Sleeping in is not a thing at Egyam Children’s Home. You awake to the sound of roosters, shuffling feet, and ruckus. Before sunrise and school, the kids get up to do their daily chores. Entire floors get mopped, the outdoor meeting area is sweeped, all the drains in the ground that line the property’s wall are cleared. Water is fetched from the property’s well and brought to the garden’s large water bucket. Kids clean out the chicken coop and fetch their eggs. Everyone has a role. These chores start at 5am, while the stars still shine in full force. The young women who live and work there take care of the younger kids, wash their rooms’ floors, bathe the children, and do their dishes all before 7am. By sunrise, kids are bathed, breakfasted, dressed in uniforms, and on their way to school.
Afternoon naps are where people get their rest. By 3pm, everyone is home from school, and the sun is shining. But in Ghana, that means that it is blazing, that the heat is hot on your skin and that it’s too hot to do anything. In the afternoons, everyone sleeps. These afternoon naps are a part of the culture, and I was shocked to be told, at 3pm, that I could not be taken anywhere, not to the city nor to the market. “It’s too hot.” I said, “It’s always hot in Ghana.” And they would smile and assure me that with the sun blazing down, people lay in the shade, resting. It was a confusing cultural practice that became crucial. I began to cherish the afternoon reprieve. It was in the evenings that kids did their homework, gathering around community tables following dinner. Once the heat had subsided people’s energy came back up. Most youth didn’t sleep until 10 or 11pm, with teenagers and those in their twenties going to bed even later. But despite the early morning rise and shine, these afternoon naps were your savior.
- Crystal
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