Global Perspectives on fishmongers

Fishmongers, whether members of the 13th century London system of guilds, foul-mouthed citizens in medieval France, or scruffy blue collars in Seattle are a unique bunch. They are people that know good fish and can pick it out, cut it, cook it, and talk your ear off about it. They are providers for a community that demands nutrition. Fishmongers are also found all over the planet and just this week, we were fortunate to learn a little about some fishmongers in Takoradi, Ghana on the Sea of Guinea.

After an email and introduction from Diana Lilla, an international management consultant, coach, educator and speaker located in the northwest, we met up with Gifty Baaba Asmah on her first visit to Seattle and trip outside her home country of Ghana. Gifty is the Director of a micro-finance organization called the Daasgift Quality Foundation that helps to bring possibility and success to the rural and urban poor. This lady and her stories will blow you away! The work she does, the lives she touches, and just who she is for her community are inspiring. To think that this woman wanted to see us was humbling.

Her organization has done a lot of work with fishmongers in Ghana and so she had to make our spot a stop on her visit to Seattle. Along with smoking and storing their fish, the fishmongers in Ghana must do their best to do so efficiently with the little money they have. They provide a valuable source of protein for a wildly underfed country. It's people like Gifty and Diana that provide structure and guidance for the fishmongers so that poverty and malnutrition can become less severe problems for the country. Presently, Gifty's organization has served over 3000 people and have 1000 active borrowers.

Well "fishmongering" for Gifty on this particular Wednesday meant everything from rooting through some of our specialty fish in the cooler with Anders, to selling some NW dungeness crab to throwing salmon and handing out smoked salmon samples in the corner with Erik. She leaves us with some stories and pictures to relay to her fishmongers and a copy of our book Catch so that hopefully our energy and intention can make sense for the people she works with back in Africa.

From energy conservation, to climate change to healthcare, poverty and starvation, Gifty and Diana are working towards world peace and we're honored to have had them at our stand and hopefully inspiring them to continue their work; I know they inspired us. Check out the websites for both women, they're changing the world for sure. This one details a work analysis Diana did about streamlining the fishing operations in coastal Ghana