GHANA THRU MY EYES.

This post is inspired by Okyeame Kwame’s #madeinghana campaign, dedicated to our motherland and of course for the sheer love for Ghana.

Yen ara y’asase nyi……This is our Land. Won for us by our forefathers who fought blood for blood and strength for strength. A place to call home, a land to love.

Sharing borders with Burkina faso to the North, Cote d’Ivoire to the West, Togo to the East and the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean to the South. A total area of 239,460 square kilometers and an estimated population of 30.10 million with Accra as it’s capital. Oh how I remember the joy I felt whenever my mum announced that we would go visit an aunt in Accra (either Aunt Mansah or Aunt Bernice). Poor me wouldn’t even sleep the night before. It would take me a few years later in life to realize that tho we did visit Greater Accra region, we didn’t actually go to Accra (the city). I did however get to spend 4 years of high school there so there’s that too.

With such historic and tourist sites as the Elmina and Capecoast Castles, Kakum National Park (at this point I’m vividly reliving my experience on that canopy walk which I’ll definitely love to try again), Boti falls, Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum, and state buildings such as the Jubilee House, Independence Arch and the National Theater just to mention a few.

Yes Ghana, marked by her history and beautifully diverse culture expressed in the different lifestyles of the various ethnic group. As kids, we are taught such common courtesies as ;using ‘please’ when talking to an elder, saying ‘thank you’ when given a gift or rendered a service, using the right hand (only) for exchange , taking your hat/cap off when talking to/greeting an elder etc… Not forgetting our beautiful Kente cloth, Fugu/Batakari (my dad’s favourite), ahenema etc…

And in spite of all these, there’s still a Ghana that cannot be seen but lived and experienced……

The Ghana that is in our childhood games such as piloloo, ampe, oware, pempenaa etc…. Our childhood ‘tolis’ and ‘anansensem’. Trust me , Spiderman has nothing on our very own adventurous Kweku Ananse (argue with your phone if you don’t agree lol);

A Ghana that can only be tasted in our delicious local dishes, talk of banku, fufu, waakye, jollof, Ga/Fante kenkey, Acheke na paya, ampesi, palm nut soup, groundnut soup, okro stew, kelewele… drinks like sobolo, asaana, lamujie, palm wine just to mention a few. I stopped eating fufu at a very young age (tho that didn’t exempt me from pounding it). Here’s a fun fact about me, I don’t like fresh banku (lol) .. I prefer my banku at least a day old when it’s hard and quite fermented along with overnight light soup (when it’s quite thick)….. try it and thank me later please….

The Ghana that is only felt in our good ol’ music… gospel, highlife and hiplife alike. Saturday mornings in my home were spent listening to Mark Annim and Kwadwo Ampong among other Adventist songs as the family (except dad) prepared for church. I also acquired my dad’s love for Kodjo Antwi’s songs which he usually played whenever he was at home in the afternoons. I remember the beautiful sight of him and my mum dancing to one of his songs in the hall on one of such occasions (yeah I know what y’all thinking )…. And of course Okyeame Kwame , Sarkodie, Stonebuoy and others still keep that flavoured tunes alive… Oh wait! Efya, Adina , Becca , MzVee (for the sake of Merries )…

The Ghana that is in our Ghallywood and Kumawood movies, not forgetting shows that kept us laughing in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. I’m talking about Keysoap Concert Party, Akan Drama, Cantata, Agro (w’aso twainn, no libilibi no labalaba).

The Ghana that brings smiles to my face and keeps my heart swelled up with joy…

And tho she may be plagued with corruption, unemployment, bad governance, poor roads and infrastructure, religious corruption, power crises and what have you, by the Grace of God we still rise above it all. And no matter where I find myself on this planet,in this lifetime, I live with the pride of Ghana.

I will help raise the flag of my country a little higher wherever I find myself. Show the world a little bit of the light that shines in Ghana. Give them a taste of our Ghanaian hospitality; a flash of smile, an act of kindness… and when they ask me , I’ll let them know where I come from… the gold coast, Ghana.

What I refuse to do, is intentionally add to the disease and vices that plague our motherland. What I refuse to do, is deny where I come from because we don’t measure up to other big countries. “Se oman beye yiea na efiri me ni wo…..”

I wish that I could put all of Ghana in words but truth is , there’s still a Ghana that cannot be shared in words …. a Ghana that can only be experienced… and I would know because I’m proudly MADE IN GHANA.

Share your favourite thing about being Ghanaian with us (if you’re Ghanaian) in the comment section. To my non-ghanaian readers , I invite you to make a trip to my beautiful country to experience her for yourself, but do share where you come from and something special about your homeland. Here’s a link to okyeame kwame’s song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfJB2frGKTk

As always, don’t be a stranger….

xoxo,

Yarh.