The Shame of Selling Popcorn

  

"I was divorced by my wife because I sell popcorn." These are not my words; they are the exact words of a popcorn vendor at the Makola Market in Accra. I was enveloped in fascination when I caught sight of this man in his late thirties with his younger brother struggling to make ends meet with the selling of popcorn on a truck. The name of this popcorn seller is Agbeshi.

On the truck were two popcorn machines: one for salt flavored roasted corn and the other for sugar flavored roasted corn powered by an electrical generator and engulfed with a boom of music for the attraction and entertainment of prospective buyers. This man is a trained mechanical engineer by profession with a National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) certificate. He told me that he decided to add the popcorn business to his professional work because his latter work was not lucrative enough to sustain him and his family in the capital of Ghana.

Agbesi narrated that he has been in the popcorn business for over four years. As the business flourished, he married his divorced wife. They had married for two and half years. He recalled a time when he was having a nap in his room in one foggy afternoon; his wife broke the news to him that she wants to discontinue the marriage with him. He embraced the news with shock and anguish! He told me that his wife jilted him as a result of mounting pressure from her parents. His wife’s parents asked her to break up with him because he was a ‘nobody’: a common popcorn seller.

According to him, some people mock him because he sells popcorn. Sometimes he is hired for funerals to prepare his delicious and appetising popcorn to sympathizers. Some people tease him that he always prays that someone should die for him to be hired. As he rightly put it, ‘some people laugh at me whenever they see me sell popcorn at the funeral grounds.’

He complained that indeed the cost of living in Accra is very hard especially, where he has to pull the truck to sell in the streets of Makola and other vantage points from 3pm to 11pm. He was however quick to add that business has been quite lucrative. Agbeshi is now married with two children: twins. He excitedly enunciated  that he is a proud popcorn peddler. 

                                                                                                      

video:"I am a proud popcorn peddler"!

THE COCONUT SELLER

                            

As part of my quest to review the hardships average Ghanaians face in making a living in Accra, I caught up with this coconut seller in his late twenties, Edward; A.K.A 'Incubator', who hails from Gyankoboo  in the central region of Ghana. He has lived in Accra for over 22 years. He has a fiancee that he has a two year child with her. He told me that he dropped out from senior high school as a result of his stubbornness.
'Coconuts are one of the wonder foods on earth that amply provides for all human needs and have multiple health benefits......... They can even save your life. Published studies in medical journals show that coconut, in one form or another, may provide a wide range of heart benefits. Because of its strong antioxidant properties and health benefits, the coconuts can be used to improve cholesterol ratio, thus, reducing risk of heart disease. It also improves digestion and absorption of other nutrients including vitamines, minerals, and amino acids. Further, it also kills bacteria that cause ulcers, throat infections, urinary tract infections, gum disease and cavities, pneumonia, gonorrhea, and other diseases' (Google search, health benefits of coconut).
'Incubator', as he is affectionately called by some of his customers started selling coconut when he was in junior high school. He has been in the business for over 10 years. On daily basis, he sells 150 Ghana cedis. Out of this sale, he makes a profit of 30 cedis. He also pays 5 cedis each for the coconut rubbish to be collected, and the truck he hires to sell his coconut.
Since every work has its occupational hazards and challenges, coconut selling is no exception. He told me that the work is stressful but lucrative. It is the only work that he does to look after his mother, fiancee and child as well as himself. He confided in me that officers from Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) have made his work difficult. He lamented that sometimes he has to give the officers some money before he is allowed to sell at a particular place. Further, he accounted that more often than not, he experiences headache as a result of being in the scorching sun to sell. In addition, Edward nicked himself while peeling a coconut for a customer of which I witnessed.
Everyday, some average Ghanaians complain that the cost of living in Accra is very hard. With Edward, the cost of living in Accra is better than that in the village. As he rightly put it, 'here in Accra, if you work hard, you will get money to cater for your basic needs.' He however appealed to government to provide more jobs for them to be employed.

                                                            Video; 'Incubator', happily serving his customer!      

TRAFFIC HAWKING AND THE RISKS INVOLVED

Image: Traffic hawkers busily in the middle of the highway: Accra

  Accra, the capital of Ghana, has become the commercial hub of many citizenry as well as foreigners, such as Nigerians among others. These people in the quest for making a living for their family and themselves embrace (any) work they find, of which traffic hawking is no exception. Users of the highways are bound to see some of the city's mobile vendors greeting motorists and passengers with their goods and wares: pushing them into your vehicle and sometimes begging you to buy them. Any time I observe these traffic hawkers, I remember the adage that 'the struggle of man indeed begins at birth. Since a journey of thousand miles begins with a step, could you please journey with me as I review traffic hawking and the risks involved in the city.
Presently, it is common to see children and elderly between the ages of 10 and 56 meandering through the traffic with their can drinks, sachet water(s), newspapers, among others on the highways all in the name of making a living. Some of these mobile sellers begin their business from Monday to Friday. They come as early as five o'clock in the morning and close six o'clock in the evening. Once the weather is favourable for selling, praise is given to their Creator and work starts immediately until the body calls for a break.
 A soft drinks vendor disclosed to me that on daily basis, especially when business is peak, he makes  10 Ghana cedis profit. This vendor hails from the northern region of Ghana. He has come to Accra to seek greener pasture and his fate has employed him in this traffic hawking business. I read from the face of him that traffic hawking is one of the tedious and riskiest job that one can do in the city. But what can he do? He has not got the money for his preferred work: fittering, hence, depends on this work for survival.
Another traffic hawker, Yaw, who also comes from the northern region told me that indeed the economic condition in the city is 'very hard'. He sells mobile phone credits or units. He makes 15 Ghana cedis when business booms. He considers 10 Ghana cedis as a 'bad market'. This young man of 22 years of age rents a plywood kiosk in Accra. He pays 15 Ghana cedis monthly to the kiosk's owner. He does not have light in the it and to worsen his plight, the roof leaks so when it rains he manages to sleep. I asked him if the traffic hawking business is lucrative, he answered; ' hmm..... this work!, I do not have money that is why I am doing this work, if I get money I will stop and look for a good one. In fact, traffic hawking is dangerous!'.
Hawking on the highways of Accra is dangerous. The risk of accidents are inevitable. According to the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), about 1600 people die annually in Ghana through road traffic crashes. At least four persons are reported killed in road traffic crashes daily. In 2009, five hawkers were killed in road traffic crashes, whilst 2012 and 2013 have recorded eight and six killed hawkers respectively. Traffic hawking tend to disrupt free flow of traffic on the roads, which endangers hawkers' lives. In spite of this, hawkers contend that the harsh economic situation in the capital has kept them on the dangerous highways. They appealed to government to create more jobs for average people like them to also get employed. Traffic hawking is risky, hence, hawkers must be careful in the quest for making a living for their family and themselves in Accra!

                                                                                 Video:Mobile sellers on the busy main road; Accra