Story

From Sodom and Gomorrah to Ink and Chalk

March 10, 2009 | Pulitzer Center
By
Peter DiCampo, for the Pulitzer Center, Ghana

Alietu is a girl in her early teens from a village in Ghana's Upper West Region. Image by Peter DiCampo. Ghana, 2009.

Alietu waits to cross the street while carrying a load of pineapples from one market to another in Kumasi. Image by Peter DiCampo. Ghana, 2009.

Kayayo girls scramble to their feet as a car enters Doctor Mensah market. The girls chase after each car or bus that arrives at the market, peering in through the windows to see what kinds of cargo it holds and hoping someone will need their help in carrying it. Image by Peter DiCampo. Ghana, 2009.

Alietu bargains with over the cost of carrying a woman's bags. The Kayayo in Kumasi get paid less than two dollars to carry a load across town. On some days they make several such trips, but on others they may not find a single job.Image by Peter DiCampo. Ghana, 2009.

Alietu and other Kayayo chase after a car entering Doctor Mensah market in Kumasi.Image by Peter DiCampo. Ghana, 2009.

The girls joke with each other in between jobs. Most of their days are spent sitting as they wait for cars to enter the market. Image by Peter DiCampo. Ghana, 2009.

Alietu fixes her makeup after a day of work. Image by Peter DiCampo. Ghana, 2009.

Alietu sits at the room where her sister, Fati, dresses hair. Both girls say they will eventually return to the Upper West and use this skill to earn a living. Alietu is aware of the years Fati spent learning hairdressing, and says she will do the same if it helps her earn more money. Image by Peter DiCampo. Ghana, 2009.

Kayayo girls sleep on the floor of the Ink and Chalk Factory in Kumasi. Image by Peter DiCampo. Ghana, 2009.

Kayayo girls sleep on the floor and countertops of the Ink and Chalk Factory in Kumasi. More than 200 girls crowd the abandoned building at night. Image by Peter DiCampo. Ghana, 2009.

Alietu (pictured above) is a girl in her early teens from a village in Ghana's Upper West Region. She left home ten months ago to follow her older sister, Fati, to Kumasi, Ghana's second largest city, where Fati has lived for nine years. The girls' father is deceased, and their mother doesn't work - the family lives off of meager subsistence farming.

In Kumasi, Alietu works as a Kayayo, waiting with other girls at a market entrance for buses to arrive, and then chasing after with the hope that the passengers will need their goods carried home or to a market. On the weekends, Fati trains her to be a hairdresser. Fati worked for years as a Kayayo herself, while at the same time learning hairdressing so that she could earn more money.

The two work out of a small room attached to an old, abandoned building (formerly an ink and chalk factory) where more than 200 Kayayo women and girls sleep, crowding the floors and counter tops of five rooms each night. I recently spent some time with Alietu, the girls she works with, and the inhabitants of the Ink and Chalk Factory - here are a few pictures from the experience.