“Aunty, here you are all dressed in white in the middle of the week when it’s Fridays and weekends people here wear white.” “Really? Why only on those days?” I asked. “For funerals; in Ghana we fancy funerals,” Kofi said nonchalantly. And from what I’d observed after my relocation to Ghana, Kofi was right. Ghanaians [...]

When it comes to charities serving beleaguered Africa we are inundated by the staggering numbers of Western non-governmental organizations that are constantly popping up to do so. Unfortunately, only a few are genuine enough to be lauded. Yet rarely do we hear about indigenous NGOs that heed the calling of Africans doing it for themselves. [...]

It was the immense industrial potential of palm oil that first grabbed the attention of Europeans during the Industrial Revolution and led to Britain waging war on King Ja-Ja (Jaja) in the 19th century writes Afua Asantewaa in the conclusion of her series.

About three weeks after my arrival in Ghana that a friend, Yao, handed me the calabash of palm wine with the directive, “Try this; it’s deha, palm wine.” I had heard much about the treasured drink that was such a staple of West Afrikans’ culture it also reigned in their literature but the frothy, milk-like [...]

In the small, rural community of Ave, in Ghana’s Volta Region, the majority of the citizens know best not to sneer at the old customs of their village, which are all steeped in the traditional religion of their Ancestors. Most of the five hundred citizens, including the elders, profess a belief in one of the [...]

The history of intermarriages between locals and foreign traders has allowed a coastal family to consist of parents and children who look like typical Afrikans with dark skin, flared nostrils and tightly coiled hair while in the same family will be others with complexions close to that of a Caucasian with jet black Indian looking [...]

One of the wonderful things about living in Ghana is that Ghanaians, like other people of Afrikan descent, are food loving people. The mere sight of a Ghanaian enjoying a meal could tempt any stanch anorexic to promptly regain her appetite. Those who know me also know I would feel right at home in such [...]

It was a Saturday in December and I was on my way to Masai country—Kenya. I left Toronto at 6pm, and boarded the plane for the six hour flight to Amsterdam. I spent all of Sunday in Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport before getting on Kenya Airways for the eight hour flight to Nairobi. The long layover [...]