Ghana

Ghana is a multicultural nation in West Africa.

Learn more about Ghana

Ghana is a culturally diverse nation. The largest ethnic group is the Akan who comprise over 40 percent of the population. They are followed by the Ewe, Ga, Adangme, Guan, and Kyerepong in the south. The largest northern groups are the Gonja, Dagomba, and Mamprussi, but the region contains many small decentralized communities, such as the Talensi, Konkomba, and Lowiili. The official language of Ghana is English with Akan (which includes Asante Twi, Akwapim Twi, Akyem, and Fanti) 49%, Mole-Dagbani 16%, Ewe 13%, Ga-Adangbe 8%, Guan 4%, others 10%.

Religious affiliations are Christian 69%, Muslim 15.6%, traditional and indigenous beliefs 8.5%.

Ghanaians in The United States

According to the 2000 Census there are 86,918 Ghanaian Americans living in the United States. Cities with large populations include (in order of size): Atlanta; Chicago; Detroit; Washington, D.C.; The Bronx in New York City; Newark, New Jersey; Providence, Rhode Island; and Columbus, Ohio, among others.

Ghanaians in Pacific Northwest

Ghanaian Association of Greater Seattle, PO Box 6894, Bellevue WA 98008. Tel: 206-747-4764

Adopt a Secondary School in Ghana Society (ASSIG), Emmanuel.Baidoo@PSS.Boeing.com , 425-747-4764

RESTAURANT: KwaTay Restaurant and Lounge 315 1st Ave. N. : Seattle, WA 98109 : (206) 588-2070

Ghanaians in Portland

Festivals: Portland's Homowo Festival

Music:

• Music 1

• Music 2

• Music 3

Non-Profits

Ghanaian People and Culture

Family, respect for the elderly, honoring traditional rulers, and the importance of dignity and proper social conduct are emphasized as values that the entire Ghanaian community share. Individual conduct is seen as having impact on an entire family unit or clan, social group and community. As a result of these beliefs each Ghanaian is expected to be respectful, dignified and observant in most every aspect of life.

Traditions, Customs, and Beliefs (cuisine, clothing, music, dance, songs, holidays)

Cuisine:

The basic diet consists of a starchy dough ball called fufu which is pounded plantains or tubers in combination with cassava. It is served with a vegetable based soup that includes animal proteins, usually fish, and hot peppers. Palm nut and peanut soups are also very popular. Indigenous diets are eaten *at all social levels*, even by the Westernized elite.

Most households raise chickens and dwarf goats, which are reserved for special occasions, such as christenings, weddings, traditional festivals, and Christmas.

Clothing:

Textiles, like the Kente cloth, are used in traditional and modern attire and dually function as a visual representation of history, and also form of a written language through weaving. Different symbols and different colors mean different things.

Music/Dance/Songs:

Dance is as diverse as its music. Each ethnic group has their own traditional dances and there are different dances for different occasions. There are dances for funerals, celebrations, storytelling, praise and worship etc.

Holidays:

The celebration of festivals in Ghana is an essential part of Ghanaian culture. They include traditional dancing, music and drumming, storytelling, and the display of traditional costumes. Among the most popular are the Homowo, Odwira, Aboakyer, Dodoleglime, Hogbetsotso, Tedudu, Deza, Sandema and others. Several rites and rituals are performed throughout the year in various parts of the country, including child-birth, rites of passage, puberty, marriage and death. The celebrations are often sponsored by ethnic associations within the Ghanaian American community in the US.

Family and Community Dynamics

At the heart of Ghanaian culture and society is the foundation of the family. Sustained through a series of kinship networks and marriages, the family is acknowledged as the basis of all social life. The family is the main source of care in old age (emotionally and financially) and the primary or sole caretaker for the young.

The Akan household arrangements are based on matrilineal principles. Women assume the basic domestic and childcare roles. Wives in general assume the main responsibility for feeding their husbands and children and for other child-care expenses.

The traditional Ghanaian family is more than the nuclear unit. In everyday usage, the term *family* is used to refer to both the nuclear unit and the extended family. Sibling bonds are strong, and household heads will often include younger brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews from either side of the family within their domestic units.

Akan women also assume important social, political, and ritual roles. Within the lineage and extended family, female elders assume authority, principally over other women. The oldest women are viewed to be the best and most able advisers and the keepers of family histories.

Tradition dictates that family elders arrange the marriages of the younger generations. It is the custom for the Akan for each spouse to remain with his or her birth family after marriage. Children would remain with their mothers and household units would consist of generations of brothers, sisters, and sisters' children.

Perceptions of Disability

Garvens, Ntarangwi, & Haskill (2006), report “Due to influences of the spiritual model of disability in Ghana, traditionally, when a child is born with a disability, the respondents report that the fault is assigned primarily to the mother because she is seen to have failed in her role in childbirth. Failure to produce a healthy child is traditionally attributed to past transgressions committed either by the mother or by her family. The spiritual model of disability is fading in Ghana, but its lingering effects may still lead to forms of social ostracism. Because of this, it is not uncommon for families to keep a child with disability hidden away from society, to enroll the child in a special school and sever family connections, or to seek spiritual intervention.

Families are often hesitant to seek assessment services, and they tend to provide alternative explanations for impairment, such as “a tree fell on the child,” in order to avoid spiritual prejudices. Negative perceptions of disability in Ghana also have significant effects on post-education community integration for adults with communication and other non-physical impairments in Ghana. Until the institution of the disability bill, for example, it was possible for employees to be discharged solely due to customer complaints against being served by an individual with a disability.”

Language and Education

Ghana has 47 ethnic languages. English is the country's official language and is used in the majority of government and business affairs. It is the standard language used for educational instruction. Ghanaians speak a distinctive West African Pidgin version of English referred to as Ghanaian Pidgin English (GhaPE). GhaPE is used by roughly a quarter of the population in some situations and is part of the West African Pidgin English (WAPE) continuum.

GhaPE, locally known as Pidgin (English), Broken (English), and formerly as Kru English or kroo brofo (the Akan term), is a predominantly oral and urban phenomenon. It is spoken in the southern towns, especially in the capital Accra. Pidgin is not officially recognized as a language of Ghana and there is no standardized orthography. The few grammatical descriptions are purely scholarly works.

English is a second language in most families. Twi is the most widely spoken sub-language and has acquired informal national status. In addition to the large number of native speakers of Twi, many members of other groups learn Twi as a second language and use it fluently for intergroup communication.

Greetings and Popular Expressions in Ghanaian English

Ghanaians place great emphasis on politeness, hospitality, and formality. Upon meeting, acquaintances must shake hands and ask about each other's health and families.

USEFUL TWI PHRASES: (Twi is a dialect spoken in Ghana by the Akan people)

Twi uses open vowel sounds as in Spanish. In the following examples: 'o' & 'Ɔ' like the 'o' in orange and 'ε’ like the 'E' in Eric. The 'e' on the end of words is pronounced. Intonation in questions does the opposite to English: instead of rising it falls.

• Yε frε wo sεn? What is your name?

• Yε frε me Heather. They call me Heather.

Another way of asking:

• Wo din de sεn? Your name is what?

• Me din de Heather. My Name is Heather

• Wofiri he? Where do you come from?

• Mefi America. I come from America.

• WorekƆ he? Where are you going?

• Me kƆ krum. I’m going to town.

• Wo te Twi? Do you speak Twi?

• Anne, me te Twi. Yes, I speak Twi.

• Dabi, mente Twi. No, I don’t speak Twi.

• Kakra kakra. Small small (a little).

Lingo and Expressions

Alba Kunadu Sumprim has a very comprehensive resource on popular phrases and lingo used in Ghana.

*Roger Blench has created an extensive Dictionary of Ghanaian English.

There are other blogs on the internet that have additional lingo and Ghanaian phrases. For example:

Blog 1

Blog 2

Blog 3

Such English words as “fool(ish),” “silly,” or “nonsense,” are highly offensive and are used only in extreme anger.

Education

The U.S. Department of the State (2009) describes that education is tuition-free and mandatory in the primary and junior secondary school. Education in Ghana includes seven years of primary education, four years at the junior secondary school level and three years at the senior secondary school level. Successful completion of senior secondary school leads to admission eligibility at training colleges, polytechnics, and universities. Access and limited facilities are the greatest barriers to continuing education. Private secondary schools play a very small role in Ghana, with only a handful of institutions. Fewer than 200 students graduate from secondary schools a year.

Clinical Implications

Services in the US

At the heart of Ghanaian culture and society is the foundation of the family. Because many Ghanaians who immigrate to the United States speak English in addition to tribal languages, speech and language services may be provided in English. However, it will be important when working with children to determine which language(s) are spoken in various settings (i.e. the home, community, school, etc.) and to provide support in each language spoken. Sustained through a series of kinship networks and marriages, the family is acknowledged as the basis of all social life. The family is the main source of care and social support. The family’s input, participation, and perspective must be part of intervention for it to be successful.

The following are generalizations. One should regard them as such and consider people encountered on an individual basis:

• A traditional cultural perspective of communication disorders is based on the spiritual model of disability where blame is placed on the mother due to past transgressions.

• The spiritual model of disability is fading in Ghana, but its lingering effects may still lead to forms of social ostracism, guilt and self-blame.

• Families are often hesitant to seek assessment services, and they tend to provide alternative explanations for impairment.

• Ghanaians are a very friendly and welcoming people.

• Ghanaians place great emphasis on politeness, hospitality, and formality.

• Elders (especially women) are respected and considered very knowledgeable.

• Remember that one might speak Ghanaian Pidgin English.

Services in Ghana

Gravens et. al (2006) reports that “integration and inclusion are essential in Ghana, a predominantly collectivist culture where members of the community are committed to and dependent upon one another for support, provision, and ultimately in some cases, survival. Many aspects of the Ghanaian lifestyle are centered within the context of community (child-rearing, buying and selling goods, meals, religion and funerals, provision of skilled services) and connections within the community greatly influence access and opportunity.

Therefore, there is a strong need for programs designed to serve children with disabilities in Ghana to be inherently community-focused and family-based in nature. As efforts to serve children with disabilities in Ghana continue to emerge and evolve, it may be recognized that Western models of care for individuals with disabilities (which are currently in place in Ghana) do not meet all of the distinct and unique needs of Ghanaian individuals with disabilities. ”

Original Contributors: Heather Higgins, Winter 2010