FIVE THINGS I LOVE ABOUT GHANA

Yesterday, a father I cherish, nominated me to say five things I love about Ghana, my homeland. Due to the advantaged peace of “dumsor” I was not able to take on the challenge to the fullest, and I decided to take that up today.

1. I love Ghana because we are hospitable. Yes, we are hospitable, in that, many are those who will rush to help the helpless in all situations, except of course where ebola is concerned. Let someone collapse on the street, and you’ll get many offering to take that person to the hospital, let some people decide to fight, and you’ll get others trying to calm the tempered waters, let someone start crying, and you will find many ears standing erect, ready to listen, let there be a visitor lost, and many knights will rise to make the person comfortable and let there be a funeral and you get to see many new faces ready to help. What I love, love and love most is the fact that most people you don’t know from Adam in Ghana ask for your greetings even if you forget to give it. Thus, once you get out there, no matter how lonely you are, you can still talk to someone and feel among. Why won’t I love Ghana?

2. I love Ghana because everyone has a voice. Literates and illiterates alike have voices. Listen to a radio station discussing politics and you’ll hear many opinions, ones which can make you laugh your heart out and ones which will make you think. A public official whose good clothes have been peeled off by corruption will have supporters ready to fight for him and will have enemies ready to crucify him. The tug of war sometimes gets so clumsy that those on the fence can find the comedy more humorous than the plays of Shakespeare. And the hot waters become cool as soon as some days travel on the matter. Ghana! Why won’t I love Ghana?

3. I love Ghana because there is mostly sunlight and I love the sun. There is no snow to lock humans in, though there are enough gutter buildings which help in flooding and disaster, I pray for the likes of Oko in all regions.

4. I love Ghana because of our food. You get banku and okra soup, get fufu and palmnut soup with prekese, get ampesi and “nkontontoriwa” groundings, even porridge with “whintia, pepre etc”. Where else can you face the wall and get a belly full? Get a prepared drink in soobolo which is purported to be medicinal? And ei, can I leave out tuozaafi and ayoyo or bra soup? Please, I love my Ghana because even soups can be married to be in one consumption; “abenkatekonto”. I love Ghana.

5. I love Ghana because of our peace. There are no shivers here; shivers of ebola, bokoharam (my sympathies to affected states), and even where political tensions rise, the court is left to decide and its rulings are respected. Many are those who will disagree but never end up fighting. Well, we do have a few ethnic and chieftaincy squabbles, but we are generally a peace loving nation. We play with our cultural supremacies but never end up in war. I love Ghana. Yes, this is my homeland, we have issues but home is where the heart is, and Ghana is my home.

Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia (c) 2015