the last bath

its not that i dont like kids in accra, but cities have a way of socializing kids to be a bit more aggressive i think, look at luke for example, Corvallis hardened him to the core. anyhow, a few weeks ago i visited a spot called the "last bath". its located inland from Elmina fort (one of the most notorious slave trading forts in west africa). as slaves where brought from inland, they were made to bathe there before the final march to Elmina. when we got there, it was closed and the care takers where not around, luckily, some sweet little kids showed us a back way and volunteered to be our guides. as we walked, more kids joined us and in their sweet manner, held our hands. it was an interesting experience to say the least, having young, vibrant Africans lead us open-armed to such a dreadful place, located in there back yard. they waited for us to look around, snap our pictures and then led us back. two young girls held either one of my hands as i did my best to communicate with them in my limited 'twi'. once we returned to the memorial grounds, we all played together for a while, skipping and laughing. leaving was a bit hard, as it was obvious we bonded quite well and the children enjoyed our company as much as we theirs. luckily, someone snapped this picture of me with some of them.