30 October 2015

Culture

Ghana is a country in West-Africa. This means that a lot of aspects are dealt different with than in the civilised parts of Europe. A cultural analysis is made about the findings done in preparation for the trip to Ghana. The eight functions of innovation systems of Van Alphen are used as well as the eleven cultural commandments of Trompenaars and Hofstede. The full analysis can be in a separate article.

Food

Food is very important to Ghanaian people. They spend the day by preparing meals. One of the main dishes is called fufu. Fufu is made of yams. Yams are certain tubers. These tubers are meshed quite long until the yams become sticky and chewy. It has become a dough. This is then eaten along with a rat soup or a sauce. Other delicacies are fish eyes, goat legs or fish heads. Especially fish eyes are prepared if an important guest is coming.

Clothing

Clothes are just as important as food is. Lots of colours are used and these have different meanings. Red is for example the colour of mourning. So one should not wear a red t-shirt unless a dear friend has passed away.

Another symbol that is often used is the Sankofa. This is a bird with his head turned around. This symbol means that one should learn from its past. The Sankofa is not only seen on clothes, but on drums and on the staff of the chief as well.
Kente is one of most luxurious fabrics in Ghana. It is woven thus that makes it highly expensive. It is quite heavy as well. Kente is mostly worn by the upper class people, because they are the only ones who can afford this fabric.

Religion

Ghana is a very religious country. Almost 100% of the people believe in a God. However, the religion they believe in is quite diverse. About 63% of the people are Christians, 21% follows one of the traditional African religions and 16% are Muslims. With such a diversity one should expect conflicts. This is however not the case. Ghanaians very tolerant to other religions. On the other hand, atheists are often not understood. [Anique, 2011]

Gestures

[noworries, 2014]

• Close fingers repeatedly with palms toward the ground: request to come.

 • Flicking fingers away from oneself: request to go away. 

• Removing feet from sandals or removal of native cloth from shoulders (men): sign of reverence and respect. 

• Both hands placed on the head: sign of grief, sorrow and mourning. 

• Shaking index finger at someone: warning/admonition. 

• Scratching palm of left hand with fingers of right hand: sign of money .

• Cupping hands on top of each other: I beg you or please .

• Biting one’s index finger: intense feeling of pain/regret/forgetfulness .

• Stamp foot on ground: sign of annoyance. 

• Tapping stomach with right hand then raising one’s hand: sign of satisfaction. 

• Tapping pocket; money in pocket. 