About an hour's drive from Harper City, Maryland County, along a dusty road winding through lush green landscapes that make one dream of building a sprawling vacation home far from the madding crowd, there is a large town called Whole Graway. (And yes, there is a smaller town nearby called Half Graway!) Whole Graway (pronounced erroneously by most people as "Ho Gravy") is the heart of the Nyemoweh Chiefdom. Situated right near the palm-lined beach, the houses are large mud structures, usually square or rectangular, with thatched roofs. The round structures with cone-shaped roofs are the kithcens -- often shared by more than one family. There are around a hundred houses in the town, but because it is the middle of the day, it is peaceful and quiet. Most of the adults have gone to the farms, leaving behind the elderly, the very young, and the goats who run ahead of our vehicle to warn everyone that strangers have come to visit.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Welcome to Whole Graway
About an hour's drive from Harper City, Maryland County, along a dusty road winding through lush green landscapes that make one dream of building a sprawling vacation home far from the madding crowd, there is a large town called Whole Graway. (And yes, there is a smaller town nearby called Half Graway!) Whole Graway (pronounced erroneously by most people as "Ho Gravy") is the heart of the Nyemoweh Chiefdom. Situated right near the palm-lined beach, the houses are large mud structures, usually square or rectangular, with thatched roofs. The round structures with cone-shaped roofs are the kithcens -- often shared by more than one family. There are around a hundred houses in the town, but because it is the middle of the day, it is peaceful and quiet. Most of the adults have gone to the farms, leaving behind the elderly, the very young, and the goats who run ahead of our vehicle to warn everyone that strangers have come to visit.
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2 comments:
Elma,
Nice to see that you too traveled to whole and half gravy (sp. When I worked with the SHVDP/UNDP in Harper, MD, I visited that area too.
Did you happen to see any people with elephantiasis in that area living in beach towns? There used to be a lot.
Did you see the church built from stones by the first people that settled on those shores? It used to be a beautiful place, I guess it is still.
You should see Garaway Beach, it is like a scene out of the Bahamas.
Look for Uncle Sam when you pass through Harper the next time. He is my uncle and he is a fixture in the area, lol.
Oh lord, how I miss those days.
Stanford
Stanford,
I'm heading back to Harper on July 31st and I'll be sure to look for Uncle Sam and the stone church.
Didn't see anyone with elephantiasis; hope perhaps they have learned to avoid it!
(Incidentally, my current travels are also with UNDP).
Elma
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