to work here every day, and if someone were to steal from them, it would be easy for the community at large to condemn the thief and their behavior.

While our final weekend trip as a cohort was undoubtedly bittersweet, I’m glad we got the chance to see Kumasi and wander around the Kejetia market for a while. I have honestly never experienced anything like it, and it was one of the most exciting opportunities to people-watch I’ve ever had in my life. Considering I didn’t buy anything while wandering through its winding streets, I’m surprised at what an impact just seeing the market has left on me. The sense of cultural immersion that washed over me while in Kejetia is something I don’t think can be recreated in many other places. I’m glad we got the opportunity to see how the people of Kumasi shop.