Inside Ghana s Huge Coastal City life here is surreal

What are you doing today? Do you believe that God can help the economy? How many kilograms on his head? 75 kilos. Do you have to pay rent or do you own this building? The man who come build this house, he died. And then you just took it over? We got squid here. There's the ink coming out. What do you eat? What's for lunch? Oh, Malta Guinness. So, that's lunch. Anything else? Food? I don't have food for today. Right. So, you're just drinking today. This is the toilet on the side of the road, look. Mashallah. How are you able to survive and pay rent and things? Just managing. Just getting by. So, they've got the plastic above the mosquito net to stop the water and then, obviously, the mosquitoes. But it's just out in the open. This whole building's collapsed. Do you go to school? No? What kind of metals are they looking for? Liars. The seniors. Welcome back to Accra in Ghana. We're actually driving out of Accra at the moment. Today, we're heading to the Gold Coast where lots of gold mining was done years ago and still is being done. It's gonna be a few hours drive. We're gonna stop along the way, you know, meet some people. See what we can find. Ghana's always bringing the surprises and the good vibes. So, let's see what we can find in this crazy place. What's your name? My name is Gipsy. Gipsy? Yeah. Nice to meet you. I'm Nick. Is it good business? Yeah, it's good business. Yeah? But our market is not moving. Market's not moving? Yes, because of the economy. Okay. So, everything is expensive. Is it getting worse? What? It's getting worse? Yeah. Yeah? We just stopped on the side of the road. Try not to get run over. So, we're here with Michael again. Getting yourself some breakfast. Yeah, sure. This is a local food. It's made with rice and beans, spaghetti. Okay, and this is chicken and fish? Yeah. And are they pickled eggs? Yeah, sure, eggs. And you've got some of the hind, right? The hind, yes. Cowskin? Yeah, sure. So, how much did you pay for all that? That is 18, so it's 50 pesos. 18? Yes. Okay, thank you. Bye. That's so much food. Nick, I'm very hungry. Delicious? Very delicious. So, we've arrived. And this is the toilet on the side of the road. Look. So, to use that toilet costs half a city. How many kilograms on his head? 75 kilos, as he said. On his head? On his head, yeah. That's what he said. Because they don't have any machines to help them lift it from the car and then transport it to where they want to take it. So, it's supposed to be done manually, which is a manpower way. If I put that box on my head, my neck would snap in half. You can give it a try. You show me how it's done. What was your name, sir? My name is Jonko. Jonko? Yeah. I'm Nick. Yeah. And you're from Cape Coast? Yeah, I'm from Cape Coast, yeah. And how is life? Oh, everything is all right. But sometimes it's difficult. What's difficult? You know, there's no factories and the government works here. So, the living standard is very difficult. Okay, so you want more support from the government? Yeah, you want the support from the government. What would you like to see? I would like to tell government to bring factories here so that the youth can get a business or jobs to do. So, for one of these boxes cost 1,200 Cedis. I'm Nick. Nice to meet you. Is it a good business with the tomatoes? She said it's very good. It's very lucrative. But now, as it stands, where the economy has gotten to, it's very difficult for them to sell and get enough to take care of their family. This little boy is on his way to sell some fish. Hi. What's your name? My name is Evangelist Ivan Semenza. I'm Nick. Nick. Okay. Nice to meet you. What are you doing today? I'm teaching the Word of God. Okay. And is there anything that you want to share on video about anything? Yeah, what I want to share this morning to you is that we are in an end time. So, everybody in this world, we must draw ourselves to God. Okay. So, the day of the Lord also comes as a thief in the night. We don't know the day the man will come. But as soon as possible, we must prepare ourselves. Right. And give our life to Jesus Christ. Okay. So, very soon, the Son of Man will come. Right. And judge according to our wages. So, you must forgive each and everyone in our life. Whoever has offended us, you must forgive him or her. Okay. And draw him near to us. And encourage him and share the Word of God with him. Right. And so, you sit here on the side of the road and with the microphone and you tell everybody about God, yeah? Yeah. Wow. This is his generator here and this powers his speaker. So, the cable goes there and he's sitting over there behind that umbrella. How is life here? Hard? What's the hardship? Difficult? Okay. Right. And so, do you believe that God can help the economy? Okay. Right. Liars. Okay. Well, I thank you very much for your time. Cheers, man. God bless you. So, corn and sugar, vanilla essence and oil. One bag costs three cedis. What's your name? Gabriel. And what are you doing today? What do you work? Shop work? Oh, you're a mechanic. Cars. Nice to meet you. Have a good day. Bye. So, we've come into this local cobbler here. And what's the name of your business, sir? How long have you been doing cobbling? Oh, wow. And it's a good business? Yeah. Okay. The system's not working? You mean like in the government? Every day gets harder and harder? Really? So, how are you able to survive and pay rent and things? Right. Just getting by? And what needs to happen? The government should do better. If this camera was the government and you could speak directly to them, what would you say? That's it? Okay. Thank you so much for your time, man. I appreciate it. Nice to meet you. I'm Nick. Patience. Patience? Okay, patience. Nice to meet you. And you, sir? Samuel? Samuel Bwabi. Okay, I'm Nick. Oh, your bedroom? Yes. What about rent? A hundred cities a month. And this is made from mud, right? It's made from mud. Yeah. And what do you do for work? He's selling detergents and soups. But business has gone down drastically all of a sudden. And for that reason, she was working with someone else and the payment was very bad. So now she's home doing nothing. And so how are they able to afford food and pay rent with no income? The husband is a mechanic. And he's also saying that the job is not regular. It's on and off. So they've got the plastic above the mosquito net to stop the water and then obviously the mosquitoes. But it's just out in the open, eh? This whole building's collapsed. And so we're walking up this hillside. And the locals have said be careful because this is where they come for number two. To be very careful because you may step on shits and poos. Okay. Come to the top of this hilltop. Michael, you've made a friend? Yeah. Hi, sir. What's your name? Ekiz. Ekiz? This is your house? Oh, you got the best house in the city. Look at that view. Why do more people not want to live up here? Because if I lived here, I'd want to live here because you can see the ocean. Because climbing up here is difficult for them. Others too, they are scared. You're the king of the mountain. Yeah. And do you have to pay rent or do you own this building? No rent. Did you build this? The man who built this house, he died. Okay. And then you just took it over? Wow. Just for free? Do you live here alone or with family? With family. Oh. A wife? Are you married? Yes. Oh, wow. Really nice. Nice fan and got a fridge. Yes. What do you eat? What's for lunch? I have different malts. Oh, Malta Guinness. Yes. Okay. Is this alcohol? Oh, non-alcohol. Non-alcohol, right. So that's lunch? Yes. Anything else? Food? I don't have food for today. Right. So you're just drinking today? My wife go market. They go buy some. Ah. Yeah. Then she'll come home and cook for you. Yes. Do you like basketball? Yes. Yeah. Do you play sports? I play football. Football. Do you have children? One child. Do they live here? Yeah. They go to school. School. What do you do for a job? I work for Jovan Benches. What's that? They sell club beer. So it's like alcohol store? Yeah, alcohol store. Okay. Oh, wow. Why so many containers? What's this for? For cooking food for other people. Oh, you're selling it? We don't sell food, but if I get visitor, when you go... You give them some to take away? Yes. You have so many friends? No friends. My wife... My wife friends come here, no? Right. Yes. And you use all these? Mm-hmm. Wow. Very social people then, eh? Yeah. Thanks, brother. Appreciate it. Thank you. Mashallah. Is this your lunch? Yeah, this is my lunch. Hi, sir. What is your shop here? I repair electrical equipment. So somebody will bring like a blender and you repair it? Yes. Appliances? Appliances. Kettle? Yeah, kettle. Many people come here to get this fixed? Yes. Lots of customers? Yes. Wow. It's really good because where I come from, if something breaks, people throw it away, you know? But you fix it? Yeah, I fix it. That's great. Yeah. Because of our hardship, they don't easily do away with breaking down this thing. They want to fix it and continue using it. Right. If you want to buy a new one, because of the cost. And can you tell me about the hardship then, seeing as you mentioned it? And the country. Yeah, what is the hardship? Low income. Most of the youth have other jobs. When they finish school, they don't have any job. I've met lots of people in Ghana and everybody says the same thing. Yeah. Yeah, everybody says the exact same thing. So there's a huge problem with jobs here. And what's the solution? Education system needs improving? Okay. Yeah. Right. I thank you for your time. Okay. Yeah, all the best. I wish you the best. Okay. What are you doing today? Okay. Is life good? The economy. Right. I'm not happy about it. Corruption is all over. Lots of corruption. Yes. Okay. All right, man. Thank you. Nice to meet you. All the best. All right. Thank you. I was just walking along the road and that guy said jump in with me. And we had a chat just completely spontaneously. We've come right down onto the beach and the locals are bringing in a little bit of catch. Obviously, most people go out early, early in the morning. But some are still bringing in fish here. But it's an absolutely beautiful scene just on the beach here. All the boats set off the coast and the old buildings and things. So, yeah. Absolutely beautiful place. So, a lot of the boats will have flags from different countries. You can see there's Slovakia there. Chelsea football club. American flag. Ghana flag. Brazilian flag. Israel there. All different kinds. That's how the locals identify the boats by the different flags. They got squid here. Do lots of people eat squid here? Yeah, we do. Yeah, you like it? Yeah, I love it. All right. How was your catch today? They rent for fishing but they couldn't have a lot of catch. This is because the weather is not good today. And also, these days they are not able to go deep down. They can't buy the petri. They can't afford for the petri. I'm Nick. Yeah, what? Nick. I'm Johnny. Johnny? Johnny. Do you just buy fish from the guys and then sell it? And sell it. Okay. How's life? Life is good. Life is good? Because of God. Because of God? Yes. You're going to buy a fish, Natalie? Yes. A squid? Yes. For your dad? For my dad. How much for one squid? 60 Cedis. There is this black, black stuff in it. Ink? Yeah, the ink. You have to take it out. There's a way you have to do it. If you don't do it well, it will spoil the squid. So, that's it. That's the ink? That's the ink. There's the ink coming out. So, she's completely cleaned it, taken out the ink, and here we go. It's delicious? Tasty? One squid and how many of the other fish? Seven. Seven, and all this is... 100 Cedis. 100 together? Yes. Okay. Your dad's going to be happy with you. I'm telling you. What are you guys doing today? You're fishing? How old are you? Sorry? Okay, and your age? How old? 15? Do you go to school? No. And you? And how old are you? 15? Okay. No school? Okay. Well, fishing. Working. Hard working. Nice to meet you. Bye. And then we paid a visit to the Cape Coast Castle, a slave castle. Many of you probably know this, but the coast of Ghana was a main part of the transatlantic slave trade in the 18th century. So, I took a tour around the castle as I wanted to learn more about this dark, dark history and the things that I saw and the stories that I heard and the history that went on beyond words. I would highly recommend if you're in the area to come for a tour. It's not easy, but very interesting to learn on a more deep level what went on here with the transatlantic slave trade. Horrific stories we heard. If you want to learn more, feel free to do your own research, but I just wanted to share my experience of visiting this place and it was extremely grim. ♪♪♪ We've arrived back in Accra. On the way back, we went through what I was told could have been a police tip-off and there were police officers dressed in military-style uniforms with AK-47s like checking every single car, opening the boot of every car. But, of course, like any country you're going to find, you're going to come across these kind of things, right? Many tourists come to this country. It's known as one of the most stable countries in Africa. So, the Gold Coast of Ghana is obviously very beautiful and there's also like really nice resorts there on the coast that you can go there and visit and stay in a beautiful resort on the beach. And then, obviously, there's the informal housing and things. So, there's a mixture of everything. Again, the people here are just amazing. It's so fun to be around them. They're so charismatic. You know, obviously, the country is facing extremely difficult economical situations and that's what everybody has said that we've met. Like, they bring it up by themselves most of the time as well, you know. The common consensus is just the economic hardships. Anyway, in the next video, heading to the north, jumping on a plane, flying to a different part of the country. So, we're going to see completely different landscapes, culture and people. So, I'll see you in the next video. Thank you so much for watching. And in case I don't see you, good afternoon, good evening and good night.