It’s rare to see a Ghanaian smoking, as most locals regard the habit disrespectful and hazardous. I find it ironic the majority of the Ghanaian population is intolerant of smokers because they are concerned with the unhealthy side effects but either don’t know or don’t care about the environmental hazards of burning trash, littering and not recycling. How are they not also concerned with the lack of sanitation caused by those who defecate on the beaches and urinate in town gutters and do not wash their hands? Are these habits not hazardous to inhabitants’ health as well?
When a Ghanaian smokes, he is pegged as a troublemaker. Many Ghanaians cast a blind eye when foreigners jive with cultural norms; I can’t explain why I feel this is quite unfortunate. Yet, foreigners are not above this unspoken societal standard and should refrain from smoking in public.
On several occasions I’ve been “taught” by forward-thinking Ghanaians that foreigners who smoke do so to keep warm in their home countries, and the habit just sticks when they come to Ghana. A fellow expat once told me Ghanaians look down on Ghanaians who smoke because it’s understood that smoking is an expensive habit, and if Ghanaian smokers have the means to continually carry out that habit, it is assumed by their peers they must be acquiring the money inauthentically.
This particular expatriate acquaintance has a track record of assuming things about Ghanaians and their culture. Besides disagreeing with this ridiculous generalization, I disagree with the theory altogether. First, the dirt-poor citizens of any village or city in Ghana do not smoke. They are either walking along the streets or between cars at stoplights, selling anything from plantain chips to soccer balls, or they are wandering the streets barefooted and aimless, usually half-dressed in dusty dirty rags. They are far from consumed by the desire to score a cigarette off someone. Yes, the ones who smoke and can afford to smoke are in the middle and upper classes, which of course does not automatically guarantee they are buying smokes legally, but also does not mean they are stealing cigarettes or acquiring money for them in a questionable manner.
Using Cape Coast as an example, it seems there is equal representation in each social class. Let’s examine the prevailing appearance of the middle and upper class: The men’s clothes are ironed, pressed, tucked-in shirts, collars, belts, no stains and no dirt. Many have not just one but two cell phones. If you go to town or the University of Cape Coast campus or the lively suburb Abura, you will find most men clean-shaven with little head hair, some men in their 20s and 30s with ear buds or a USB stick on a lanyard hanging around their neck, leather sandals, Chuck Taylors or Keds, briefcase over shoulder, walking briskly. Some men grow out one or more nails. I've been told they do this because it's considered stylish; my guess is it also shows they don’t have to work with their hands, which signifies they have an “intelligent prestigious job.” As for the upper class women in these areas of Cape Coast? Monthly new wigs, sometimes makeup, sometimes painted nails, gold jewelry, heels, driving their own car or walking independently without their husbands escorting them.
My point is, if middle or upper class Ghanaians want to buy a pack of smokes, they can. They can do it legally. Ghana is not your commonly projected "children are starving and HIV/AIDS is everywhere" African country, especially the cities of Cape Coast, Kumasi, Takoradi and Accra. Sure, there are villages with children wearing nothing but dirty underwear and flies buzzing around their open cuts, but as a whole, Ghana is far more progressive than some foreigners give it credit for, regardless of whether they've ever set foot on its soil. Visitors and expatriates need to work on talking less loosely about cultures they do not try to understand.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Valentine's Day in Ghana: Ghanaians are Geysers
A couple weeks ago one of my best friends asked in an e-mail, “Do they celebrate Valentine’s Day in Africa? It seems like they should be above a holiday like that.”
At first I didn’t know what she meant. Even today, Valentine’s Day, I’m still pondering. I understood the “above a holiday like that” part. We all know Hallmark Day – excuse me, Valentine’s Day – is a marketing ploy for emotional saps. Shouldn’t we celebrate the magic of being in love every day? Shouldn’t we all be “above” this holiday?
But I couldn’t wrap my mind around why “they” (Africans?) should be above Valentine’s Day. To be fair, I don’t think she gave much thought to this idea. Yet it made me wonder what the American society really thinks of Africa.
That was another part of her question that threw me off. Many of my friends and family and most our volunteers make the mistake of grouping Ghana with the other 52 countries that make up Africa. Each country has a different culture, climate, religion, government, economy, languages, and social and health problems. Africa is a continent.
The NGO I work for provides community development projects for international volunteers. During the pre-program contact with the volunteers, sometimes a worried mother takes over their child’s e-mails. One of those mothers wasn’t able to reach Kirsty because she had been on holiday, so she e-mailed our marketing department asking for another way to reach her. Someone from the marketing department forwarded the mother’s e-mail to both me and Kirsty. I believe the third paragraph started with: “My daughter arrives in Africa in four weeks and I have not yet heard from…” In Africa, you say? Where exactly, may we ask, in Africa? Jesus, woman, it’s like grouping the states with Canada and Mexico.
Maybe I’m overreacting. I’ve noticed especially in recent months that I feel strongly compelled to defend Ghana’s culture to the ignorant and to the ethnocentric. Perhaps the most unnerving thing is when foreigners think they are helping the economy by giving out money. There is a time and place for charity. That’s all I’m going to say about that. Unfortunately, I butted heads with my dad on this subject frequently while he visited in November.
I’ve bit my tongue too often in the presence of expatriates who have been in Ghana for 5, 10, 15+ years yet have unthinkably foul attitudes toward Ghanaians. I feel more comfortable defending Ghana to Ghanaians - it's lighthearted and I eventually get them to agree with me. It’s not so much that these native individuals don’t like Ghana, but rather they would like to try living somewhere else. The corruption, the education system and the lateness are the three elements of Ghanaian culture that unnerve the educated locals whose beliefs reflect the “grass is greener on the other side” theory. The less educated “grass is greener on the other side” party have fittingly less reasonable acumen for wanting to live elsewhere: “Because Obama lives there!” and “I want to marry a white woman!” are my personal favorites.
Sans doubt, I’ve grown more and more intolerant of culturally insensitive people since I’ve been in Ghana.
But back to hearts and and cupids and smooching and L-O-V-E love. (Any "Friends" fans out there? Best episode there ever was.)
Valentine's Day was more apparent in Accra than in Cape Coast. I was in Accra last weekend to pick up a volunteer from the airport and had some free time so I ran some errands at the Accra shopping mall, a true step outside of Ghana no matter the occasion. However, last weekend I felt like my body had been transported back to the states. Roses, exotic plants and balloons for sale in the hallway, fiery red and devious black lingerie hanging in shop windows and baskets of candies and small teddy bears at the bookstore cashier. A little slice of home, it was.
I wasn't surprised to learn that Ghanaians do, in fact, celebrate Valentine's Day. After all, Valentine's Day is simply an excuse for everyone to devote one day of undivided attention to our love lives, which works out perfectly with a culture of men who regularly post Facebook statuses like: "my future wife should get ready !! course i want four strong kids.....lol...... where are you !! still looking to find you!!!!" (Sorry, Facebook friend, if you're reading this. To each his own.)
Ghanaians are latently and overtly sexual at the same time. What I find most beautiful, most attractive about Ghanaians is the grace with which they hold themselves; the confidence, the poise, the alluring movements. Ghanaian sexuality is perhaps most comparable to a geyser. Yes! That's it. They're all geysers - hot springs periodically erupting, emitting a forceful burst of water into the sky.
Geyers are very rare, though. I've read that three components must be present for geysers to exist: an abundant supply of water, an intense source of heat and unique plumbing. Returning to the metaphor, I'd say the three mandatory components that must be present for Ghanaians' sexuality to be conjured include: traditional music, highlife music and something that might sound like music.
Happy Valentine's Day from Ghana!
At first I didn’t know what she meant. Even today, Valentine’s Day, I’m still pondering. I understood the “above a holiday like that” part. We all know Hallmark Day – excuse me, Valentine’s Day – is a marketing ploy for emotional saps. Shouldn’t we celebrate the magic of being in love every day? Shouldn’t we all be “above” this holiday?
But I couldn’t wrap my mind around why “they” (Africans?) should be above Valentine’s Day. To be fair, I don’t think she gave much thought to this idea. Yet it made me wonder what the American society really thinks of Africa.
That was another part of her question that threw me off. Many of my friends and family and most our volunteers make the mistake of grouping Ghana with the other 52 countries that make up Africa. Each country has a different culture, climate, religion, government, economy, languages, and social and health problems. Africa is a continent.
The NGO I work for provides community development projects for international volunteers. During the pre-program contact with the volunteers, sometimes a worried mother takes over their child’s e-mails. One of those mothers wasn’t able to reach Kirsty because she had been on holiday, so she e-mailed our marketing department asking for another way to reach her. Someone from the marketing department forwarded the mother’s e-mail to both me and Kirsty. I believe the third paragraph started with: “My daughter arrives in Africa in four weeks and I have not yet heard from…” In Africa, you say? Where exactly, may we ask, in Africa? Jesus, woman, it’s like grouping the states with Canada and Mexico.
Maybe I’m overreacting. I’ve noticed especially in recent months that I feel strongly compelled to defend Ghana’s culture to the ignorant and to the ethnocentric. Perhaps the most unnerving thing is when foreigners think they are helping the economy by giving out money. There is a time and place for charity. That’s all I’m going to say about that. Unfortunately, I butted heads with my dad on this subject frequently while he visited in November.
I’ve bit my tongue too often in the presence of expatriates who have been in Ghana for 5, 10, 15+ years yet have unthinkably foul attitudes toward Ghanaians. I feel more comfortable defending Ghana to Ghanaians - it's lighthearted and I eventually get them to agree with me. It’s not so much that these native individuals don’t like Ghana, but rather they would like to try living somewhere else. The corruption, the education system and the lateness are the three elements of Ghanaian culture that unnerve the educated locals whose beliefs reflect the “grass is greener on the other side” theory. The less educated “grass is greener on the other side” party have fittingly less reasonable acumen for wanting to live elsewhere: “Because Obama lives there!” and “I want to marry a white woman!” are my personal favorites.
Sans doubt, I’ve grown more and more intolerant of culturally insensitive people since I’ve been in Ghana.
But back to hearts and and cupids and smooching and L-O-V-E love. (Any "Friends" fans out there? Best episode there ever was.)
Valentine's Day was more apparent in Accra than in Cape Coast. I was in Accra last weekend to pick up a volunteer from the airport and had some free time so I ran some errands at the Accra shopping mall, a true step outside of Ghana no matter the occasion. However, last weekend I felt like my body had been transported back to the states. Roses, exotic plants and balloons for sale in the hallway, fiery red and devious black lingerie hanging in shop windows and baskets of candies and small teddy bears at the bookstore cashier. A little slice of home, it was.
I wasn't surprised to learn that Ghanaians do, in fact, celebrate Valentine's Day. After all, Valentine's Day is simply an excuse for everyone to devote one day of undivided attention to our love lives, which works out perfectly with a culture of men who regularly post Facebook statuses like: "my future wife should get ready !! course i want four strong kids.....lol...... where are you !! still looking to find you!!!!" (Sorry, Facebook friend, if you're reading this. To each his own.)
Ghanaians are latently and overtly sexual at the same time. What I find most beautiful, most attractive about Ghanaians is the grace with which they hold themselves; the confidence, the poise, the alluring movements. Ghanaian sexuality is perhaps most comparable to a geyser. Yes! That's it. They're all geysers - hot springs periodically erupting, emitting a forceful burst of water into the sky.
Geyers are very rare, though. I've read that three components must be present for geysers to exist: an abundant supply of water, an intense source of heat and unique plumbing. Returning to the metaphor, I'd say the three mandatory components that must be present for Ghanaians' sexuality to be conjured include: traditional music, highlife music and something that might sound like music.
Happy Valentine's Day from Ghana!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)