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At the seaward end of the Muni lagoon, near Winneba, is a large sandbar
through which the lagoon escapes to the sea only occasionally, in very wet
rainy seasons. At the thick end of the sandbar is a village whose huts are
made from palm fronds, in which live people of the Ewe tribe, originating
from the faw away Volta region.
The Ewe village was there when I taught at Winneba Secondary School in the
60s, and was still there, huts still built from palm fronds, when I returned
last April. Every afternoon, the Ewe fishermen lay a seine net from the
beach, using the sea-going dugout canoe, returning the far end of the net
to the beach. Two teams of men then haul on the two ends of the seine net,
and the fish are caught in a large bag in the middle of the net, as it is
dragged up onto the beach.
The Ewe fishermen have attitude. They had attitude in the 60s, and they
had attitude last April. The slogan on the canoe sums up their attitude,
and I rather admire them for it.