Ghana Stories

Girl hairstyles in Ghana

Almost all the young girls or school age girls keep their hair very short (like the boys) while they are in school.  Our guide in explaining the tradition related that the headmaster at his daughter’s school requires all girls to keep their hair very short, almost shaved.  When they get married, the women traditionally start wearing headscarves to cover their hair.

Self-guided Sheep & Goats

On the outskirts of town and in the villages herds of goats and sheep are seen walking around, crossing the roads, and generally walking with a purpose.  However, usually they have no human or animal supervision.  The goats are trained to follow a certain route and take themselves out to pasture and come back to the house later on, all automatically and without supervision.

Cell Service Carrier Advertising

In Ghana he war between cell phone service providers is heating up and advertising has become a major competition between the different brands.  All the major brands advertise: MTN, vodafone, Tigo, Zain; but it seems the most intense battle is between vodafone and MTN.  Their battle has spread from the airwaves to the fabric of people's clothes (incorporating both small and large logos), as well as the color of their house and business.  Walking down the street in some areas it seems that the houses alternate red (vodafone) and yellow (MTN).

Garbage Man Jingle

Around 5am i was woken by the sound of what I thought was the ice-cream man driving through the streets of Accra.  It was a meandering thin tune played endlessly over speaker, just like an ice-cream man who sells from a truck common in North America.  The reality couldn't be more opposite, because this tune in Accra announced the coming of the garbage man, and people would rush to bring their garbage out.