Travels In Ghana

Over this last week, we have been travelling around and learning more about the history and culture of Ghana.

Ancient Ghana was originally situated near the current border between Mali and Mauritania, and it reached the height of its powers in the 9th and 10th centuries. When the Gold Coast gained its independence from Britain, Nkrumah chose the name Ghana for the country, in recognition of this ancient kingdom.

There is evidence of human habitation in Ghana, dating back 300,000 years. However Ghana, as a nation, was only created in the last century, during the European "scramble for Africa". There was little regard for the indigenous people and languages within its borders. Hence, around fifty distinct groups are to be found in modern Ghana, each with its own dialect, culture, history and traditions. This trip is certainly enabling us to gain a bit more of an understanding of the complexities of the country.

Some of the highlights of this week’s travels are outlined below.

Shai Hills Reserve

This reserve is close to Accra and is the homeland of the Shai people, who say that they originally came from Israel. They inhabited this area until 1892, when they were ejected by the British. There were 4 tribes who used the caves as palaces for the chiefs. We climbed to one of the caves, where we saw the chief’s stool (throne) carved into the rocks. Shai people now live in surrounding villages and all the employees of the reserve belong to the Shai community. Once a year, members of the community return to the caves to carry out various rituals, related to their traditional beliefs. The reserve supports a range of wildlife, including herds of Kop antelopes, numerous snakes, and 19 troops of baboons.

Torgome Village

This large fishing village of 8,000 people is situated on the eastern side of the Volta River, just south of Akosombo. Given its location, we were surprised to find just how much the village is cut off from most aspects of modern Ghanaian life. We were invited by the Paramount Chief, the elders and the villagers to take part in a traditional naming ceremony and we were both given African names. Linda, as a Monday born female, is called Adzowa, and was given the additional name of Xorla, i.e “redeemer”! Haydn, born on a Tuesday, is called Kwabla, and was also named Nunya, meaning wisdom.

The ceremony consisted of a Christian prayer, followed by a traditional prayer. This was to ensure that the Christian God, as well as the lesser gods and spirits of the ancestors would all be present for the ceremony. There was then a libation (ritual pouring of a drink onto the ground for the gods and ancestors). This was followed by a wonderful display of singing, dancing and drumming. Then there were speeches, including on-the-spot speeches from each of us, as this was clearly expected. We were presented with traditional bracelets and 2 clay pots made in the village – and were then made to dance with the villagers. (This naming ceremony is usually carried out when a child is 8 days old. If a child dies before this, then the child is not mourned, as s/he did not have a name and therefore did not exist.)

We were invited to look around the health and educational facilities of the village, meeting a wonderful nurse who has been working at the village’s clinic for 13 years. Apparently, malaria is still the biggest health issue, even though this is largely preventable. Unlike a number of the northern villages, Torgome has electricity and a water supply, although the health and educational facilities are absolutely basic. Some images of the naming ceremony are shown below.

Akosombo Dam and Lake Volta

The earth dam at Akosombo was built in the 1960’s and has created the world’s largest artificial lake. The hydro-electric power station provides the major part of Ghana’s electricity. Once Nkrumah realised the Americans were keen on the project, so that they could extract and profit from the bauxite (aluminium ore) in the excavations, he tried to take more control of the project for Ghana. According to local historians, the CIA then backed the coup d’etat that removed Nkrumah from power in 1966. Things don’t change, do they!

Wli waterfalls

Whilst in the Volta region, we went up country to the border with Togo. This area of the country was part of German Togoland until 1919. Whilst there, we visited Wli Falls, the highest waterfall in West Africa - and the water was flowing!

Tafi Atome Monkey reserve

We paid a delightful visit to the village of Tafi Atome, where the sacred monkeys have a sanctuary in the local forest. Our guide, John, took some bananas and, as we approached a particular area, he started to call the monkeys... and lo and behold they appeared.

He introduced us to the King of the Mona monkey troop and then we used the bananas to get them feeding from our hands. He explained the tradition surrounding the monkeys. The people of the area originally came from the West of Ghana. As they travelled they prayed to their gods, and the monkeys escorted them all the way to Tafi Atome. This led the people to believe that the monkeys were the messengers of the gods, protecting them. There are currently shrines to the gods in the forest, and rituals are still carried out by the traditional believers. However, most people in the area have become Christians, and they started to destroy the forest and kill the monkeys during the 1980s. The reserve was set up in 1996 to protect the forest and monkeys, and to ensure that all income from the reserve goes to the local community and is also used to maintain the reserve.

The Du Bois Memorial

From the Volta Region, we travelled south again. In Accra we visited the W.E.B. du Bois Memorial Centre and Mausoleum. This guy was a key founder of Pan Africanism, being the first black person to gain a PhD from Harvard University. In the 1940s, he brought Nkrumah, Kenyatta and others together, in order to plan for the independence of all African countries. Du Bois was brought to live in Ghana in his 90’s, after independence, and was eventually buried in Accra. He clearly had a huge influence on Nkrumah and, like a number of leaders in the 40s – 60s, he was deemed to be a dangerous communist by the CIA.

Kakum National Park

This is a magnificent piece of tropical rain forest, with a spectacular canopy walk that Haydn relished. These amazing wood and rope bridges enable people to walk amongst the tree tops, at 30 – 40 metres above the ground. For those who know Linda’s fear of heights, it will not surprise you to know that she settled for the nature walk.

Slave Castles

We have spent some time exploring the slave castles of Cape Coast and Elmina. Obviously we have learned much about the slave trade over the years. We have seen exhibitions, memorials and remnants of the slave trade in Liverpool/Bristol and in Jamaica/USA. Now, to complete the "triangle" on the West African coast is a great privilege. However, it isn't easy to stomach the injustice done to human beings over nearly 400 years. Approximately 25 million people from West Africa were taken to the Americas, and countless others died in slave raids, or in the slave castles or on the slave ships. To walk through the dungeons to the “door of no return”, through which enslaved African people passed onto the ships, is very moving.

It is good to see the reverse of the door now saying the “door of return”. Each year a Black American and Jamaican family are invited to bring the ashes of their ancestors back to Cape Coast for final burial in their ancestral homeland.

The beautiful setting of the castles is in sharp contrast to the horrors that went on within them.

This quote from the House of Ghanaian Chiefs is inscribed on a plaque on the wall of Cape Coast Castle:

In Everlasting memory of the anguish of our ancestors.
May those who died rest in peace.
May those who return find their roots.
May humanity never again perpetuate such injustice against humanity.
We, the living, vow to uphold this.