"Left Behind" - A Poetic Research Reflection on Head Porters in Accra
Gifty Louisa Cobbinah is one of CERTIZENS MPhil students from the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana. During her fieldwork with head porters in Accra Central Market, she researched their experiences of citizen registration, their perception of themselves as citizens with or without rights, their relation to the state and state regulations and how all of this impacts the lives of these young women. Gifty skilfully shares her experiences through a poem.
As a young girl, whenever I went to the market with my mother, I saw these young girls of my age carrying pans with heavy loads on their heads and I asked myself lots of questions. I never imagined that in my adult life, I would get the opportunity to tell their story as a researcher. While the rules of writing in academic research are binding, in a poet's world, there are boundless possibilities of expression. Feeling an emotional connection to my participants, I believed a poem would be an appropriate way to communicate my thoughts.
Left behind
by Gifty Louisa Cobbinah
From their shacks morning after morning, they come,
Poverty, parents and peers pushing them far away from home.
Citizens with no access to state resources so they struggle,
Families with no money to support them so they hustle.
Tilted on their tired heads is their pan,
Boldly going into an unknown day to do what they can.
Women pushing and turning with goods packed in sacks,
Some with babies strapped at their backs.
Agoo! Agoo! they come with loads breaking their necks,
Making meagre money they cannot secure because of state bottlenecks.
With conditions in the market and state policies that limit,
Yet with family waiting in earnest for money they remit.
Hello hello they call families in order to communicate,
You have no call credit telcos say to truncate.
Marginalized with little opportunity to join the mainstream,
Vulnerable yet resilient to dream.
Laws that constantly leave them stateless,
Yet comfortable in their learned helplessness.
Economic rights snatched by the presence of a card,
Yet that makes no difference, so they try hard.
Card promised to leave no one behind
Yet, left behind to continue their daily grind.
Back in the streets in front of shops they recoup.
With no decent housing yet they cope.
Smartphone owners sharing videos and skirts to rejuvenate.
Laughing and laughing they socialize and relate.
Happy is she who finds joy in the small things of life.
Becomes their story to get rid of their strife.