My first experience in Ghana was a two year contract from 1971 to 1973, teaching in the secondary school in the remote village of  Half Assini, in the Western Region of the country. Before that time, the most common means of transport in and out of the village were called mammy lorries. They were built on Bedford truck frames with frames and drive trains imported from Britain and assembled in Ghana. Local craftsmen then built covered boxes for the trucks that were designed to flexibly carry human cargo or produce or a combination of each. The boxes were painted in various colours and given unique names, often based on traditional sayings and proverbs or sometimes from religious sources. By the time I arrived in the country, the Bedford trucks were no longer being imported and they were slowly being replaced by more modern vehicles. These two wagon boxes were sitting alongside the market wall in Half Assini, hoping to once more be put back into service.

12 x 16 acrylic on canvas

CDN$145

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