A Kenyan Visiting Ghana

There is something very familiar-feeling about the following post.

The original Jamaicans are said to have been brought here from what is today's Nigeria and Ghana.

(Courtesy of my sister Ruth.)

-------------> CTX 06/20 (ANS) A Visitor Amongst Us: a Kenyan Akosua in Ghana
>
>
> Jun 19, 2006 (Accra Mail/All Africa Global Media via
> COMTEX) -- Even before the
> BA flight touched down in Accra at 8:00pm on June 5th, a
> few subtle things let
> me know that I was in Ghana. Fellow passengers made
> conversation and exchanged
> contacts with each other. You rarely see this in flights in
> America or Europe.

>
> Passengers mostly stay cautiously quiet and stick to their
> own business as if
> the person sitting next to them had a deadly, infectious
> disease. A man behind
> me ordered four bottles of wine to the surprise of the
> airhostess.
>
>
> We all smiled to ourselves knowing that some of the bottles
> would probably go
> down with the fufu and light soup that he would have later
> that night. When the
> plane successfully landed, everyone clapped. "We also clap
> when the plane
> touches down in Nairobi!" I excitedly told Gifty, the lady
> sitting next to me.
>
>
> You must have guessed by now where I am from. I am a Kenyan
> visiting Ghana for
> the next two and a half months. For purposes of anonymity I
> have named myself
> Akosua since this seems to be what everyone, especially the
> men in the streets
> call me. Unlike the beautiful Ghanaian lady called Akos
> whom I saw on a TV
> advertisement the other day in an advert for panther or
> some other condom brand,
> I am always prepared.
>
>
>
> To deal with the cold season at this time, I was advised by
> a friend to bring
> warm clothing and this I did faithfully. I regretted it as
> soon as I stepped
> outside the plane and was hit by a blast of hot air.
> Akwaaba! Welcome to Ghana,
> the air seemed to say. Because it is so hot in this cold
> season, there are
> always people selling cold, satcheted water in pans on
> their heads.
>
>
> I don't think they realize how much balance and grace in
> takes to run after a
> tro-tro with these loads on their heads. They call out,
> "pure water pure water!"
> Sometimes I want to tell them to spare their voices because
> everyone knows the
> water is pure. In fact, so far I have bought water called
> "so pure, so fresh,
> sooo clean, and so nice."
>
>
>
> I am determined to blend in with my Ghanaian brothers and
> sisters; we are all
> Africans after all. I am doing everything to learn about
> Ghana and Ghanaians. I
> started by watching television. After three hours of
> patient viewing, I gave up
> after finding myself having memorized the official black
> stars song, and singing
> along to something called mentors In an episode yesterday
> someone was evicted I
> think. There was cheering in the audience, which I thought
> was bizarre since an
> eviction is a serious deal. In Ghana people are very
> polite.
>
>
> On my way to work every morning, the little children in the
> estate always say,
> Please Madam, Good morning. And I always pause, looking at
> them with pity,
> wondering how I can help them because if they say please,
> it means they need me
> to do something for them. They always look at me strangely
> and then continue
> playing. Sometimes this politeness confounds me. I will
> give you yesterday as an
> example, when a taxi driver along Ring Road yelled at the
> driver of the taxi I
> was in, when he accidentally cut a wrong turn and blocked
> his way.
>
>
>
>
> -----------------------------====================-------------------------
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>
> Copyright (c) 2006
>
>
>
> Page 2 of 2
>
>
> The angry taxi driver said, "Please, I think you are an
> idiot. Excuse me but
> please, I think you are the most stupid man I have ever
> met!" And this seemed to
> make our driver angry, although the angry driver had said
> please! I am convinced
> that God lives in Ghana. He is everywhere, in "God is Great
> Preparatory School",
> "God is my Provider Chop Bar", "Onyame Adom Cyber Cafe",
> "Blessed is the Lamb
> Associates", and "Precious Gift of Christ Bar and Lodging".
> Sometimes these men
> and women sing on TV.
>
>
>
> I have learnt that Awuradee and Onyame mean God and if I
> hear them in a song,
> then it means that they are gospel songs. I always wish
> there were subtitles
> because I want to understand these songs that make people
> very happy. Instead, a
> bold caption will occasionally appear announcing that their
> clothes and hair are
> courtesy of Blessed Grace's Fashion Consultants. Mepa wo
> kyew (Please), Read
> this column next week for more impressions on Ghana and
> Ghanaians .
>
>
>
>
> by Gladys Onyango