Nyonkopa Eco Tours

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The Ghanaian Woman And Bead

For ages, locally made beads (either glass or clay) has been a part of the Ghanaian woman. At birth, babies are adorn with beads around either their wrist, knees or waist. This is superstitiously believed to have some form of spiritual protection for the newly born in a lot of communities in Ghana. From infancy, the girl child is made to put on the waist bead as a way of differentiating her from the boy child. It is also a way of showcasing her femininity hence nurture her into a true womanhood in the society. There are different types and shapes of beads worn by the Ghanaian woman. There are some worn on the neck, wrist, waist, ankle and even the head sometimes. The Ghanaian woman wears a particular type or shape of bead to specifically suit an occasion. Above all, the waist bead is the most culturally worn bead because there’s a belief that it helps shape the hips of the adult Ghanaian woman into a curvy mode for good attraction to men (their husbands or boyfriends) and sometimes arouse their sexual feelings during love making.

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Oware (A Traditional Game of Wisdom)

Oware is a mathematical game that involves great reasoning. Two players are traditionally involved in playing Oware, whereas each player is entitle to 6 of the 12 circular shallow holes on a same horizontal row. I remember as a kid, my friends and i used to create 12 circular shallow holes on a dry ground with 6 of such circular shallow holes horizontally facing each other (because as kids we didn’t have the money to buy one of those expensive wooden types seen in the picture). I remember we used palm nuts as marbles. We picked a sum total of 48 palm nuts with 4 pieces in each circular shallow hole. The objective of Oware game is to capture more marbles than your opponent. Because there is a total of 48 marbles in the game, capturing 25 marbles is sufficient to win at a time. Also, there is a possibility that the game could end in a draw where each player captures 24 marbles since the total number of marbles in the game is an even number thus 48. Oware game is historically, believed to be of an Akan origin popularly among the Ashanti’s of Ghana. However, the infamous Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade which resulted in the displacement of many Africans made Oware game transited to the Caribbean and is now a popular game in some countries out there also.

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Aiden Fruit (Prekese) from Ghana

Tetrapleura Tetraptera as scientifically called is a flowering plant species in the Peg family that is native to Western Africa. It is locally called ”Prekese” in Ghana. It is well known for its medicinal benefits and aromatic flavor. It may be found almost in every home in Ghana. People add them to their soups and other dishes to give it a natural aromatic taste. It is sometimes used to flavor some locally brewed soft drinks. Some people mix them with other herbs and alcohol to make bitters to cure some diseases. One of the most happy moments is when your are served fufu (pounded boiled plantain and cassava into fine mixture) with light (pepper) soup garnish with Prekese in the afternoon, Yummy!