Learning about Ghana, my summer home

Ghana is where I will be spending my summer and hopefully learning and impacting to the max, but how do much do I actually know about this country? One of the things that I want to do is to slowly and manageably learn about Ghana and have my lovely Guelph chapter learn with me. What I have decided to do is to focus on one aspect of the country per week. Here we go!

Week 1 - (Reading Week) Ghanian Culture

• major ethnic groups: Akan, Ewe, Mole-Dagbane, Guan, Ga-Adangbe
• no part of Ghana is ethnically homogenous
• the south has western influences and is primarily christian, the north has more of an islamic influence
• Naomi Chazan: prolific writer on modern Ghana
• President: John Kufour
• one of Ghana's foreign policy principles is to be a friend to all
• food: fufu (mashed cassava, plaintain or yam), ground nut stew, fried plantains and magoes!
• sports: football (soccer) and boxing
• textiles: Ashanti well known for kente cloth, in a distinctive basket-work pattern. the colour and design is a way of indicating status and clan allegiance. only men weave the kente cloth
• Population: 21 million
• Capital: Accra
• former UN secretary General Kofi Annan is from Ghana
  

Week 2 - Ghanian Geography and Climate

• neighbouring countries: Cote D'Ivore, Burkina Faso, Togo
• 539 km of coastline
• the size of Britain
• only a few degrees north of the equator!
• very flat and close to sea level (the whole country is below 1000m)
• world's largest artificial lake, Lake Volta (when the Volta River was dammed in the mid-1960s
• climate: tropical
• the north (where I will be going) is hot and dry and I will be there primarily for a dry season
  

Week 3 - Music!

• Check out some radio stations from Ghana:
  http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/live-radio.php?popup=1
• Ghana is known for its fusion of musical genres, including of American hip-hop and gospel rap!

Week 4 - Language

• Twi ("chwee") is the most widely spoken African language in Ghana, where its the official language of education and literature
• Hello: a-kwa-ba (response) yaa
• Goodbye: ma-krow
• Please: me-pa-wo-che-o
• Thank you: may-da-say