The Small Boy System

Ghana, it seems, is without systems. Just because something is true one day, doesn’t seem to mean it will be true again. Ordering food in a restaurant, then getting a breakdown of the check can take an hour. And sometimes, in between ordering, eating, and asking for the check, the prices of the food change.
One system entirely intact, however, is something we came to call the “small boy system.”
Need something? A bag of sugar? A nail? A dish pan? To send a message to someone across town?
In Ghana a small boy is always nearby to make it happen.
A “small boy,” as a small boy himself told us, is any boy 14 years old or younger.
Here is a perfect example of the small boy network at its finest: I was walking in Nungua when I stepped crooked, twisted my ankle and snapped the strap on my sandal.
What to do? Impossible to walk without the strap and Aba House, where we were staying, was far away.
Miraculously, as we stood, looking at my broken shoe, pondering our options, a small boy appeared at my side, offering to help.
We had a quick negotiation and gave him a few bills.
He took my shoe and ran across the street with it, disappearing through a maze of traffic, goats and noise.
In minutes the small boy was back - my shoe repaired, and shined clean – left over change in his hand.
We gave him the change from the repair for his troubles. He appeared delighted, and ran away, back across the street.
The ease of that exchange would have been impossible in the United States.