sokope

Sokope was a resident at Aba House. Everyone loved him more than I did.

He was dirty, flea ridden and a major thief. I was playing scrabble in the yard and he ate my E. He also ate the usual like bananas. One day I gave him some brown bread. He looked at it and then threw it away. Guess it was too healthy for him.

Tourists would hold him and he'd play cute and then pounce...trying to rip their jewelry off.

He was usually tied to a tree in the yard and would wrap himself around and around until he had no space to move or he would jump into the branches and end up hanging himself. I felt sorry for him and was not unhappy when he escaped once in awhile. But he was always captured and brought back.

Eventually he wasn't living with us any more and when I asked, I was told that "he went back to his village". That could mean what it says or it could mean that he died. Ghanaians have a way with words.

And that's the story of our monkey, Sokope.

Reading between the lines

I was flipping through one of the women’s magazines and was struck by the content of some of the articles.

What a window on American culture...well, a segment of American culture.
Even with my body in America, my mind is usually in Africa, so I really chuckled at how an African woman would react to the survey about whether the father-in-law should be consulted for his blessing by the future son in law. Most American women said, “No way. It’s none of his business.”


And the article about how to improve your posture. They suggest walking with something (like a book) on your head. Or maybe just grow up as an African woman and carry everything on your head. (no, that wasn’t their suggestion).


And then the article about whether children should sleep in the same bed/room with the parents. You’d have to pick an African women up off of the floor she’d be laughing so hard when she read the American answers. Give the child his own room...ha,ha. Child abuse..ho,ho...let the child decide..OMG, what will these Americans think of next......

This is what time it is in Ghana

Village Food

This refers to food planted and eaten on the farm.

A farmer brings a pot, salt and fire to the farm and when the harvest is ready, he can eat.

My favorite is maize (corn) and groundnuts (peanuts.) Add water and salt and bring to a boil.

Simple, but really delicious.

Ghana Among The Top 8

What does Ghana have in common with Venezuela?

Well, both countries recently made the list of the top eight countries for taking bribes. Not a list to aspire to, but they made it nonetheless.

Read this article to find out the the good company that they are in.

Of interest to potters

We work hard to make all of our workshops unique.

This time we've outdone ourselves because we are offering a rare opportunity to interact with Ghanaian housepainters without traveling to the north.

Aba House will host a workshop July 11-24, 2010 that is of particular interest to potters, visual artists and teachers of African culture.

Women from northern Ghana will paint a wall at Aba House and workshop participants can join in.

Other activities include working with contemporary potters in Accra, traditional potters in Vume ( a village made famous by Michael Cardew) , building a paper kiln, visiting galleries and museums and more...more...more.

To apply contact aba@culturalcollaborative.org

summer in Ghana

Cross Cultural Collaborative offers many exciting opportunities for people who want to spend their summers in Ghana.

You can volunteer to work with children in a fishing village, take workshops to learn indigenous skills, go on a tour or just relax at our cultural center across the street from the ocean.

Because we are a small, self funded non-profit we ask people to pay for room and board and lessons,etc. The cost is low and the rewards are memorable.

There is a wonderful site where you might find funding. This is a comprehensive, pretty amazing source for funding opportunities and also residencies...in case you don't want one in Ghana!