The wall clocks in the children's ward at the Legon Hospital in Accra, Ghana had stopped weeks earlier. The time was 10:30am, but one wall clock in the ward was 2pm, another 1:45pm.

It was symbolic. The productive lives of mothers had stopped too as they tended their sick children. On one bed was four-year-old Perfect, who had regained considerable strength by the time a team of journalists visited the hospital. She had four or five decayed teeth, perhaps a status symbol, indicating that her parents can afford junk food. More>>

It was time to relax, and the guests were enjoying a sumptuous meal to the accompaniment of soft music at a reception in Accra, Ghana. At the extreme ends of the lawn, hurricane lamps gave out yellow light and the traditional dark smoke.

Had such lamps been seen back in the village, it would be safe to assume they were meant to provide light and no one would raise an eyebrow. Had we been at a local shrine, observing worshippers feasting before their idols, it would have been pretty normal. More>>