Ghana Stories: Who's At My Window?

This photo shows my boyfriend and I enjoying a paddleboat ride on Lake Volta. We totally lasted longer than 10 minutes!

This is, by far, probably my favorite story from my time in Ghana. During my time in Ghana, I stayed primarily in three different places: the capital city, a small town, and a rural village. This story takes place in the village where I stayed for five days.

In the village, my boyfriend and his father are managing a couple of businesses. While we were there to work on the businesses, we stayed in a quaint four-room house in a small compound with several families. This little house holds so many sweet memories, and I think it was my time in this village that had the deepest impact on me. One day, my boyfriend had to go into the office to do some work, but I decided to stay back at the little house. I thought maybe it would be a good opportunity to get some writing done.

Unfortunately, he had taken the good wifi router, so with such a rough internet connection, I was having difficulty getting onto my blog. Just as I thought I was coming to a breakthrough, I heard a noise that startled me. Something or someone was tapping at the back window. I told myself it was just birds. See, the windows on the little house were reflective, and there were these birds who, upon seeing their own reflections, would attempt to guard their territories by attacking their reflections.

The tapping continued, and since I couldn’t see the window and was alone in a new place, I wasn’t sure what to do. Before I could get up to investigate, or more realistically, go hide in the bathroom, I heard a voice. Someone was calling to me, “Obroni, please come!” (If you saw my last post about Ghana, you would know that Obroni is from the Twi language and means “white person.”)

I was honestly so shaken that I sat frozen at the table in the main room for a solid minute before I made my decision to hide in the bathroom. I know, I know, I probably sound like a scaredy-cat, but as I said, I was all alone in a new place. I didn’t know what this person wanted. I was about to get up from the table, but I stopped when I heard the voice call out again, and I saw the curtains on the window across from me shifting in a way that seemed unnatural. Just then, I saw a hand pop through the window. (The windows were open to keep a breeze running through the house, but they were also barred for security.)

The hand I saw wasn’t just any hand though. It was a small hand. This small hand pushed the curtain aside and there appeared in my window a small face. It was only a schoolboy! But what was he doing out of school all dressed up in his uniform? What could he be doing here by my window?

“Obroni, please come!” he called. I came to the window.

“Hello, how are you?” I asked the boy.

“Please, I am fine,” he replied politely. (In Ghana, it is considered polite to say please at times that Americans might not normally say it.) He continued, “Please, give me three cedis!”

It took everything in me not to start laughing. Cedis are the Ghanaian form of currency. The boy came to my window to ask me for money! I told him that I didn’t have any cedis, but I did have bananas, so I offered him one of those. He received the banana with more enthusiasm than I have seen some kids receive cell phones or laptops. I then told him to return to school; he thanked me and said he would. However, within a minute he had returned.

“Please, give me some water,” he said.

I assessed our water situation. (The tap water is not very drinkable, and we were almost out of water bottles). We had enough to give him one bottle. He left with his water and his banana, satisfied with how his little trick turned out. I don’t know who this boy was, but I don’t think I’ll ever forget him. I want to learn to be as audacious as him, ready to ask boldly. I hope one day I get to see him again and thank him for such a silly, and yet, inspiring memory.