ROOFTALES OF A SLUMBURB

This is a typical picture of a slumburb. It is a suburb where the urban residents of lower income brackets live. Above is a section of Bukom, British James Town, a slumburb of Accra.

Two principles of Social research in slumburbs reveal that first, roofs tell the story of the people beneath them ; for example roofs in a row belong to siblings or members of one family. Secondly, when a man gets married, he builds a room in his fathers courtyard for he and his bride. If he fathers children out of his marital home (as is often the case), he builds a room for the mother of his child in her fathers courtyard.

It is a calm roof scape of rusted iron sheets, asbestos, concrete and plastics. But beneath them is a complex conglomeration of room arrangements, kitchens, laterines, shops connected by alleys and corridors to create the labyrinth of a settlement. The tale of the roofs reveal close family connections , interactions and cultural systems.

The tale of the roofs in the photo have this story to tell;

The three roofs on the left side of the photo belonged to 3 brothers. The attached room built in addition to them belonged to cousin whose father died and whose mother remarried a man two houses away. She married her childhood sweet heart next door who built a house in the road between the two houses. That created the narrow alleyway between them. They had a son who grew up a vagabond and was sent to live with is maternal grand uncle four courtyards away. The grand uncle who was the chief fisherman at the light house beach built more than a few rooms in the neighborhood for women who bore children who looked like him.

The young man grew up with his grand uncle who died leaving him the yard in front of his house. (refer to picture, the biggest roof in the picture top right.)

He fathered six children whom he built rooms in a row in front of the house. His sons grew up and married the daughters of immigrant tenants who rented rooms from the first 3 uncles. They built shops attached to the rooms for their wives. Its was no secret that the 3 uncles also had built a few rooms in the neighbourhood.

This is the short tale of the phenomenon behind the roofs in 4 acres of 3 generations.

Accurate results in social research can best be obtained from the gossips, rumor mongers and tale bearers in the community.- kojo derban