by Helen
(Switzerland)
At an Ewe funeral in Atsiekpui, Ghana
In November 2009, I had to leave Ghana and cross the border to Togo because my visa was once again about to exire. I had promised to write about Ewe music in the next issue of my newsletter the African Music Explorer, but still needed pictures and videos. I could have just recorded a concert in Accra, but I really wanted to provide footage of an authentic, traditional event of the Ewe people.
So I planned to take advantage of the trip by visiting some Ewe drumming events in Lomé. I had already visited a culture group on a previous trip together with Mensah, but this time we had no luck: Nobody could direct us to a place where any drumming was going on. Rather frustrated and discouraged, we finally decided
to return to Ghana.
After a lot of begging at the border, the immigration officer allowed me to re-enter the country for another 60 days. But instead of heading directly back to Accra, we took a tro tro to Akatsi. The bus left the main road and passed a number of small, dusty Ewe villages sourrounded by the beautiful waterlands of the Volta Region.
In some places, we spotted people gathering under the trees and drummers getting ready to play. Every time, we just exchanged a look and sighed. We had been stuck in remote villages before, unable to find a bus, so we did not dare to get off to watch the drumming.
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