African Engineers: A New Boy Arrives in Suame Magazine, Kumasi, Ghana

Quite a few youthful gentlemen come from the villages of rural Ghana intent on producing their fortune in the large towns of Accra and Kumasi. For many, their first aim is to develop into apprenticed to a learn craftsman and their first issue of connect with is Suame Journal in Kumasi, Ghana’s major casual industrial place and the home of 1000’s of motor mechanics and motor car overall body builders. Initially impressions are long lasting impressions and the next is an account of one particular young man’s very first come upon with Suame magazine.

Kwame uncovered that there were being no surfaced roads moving into the journal. The only accessibility was acquired by deeply rutted filth roadways that squeezed between the workshops, usually with inadequate width for two autos to go. Not only workshops lined these roads. Deserted cars, machinery and scrap materials were scattered just about everywhere, some in piles projecting into the street and some basically lying in the road the place they experienced been run above by a thousand autos and become embedded as a everlasting function.

Kwame quickly realised that contrary to in the village, where most of the residences have been designed to the very same fundamental pattern, in the journal all the workshops have been distinct. Most of the larger sized workshops ended up developed with concrete block walls and corrugated metal roofs and some of the more compact workshops have been likewise produced. Numerous additional of the more compact workshops have been built with wooden board partitions but the corrugated metal roofs were being typical. A lot of workshops had open up sides and other individuals had been small extra than a picket workbench. Some artisans sat on the floor in the shade of a mango or neem tree with only a small toolbox by their facet.

The degree of activity impressed Kwame. He experienced hardly ever noticed so quite a few folks, mostly adult males, fast paced at work or shifting about with clear function. Just about everywhere there was the sounds of hammering, the flash and crackle of electric powered welders and the hum of drilling and grinding equipment mingling with the consistent roar and drone of vehicle engines. Kwame also seen that there have been people who seemed to have nothing to do. Some were viewing the function of many others and some were sitting down exterior their workshops, evidently waiting around for get the job done to appear to them.

Kwame was fascinated by what he observed as he wandered further into the Journal. Most of the workshops seemed to be concerned in automobile restore. Some claimed to be authorities in restoring selected makes of auto: Benz, Land Rover, Toyota or Bedford. Some specialised in fixing certain car components: batteries, brakes and clutches, bodywork or diesel engines. A handful of had special machines for carrying out precision do the job this kind of as crankshaft regrinding or cylinder reboring. Every workshop experienced a name-board proudly proclaiming the solutions it provided. Quite a few of these were brightly painted and some gave lists of providers in terrific detail. The neatness of these name-boards contrasted with the chaos that surrounded the workshops and, in lots of situations, penetrated within. Almost everywhere, equipment pieces, components and equipment lay all around in obvious abandon.

A younger person of Kwame’s age was sitting down on the floor beside a bench cleansing a piece of machinery. Kwame asked him what he was accomplishing. He was instructed that the section was a fuel pump and the job was to clean up it carefully. For this function the younger guy experienced been specified some petrol in a tin can and an old rag. He instructed Kwame that he was apprenticed to the learn who owned the workshop. Remaining in his first 12 months, his get the job done was confined to cleaning. This gave him the chance to know the sections nicely in preparing for mastering how to restore them in subsequent years. Kwame questioned how long the apprenticeship would final and was surprised when he was informed five a long time. He felt that he wouldn’t want to wait around that lengthy to develop into a learn.

Just after some time roaming among the workshops Kwame identified that in addition to giving maintenance expert services some workshops built a item to offer. He observed larger sized workshops setting up the wood bodies of trotros and cocoa vans. Along with these even bigger organizations were blacksmith’s retailers giving steel bolts and nuts, hinges and brackets to the entire body builders. Some smaller sized workshops have been developing coal pots: charcoal-burning stoves like he utilized at property for cooking. Piles of these coal pots stood waiting around for collection by current market traders.

So significantly was likely on in the Journal that Kwame could not consider it all in. There were being some pursuits that he could not fully grasp simply because he lacked the required complex information. He was so fascinated by all that he saw that he shed recognition of the time. To his surprise the solar was likely down and his thoughts turned to supper and rest. Where was he heading to invest the evening? He determined to go again to ask the enable of the apprentice he experienced met. He had some problems getting his way, there had been no signposts in the Magazine, and by the time he arrived the staff had been leaving for house. However his new friend was nonetheless there.

Kwame identified that the apprentice came from a village considerably away from Kumasi. He experienced no position to keep but his master authorized him to sleep in the workshop. He invited Kwame to be a part of him. Component of the apprentice’s functionality was to supply right away security and for this two guys ended up much better than just one. In return for this kindness Kwame funded their supper: fufu and groundnut soup obtained from one of the numerous gals foodstuff sellers who plied their trade in the Journal. Kwame’s father experienced typically warned him of the risks of obtaining food stuff off the road, but on this situation there was no choice. The soup was quite incredibly hot with pepper, probably to compensate for the lack of any other flavour, but Kwame favored his soup that way. He slept soundly on his very first evening in Suame Journal.