Have you heard of Fufu? Do you know about the Black Stars? Have you ever been to Accra? can you guess what country these are connected to?
Hi, this is Momoko and this is Akane. We’d like to introduce Ghana to you on this show. Ghana is a unique place. We’ll be talking about basic facts and cultural highlights. We hope you enjoy our show!!!
The republic of Ghana is located in West Africa. The capital city is Accra. Ghana means “warrior king”. The flag is red, yellow and green. The black star in the middle stands for the lodestar of African freedom. Their official language is English, but they also have 47 ethnic languages. I think everyone knows the Japanese chocolate brand called “Ghana”. This is because Ghana is the second largest producer of cocoa in the world. Cocoa is used to make chocolate and is this country’s major exports.
First, I’d like to introduce Ghana’s food to you. In Ghana, a popular main dish is thick soup or “Fufu”. Fufu is usually eaten with the thick soup. Fufu consists cassava, yam, plantain, and rice cake. It is cooked, pureed, and then smashed into a ball. Sometimes it is topped with a fiery sauce. It is really healthy too. A popular dessert is fried plantain that is seasoned with chili pepper and ginger. Plantain means bananas for cooking. Overall, people in Ghana seem to favor spicy food. In fact, there’s only one sweet dessert and it’s called fan- ice. There’s vanilla, strawberry, which is the most popular, chocolate, and orange. Sellers usually have boxes of fan-ice on their head and walk around the town. One interesting fact about Ghana’s food is their eggs. Unlike the eggs we usually know, Ghana’s eggs are white, even the yolk.
In Ghana, football is the most popular sport. There are some national men’s football teams. “The Black Stars”, “The Satellites” and “The Black Starlets”. To play for “The Black Stars” is every schoolboy’s dream. Last year on October 16th 2009, Ghana won the FIFA Under-20 World Cup. They defeated Brazil 4-3 in the penalty shootout. And this year, the World Cup is held and Ghana played with the Republic of Serbia on June 13th and won by 1-0. On 23rd, Ghana will play a game with Germany, so if you can watch the games, let’s support them!!
Fashion in Ghana is said to be the most important. I would like to introduce the most famous cloth named Kente to you. Kente has many different kinds of colors, sizes and designs.they are worn during important social and religious occasions. Kente could also be a form of written language through weaving. The colors of Kente cloth each has a meaning.
For expample
- black means maturation, intensified spiritual energy
- blue means peacefulness, harmony and love
- green means vegetation, planting, harvesting, growth, spiritual renewal
- red means political and spiritual moods; bloodshed; sacrificial rites and death.
Well, we hope you enjoyed our show and learnt a little more about Ghana. Oh, and for your information, Ghana is 2 thirds of the size of Japan. Thanks for listening, bye.