In the vedio is a group of students dancing the Ogene dance just to give you a peep at it. You will notice that the dancers have furry sticks in their hands. Their waists, legs, necks, and wrists are adorned with large red beads. If you are wondering why, please, do not wonder any further. It is all part of the culture. I told you. It is beautiful. So, Like I always say, as you watch this vedio, please, enjoy the Ogene coming to you from the great continent of Africa.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Lets Talk Nigeria- Ogene Dance
Still in mood for some music and entertainment? I would like to take you to the land of the Ibos the Yorubas, and the Hausa people.This week we are taking a stroll into Nigeria, the land enrich with overflowing oil and beauty. Located a little above the equator and two countries away from Ghana, Nigeria is over 356, 669 square miles. This is about three times the size of Germany and six times the size of New York. From the Ibo people of Nigeria comes the Ogene dance, which i will be focusing on.
The Ogene is a dance named after a metallic musical instrument, Ogene, that comes in a pair.Traditionally, the Ogene instrument is known to be an instrument for calling assembly and the ancestors, but clearly that is not its only use. Combined with other instrument, the Ogene instrument creats rhythms breath taking enough to shake some rigid legs. Dancers of the Ogene dance move their legs according to the 4 step rhythm of the Ogene instrument.
In the vedio is a group of students dancing the Ogene dance just to give you a peep at it. You will notice that the dancers have furry sticks in their hands. Their waists, legs, necks, and wrists are adorned with large red beads. If you are wondering why, please, do not wonder any further. It is all part of the culture. I told you. It is beautiful. So, Like I always say, as you watch this vedio, please, enjoy the Ogene coming to you from the great continent of Africa.
In the vedio is a group of students dancing the Ogene dance just to give you a peep at it. You will notice that the dancers have furry sticks in their hands. Their waists, legs, necks, and wrists are adorned with large red beads. If you are wondering why, please, do not wonder any further. It is all part of the culture. I told you. It is beautiful. So, Like I always say, as you watch this vedio, please, enjoy the Ogene coming to you from the great continent of Africa.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Some Limbs Moving Music
Not to surprise my readers too much but this week, I have something special and very different for you. Just to give my readers a tinny taste and glimpse of some of African music, I have selected a few of my favorite songs from some favorite artists in some countries in Africa. Even though these songs may not be entirely in English, music as they say is Universal language. I do not expect everyone to understand the language or even know the song, but I guarantee that you will love and enjoy it. It is totally fine if you cannot figure out how to dance to them. Just do whatever you can. So, as you enjoy, remember that this beautiful music is by African Artists made in Africa. Please, do let me know if you enjoy them through your comments.
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Success is From Within
Once again, this week, I will be talking about something different from the normal, yet very relevant to this "campaign". During the first semester of my first year of college (it is still my first year), I watched a video in INST 150 which was a Faith, Reason and Justice class. The video was about Camden; the poverty and violence that has taken over the city. In the beginning of the video, the presenter, Diane Sawyer, said something that touched my heart so much. She said that success is measured from within.
This touched my heart so much because what she was implying in this case was that, in order for a country to get a correct measure of how successful it is and how achieving it has been, it must first look within it self. It must asses the lives of its people- whether mostly good or mostly bad, the nature of its law systems- whether it is beneficial enough to it people, prevents the oppression of the poor, and most of all, if it brings justice. It must also asses the medical system, the educational system, and many others in order to feel accomplished.
However, what I have observed in this country is the opposite.The United States rather measures its success based what other nations have and do not have. Some people in the United States look at the entire African continent and assume that because the African continent lacks certain things, the United States is way way way way better. They then assume that we all (Africans) are poor because some parts of a few some countries in the Africa do not have schools that are conducive enough or water that is portable, and that the government is not doing anything about it. Because of this, the United States, which is one country, is better than an entire continent made up of over 50 countries.
It is these same few people with this idea who forget that not all schools in the United States have environments conducive enough to support education for all student. These same people forget that there are so many things lacking in the United States as much as they are lacking in countries in Ghana, Nigeria, Congo, Niger, Tanzania, Madagascar, and all the other countries. Similarly, all countries lack something valuable and necessary. Therefore technically, no one who compares African to America or any other developed country in the world, is morally right.
This touched my heart so much because what she was implying in this case was that, in order for a country to get a correct measure of how successful it is and how achieving it has been, it must first look within it self. It must asses the lives of its people- whether mostly good or mostly bad, the nature of its law systems- whether it is beneficial enough to it people, prevents the oppression of the poor, and most of all, if it brings justice. It must also asses the medical system, the educational system, and many others in order to feel accomplished.
However, what I have observed in this country is the opposite.The United States rather measures its success based what other nations have and do not have. Some people in the United States look at the entire African continent and assume that because the African continent lacks certain things, the United States is way way way way better. They then assume that we all (Africans) are poor because some parts of a few some countries in the Africa do not have schools that are conducive enough or water that is portable, and that the government is not doing anything about it. Because of this, the United States, which is one country, is better than an entire continent made up of over 50 countries.
It is these same few people with this idea who forget that not all schools in the United States have environments conducive enough to support education for all student. These same people forget that there are so many things lacking in the United States as much as they are lacking in countries in Ghana, Nigeria, Congo, Niger, Tanzania, Madagascar, and all the other countries. Similarly, all countries lack something valuable and necessary. Therefore technically, no one who compares African to America or any other developed country in the world, is morally right.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
From Ghana, Akwaaba.
I would like to take a slight shift from
the usual. Therefore instead of addressing questions I have been approached
with and issues worth of attention, this week, I would like to begin talking
about the beautiful features of some African countries (Africa is a really big
continent, so not all of them).
Since I am from Ghana, one of the most
popular countries in Africa, known mostly of its peacefulness, I will begin
with Ghana. Ghana is a country filled with many different people with different
cultures and languages. Yes, within one country, there are many languages, different
tribes, yet same people. Pretty cool right? This is the same for many other
African countries.
As English being its official language,
Ghana has a great history and most importantly, a wonderful landscape and
infrastructure, which I wish to shed more light on. To begin, in this link is a video of
ex-president Kufour, showing a guest around some of the most popular landscapes
and cultures in the beautiful country of Ghana.
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Caves and Cavemen? Uhmm No.
In high school, I sat in class with about 19 other students. It was a very small school. Little did I know that not only one but at least half of the class did not know people in Africa do not live in caves nor on trees. During my third week in the school, one of my mates gathered enough courage and said " Patience, back home in Africa where did you live? Did you live in caves?" No I said. "Then did you must have lived on trees?", he continued. At this point more than half of the class were eagerly waiting to hear a response from me. I could not believe my ears neither could I believe my eyes.
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| The buildings in this image are located in East Legon in Accra, Ghana. |
I calmed down, recovered from my shock, and calmly answered that we do not live in caves, neither do we live on tress. "We live in houses just like everyone else. Some people live in huts others live n regular houses, but neither of use live in trees nor caves." I went ahead to say. Now, they were more surprised than I had been when the question was asked earlier. They were indeed very surprised, but someone had to tell them, and I am glad they finally knew. The weirdest thing however was that I understood their ignorance and did not take too much offense to it.
To anyone who did not know that all people on the African continent do not live in cave or in trees, it is okay. Well, not really. You should probably not make judgments or create ideas about a place, people, or a culture based on one thing the media tells you. The joy is that you now know that we live in houses so, a toast to that.
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