A group of people all wearing clothes made from the same cloth pose with a sign for their group

The Curious Language Divide of Cameroon

May 16, 2017

While not making major international news, there have been recent splashes of Cameroon making headlines in the past few months. A very simplified explanation is that Cameroon has two official languages, French and English. The majority of the country is francophone, and the capital is solidly in the francophone area.

This had lead to discrimination against the anglophones in the country, particularly when it comes to dealing with government bureaucracies that may refuse to accommodate them. But where did this language divide come from in the first place?

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a few people standing on beached wooden fishing boats with flags flying above

The Big 6: Ghana’s Founding Fathers

May 12, 2017

You’re in Ghana and you’re at the market. You’ve got all of your produce selected and the maame tells you, “15 cedi.” You open your wallet and pull out a 20 cedi note and see six faces looking back at you. In fact, all of the paper money in your wallet has these same six faces staring out at you. These men are collectively known as Ghana’s Big Six. But who were they and why are they important enough to be on all of the money?

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A Glimpse at the Thimphu Teschu

May 9, 2017

When visiting a new culture, there is nothing that I love more than experiencing, attending or participating in a local festival. Just this past weekend was my town’s annual Aboakyer Festival, and once again it was a delight to join in the festivities. So when I was planning my trip to Bhutan, I knew I wanted to time it to coincide with a festival there, and as the calendar would have it, I was able to attend one of the biggest festivals, the Thimphu Tshechu.

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Two women talking with baskets on their heads filled with packets of crackers and cookies

6 Ghanaian Proverbs and Idioms

May 5, 2017

One of the things that I really like about living in another country and culture is learning about the various tools each culture uses for communication. In Ghana, being direct with your words can interfere with the social harmony, as so communicating indirectly via proverbs is very common. Not only that, but there are a number of idioms that can be strategically used as well. Here are some of my favorites that I’ve heard*.

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A man and young girl walking in front of a white wall with black adinkra symbols on it.

Adinkra Symbols: Communicating Without Words

March 24, 2017

It’s difficult to go anywhere in Ghana and not notice the use of artistic symbols. They are seemingly everywhere: painted on walls, in the backs of plastic chairs, painted on signs, incorporated in cloth patterns and more.

The most ubiquitous is one that is round, kind of like if the “no” symbol, a circle with a slash through it, didn’t have the circle completed and there were bumps on the middle slash. These are adinkra, a part of the Asante culture that has spread throughout Ghana.

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