Star-no-bucks

Obsessing over coffee and currently sitting in a cafe, its only necessary to tell a quick tale of an African Farmer.

Ghana and Togo are two countries nicely placed in Sub-Saharan Africa = Prime for coffee...



...But as previously stated, Nestle has monopolized the drink with NESCAFÉ®.
-No Triple Venti Sugar free, Non fat, No foam, extra caramel, with whip caramel macchiato for you!



Rather, most coffee farmers transferred to growing these...

Cocoa is one of Ghana and Togo's primary export.



One of the reasons is because of these...

Exporting giant turd-like pods was much easier and time/cost efficient when harvesting from mother nature.
-You don't need to pick cocoa by hand, you just need a stick.






I was losing all hope for some real coffee until...

Far up in the Togolese mountains is an isolated coffee bean farmer.

Passionate about his job, Mr. Kuma has started from the grassroots on farming coffee beans.

He also collects honey from the bees placed on his land.
-Circle of Life has never sounded so sweet!

Thanks to organizations such as Peace Core and Fair Trade, Mr. Kuma is able to export his coffee and honey outside of Togo while making a 'fair' profit.

Thats some good f***ing coffee

-------

So we have a choice

Either we can be bulls-eyed by target marketing...

or

begin to assist independent entrepreneurs in developing countries to make a buck...or two

The Door has always been open to you

Faces of Africa

Here's some more grubbage for your retinas

To whom it may concern...

I took a lot of pictures on this short trip and will only present a few for your eyes to feast on. 

I spent a lot of time choosing photographs that told a story....

So please,

take your time when scrolling through my photographs

 Meet Akos. I would buy bread and other nick-nacks from her in the town of Agogo.

 This pretty lady snuck into our tour and acted like she was part of our group. She patiently waited until we were alone to say, "I'm hungry."

Hey, when you have lemons...

 Meet DJ Confidence

Meet the future

Welcome to the Machine

Within the next 24 hours I will be landing in Washington DC

-I hear they have good Coffee

---
Its been a blast in Africa and I must say, it has done a great deal for me.

A few confessions:

Monetary System fails everyone but the few

I traded a lot of my clothing in return for their clothing.

I was bit 23 times by mosquitos the first night here
 -That'll teach me to leave my window open

Peace Core sounds pretty good now

I can't save the world...I guess I will just change it...

You are what you DRINK

Knowing English will make you or break you.
-Como?

Ride the wave
-Don't fight the current

Technology....Sony invented Micheal Jackson

What does the word dirty mean anyomore?

I had one pen I used the entire trip...one

You have always been working for 'the man' because you are 'the man'

You are part of a secret society...Yeah, its just that secret

I have the state of Texas inked on my back... I am leaving it behind

----

enjoy your life...with care

1love

Cup-o-Joe

I figured the way Starbucks promotes coffee from Africa, I would be in Caffeine heaven while studying abroad.

I have come to the conclusion that corporations use this huge f***ing contenint as a wonderful marketing tool
-Touche Disney (I want to know where they planted my tree when I saw Morgan Freemans Earth)

Even though places like Ghana and Togo are prime for growing coffee, it is monopolized by Nestle with insta-coffee.

Did you know the IMF/World Bank and Ghananian Governmnet have a deal to import Tyson Chicken from America? Why the f*** do Africans need Tyson Chicken?

----

Last note: I met John Pierre Fabre. Google him.

Verbal Hunger

A quick story...

While in Cape Coast, I encountered two locals who asked for money

The first acted like a student during a tour  and patiently waited until you I was alone

"I am Hungry"
Okay so I gave her five citis

The next encounter was the next day while on the beach. A little boy began to follow me back to my room and said the same thing
"I am hungry" while gently placing his hand on his stomach

I did not have any cash but I learned my lesson from the first encounter.

But while in the village I stayed in...

A 22 year old aliased as Confidence (DJ Confidence) would approach me every day and want to hang out and talk. I was always busy but i promised him I would save some time for a nice Daniel&Confidence time.

He was a very persistant kid but very nice and patient with me.

The last day in Kumasi he showed me every nook and cranny of the village. He even showed me a funeral! Africans know how to celebrate their dead.

Confidence would constantly bring up the fact he needed motivation to continue his work so I constantly explained to him the best motivation is himself.

~~~~~

We said our goodbyes and I began to walk home when I hear
"Daniel!"

he ran back to me, looked me in the eye and placed his hand on his stomach
"I am hungry"

~~~~

It wasnt the fact he begged but how he used the statement as a last resort for money.

How is are developing countries supposed to accomplish anything if they believe all of their problems will be solved with monetary factors?

Most Africans truly believe our streets are paved with gold and have rivers of milk and honey.

Think again about the value of a dollar. It really is just a piece of paper....I mean plastic...

~~~~~

I have more to say but this french keyboard is f***ing driving me insane.

Greetings from Togo

Busy Busy

I set a new record for bathing by only using 62oz of water in a bucket bath. The best part was the lack of electricity so I bathed under the moonlight.
-Romanticism at its prime.

We visited the Ashanti gold mine where over 1000 miners are digging for about 10oz of gold a day. We went deep into the muddy depths of hell only to get lost for about an hour. We were not sure if the guide was actually lost or just making us white folks get a taste of their everyday life.
- I would've done the same
-Every kiss begins with K----Why do we spend so much money on a pointless piece of rock??? Thanks a lot Rothschild Family.

We journeyed through the Ashanti market, the biggest in West Africa.

Someone successfully pick pocketed a classmates cellphone, only to get caught. He quickly gave the cell phone back and walked away because the rule is: if you are caught stealing, the people in the market will gang up and kill you.
-Amen

I played football with some local kids. We won 2-1

1love