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CHEER ACROSS THE GLOBE: OUR FRIENDS IN GHANA!
To bring keep you in touch with CHEER's friends around the world, we spoke with Minister Counsellor John E. Aggrey of the permanent mission of Ghana to the United Nations. Minister Aggrey generously shared his time to tell us about life in his West African homeland. CHEER- What game and sports do children in Ghana play? MINISTER AGGREY- We have all sorts of traditional games and sports, in addition to what can be learned from books. We have, for example, in school, the children from the Kindergarten stage learn to recite some of these rhymes, and act them out. Then we have traditional games like Ampe. Ampe is a game for girls. You clap your hands and twirl your legs. Boys normally play football and some running activities of that sort. So, more or less, it's what you can observe in any other school. CHEER- Please describe Ghana's education system. MINISTER AGGREY- At the moment, we have a system which is quite nearer to the American system. The children go to Kindergarten at the age of 3. From 3 through 5 they are in the Kindergarten stage. And then by the age of 6, you are in Class One. That's like Grade One here [in the United States]. That goes up to Grade 6. Then you go to something called JSS. JSS is Junior Secondary School. The equivalent here would be Grades 7 and 8, but ours is 3 years. So more or less, it takes the first grade of High School here. After these 3 years of JSS, you sit for a final examination. The students from his Junior Secondary School go on to a Senior Secondary School, which is 3 years. And these 3 years will be Grade 10, Grade 11, and Grade 12. When you come out of this Secondary School, you are ready to go to college. More or less, in our system now, the product of the Secondary School goes to the University. Whereas in the past, we had a system of education which was more or less of the British type. You would go to 5 years of Secondary School, then go to University to do the 3 years. CHEER- What are the major Holidays children in Ghana celebrate, and how do the children celebrate them? MINISTER AGGREY- Independence Day, the Sixth of March, is the Holy Day for the country. But as far as the children are concerned, it's a day when they have to go and march in parades. In all the villages and regional capitals, the police or military provide music, and then they go to the square, they march past the Officials, salute, and after that, it's followed by some music and dancing, and the day is over for them. CHEER- Please describe a Ghananian children's folk tale. MINISTER AGGREY- Most of our fold tales are centered around Ananse. Ananse is something like a spider, and it's supposed to be very witty, full of tricks, Any one of the folk tales will describe how witty Ananse is, and I'll give you an example. It's the story of an animal who was supposed to be the wisest of all living things. He thought he was carrying all the wisdom in the world in one pot. He was going across the road, and came by a tree which had fallen on the road. He didn't know whether to go down under the tree with the pot, or to climb over the tree with it. Meanwhile, Ananse was there watching him. Now, the only way you can do this is by putting the pot down, then you can go under or over the tree, and then take the pot away. But he didn't want to put it down, so he tried to climb over the tree with the pot. And when he climbed, the tree collapsed, and wisdom spread. That's how everybody got wisdom! I'll give you another example. A snake comes across an animal which has been caught in a trap. the snake wants to eat this animal. so Ananse watches this scene, and wants to help the animal. He tells the snake, he wants to measure him, because there has been an argument amongst the animals as to how long the snake is. He puts a rope around the stretched out snake, and as the snake lies around the rope, Ananse ties him to be ground. He's thereby able to release the poor victim. So you see, there are a lot of tales, and each of them tries to show that Ananse is more crafty and witty than the other animals. CHEER- How may American children correspond with children in Ghana? MINISTER AGGREY- American boys and girls may write: John E. Aggrey- Minister Counselors Permanent Mission of Ghana to the United Nations 19 East 47th Street New York, NY 10017 Thank you again, Minister Aggrey, for answering our questions about life in Ghana!
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The flag of Ghana
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Triumphal Arch of
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