© 2009 PRIX JEUNESSE

WORKSHEET FOR TEACHERS | GHANA THIS IS WHO WE ARE The republic of Ghana is located in West Africa. In the past, Ghana was a colony of Great Britain. Ghana is bordered by the African countries Togo, Burkina Faso, the Ivory Coast, and the Atlantic Ocean. In the southeast of Ghana lake Volta is located. It is the biggest artificial lake in the world and is used for power generation by a large hydroelectric power station. The capital of Ghana is Accra and is on the Atlantic Ocean. In the past, Ghana was also called the Gold Coast. The name says everything: one very important resource from Ghana is gold. Ghana is also the second largest cocoa producer worldwide.

The Volta-river (Picture: wikipedia/Stig Nygaard)

Ghana has a very rich fauna and flora. In the rainforest, which is located in the southwest of the country, you can find the most colourful species of birds. For example, the savannah is the habitat of different antelope species, elephants, buffaloes, lions, leopards and hippos. Off the coast of Ghana you can find, among others, sharks, tuna, shrimp and mussels.

Baobab Wrinkled hornbill (Picture: wikipedia/FlickrLickr) (Picture: wikipedia/Quadell)

The flora is also very diverse. Aside from useful plants (bananas, avocados, pineapple etc.) and different tree species in the rain forest, there are over 1000 different sorts of palms. Some plants and trees have funny names like Kolatree, the Baobab or the king palm.

© 2009 PRIX JEUNESSE

WORKSHEET FOR TEACHERS | GHANA THIS IS WHO WE ARE

The rainforest – a unique ecological system

As you can imagine from the word itself, it rains a lot in the rainfor-est - almost every day. It is summer all year long in the rainforest. This area is called the tropics, the forest is also called a tropical rainforest. Instead of having four seasons, there are rainy and dry seasons in the rainforest. Because the trees do not lose their leaves, the forest is green the whole year round. Such warm humid air is the best condition for plants and trees. A wide variety of plants grow in the rainforest. Many small and large animal species call the rainfor-est their home.

Rainforests are essential to our climate because they supply lot of regions with water. The rain is absorbed and in the form of a cloud is later released somewhere else. Thereby large areas are supplied with rain. Unfortunately, a lot of rainforests are being destroyed so that people can get the wood from the trees for different things. Similarly, the rainforest in Ghana is not as big as it used to be. This is not healthy for our climate and many animals will lose their homes.

The biggest rainforest territory is in Brazil.

Activity: Paint a picture

Using your imagination, paint a colourful picture of the rainforest!

© 2009 PRIX JEUNESSE

WORKSHEET FOR TEACHERS | GHANA THIS IS HOW WE LIVE There are a lot of different people and tribes in Ghana. Each of these groups has its own culture and its own language. Akan, Ewe, Guan, Dagbane-Dagomba and Ga are the largest ethnic groups. Approximately half of the people belong to the Akan. Common under these different peoples is the importance of family and hospitality. The Ghanaians like to celebrate. Weddings, naming ceremonies and funerals are very big celebrations. Each ethnic group has its own religious, cultural and traditional ceremonies and rituals. For clothing, many Ghanaians wear fabrics with colourful design. The traditional cloth is called Kente and is produced on looms. Mens clothes are traditionally a one-piece made from Kente cloth. The women wear one cloth wrapped around their hips and a customized top out of Kente cloth. A third cloth over the shoulder or as transportation for the little ones is part of the traditional woman’s clothes.

People at the Kente cloth-Festival Man covered Child wrapped Loom for Kente cloth in Kente cloth in Kente cloth (flickr/Rachel Strohm) (Picture: flickr/okrahoma) (flickr/jntolva) (flickr/okrahoma)

Activity: Create your own cloth(e)s

Look around for some big colourful cloths at your home and create your own clothes. Be imaginative and create trousers, dresses, skirts or sweaters out of it.

© 2009 PRIX JEUNESSE

WORKSHEET FOR TEACHERS | GHANA THIS IS HOW WE LIVE In Ghana you can find out on which day a boy or girl was born by looking at their surname. The date of birth is the surname of the boy or the girl in the particular language of the cultures. For example a boy who was born on a Saturday, will be named Kwame, the name for a girl would be Ama.

Activity: Your name in Ghana Day Male Female Monday Kwadwoo, Kojo Adwoa (ajua) Tuesday Kobena, Kwabena Abena Wednesday Kweku (kwayku) Ekua, Ekuwa Thursday Yaw, Ekow YaaFriday Kofi Efua, Afua, Afur Saturday Kwame Ama, Amma Sunday Kwesi, Akwasi Esi, Akosua

Naming in the language of the Akan

What day were you born? With the help of this scheme try to find out your name in Ghana.

© 2009 PRIX JEUNESSE

WORKSHEET FOR TEACHERS | GHANA THIS IS OUR SCHOOL The official school education lasts 9 years. At the age of 4 years the children go to a kindergarten for 2 years, this is a kind of preschool. For the next 6 years they go to a primary school. This is followed by the Junior High school for 3 years. Aside from the public school there are Koran schools and private schools which require tuition. A higher school education or studies also cost money. Ghana takes education very seriously, however there is still a high number of illiterate people, especially in the countryside. Because of the many different cultures in Ghana, there are a lot of different languages. English is the official national language. Aside from English, the most spoken language is Akan. In schools Ghanaians speak mostly English, but the local language is also spoken and taught. Most children speak several languages before even beginning school.

Activity: Forming the alphabet with bodies

Do you know the alphabet of your language? Take some friends and try to form some letters with your bodies. You can hold each other, you can lay down, or stand next to or behind each other. Everything is possible. With your class you can form complete words. If you have a camera, take some pictures!

© 2009 PRIX JEUNESSE

WORKSHEET FOR TEACHERS | GHANA THIS IS OUR FAVOURITE DISH

In Ghana the kitchen is not always inside the house. Some kitchens are outside because the food is still prepared over an open fire. You can rarely find fridges, especially in the countryside. Therefore products which are not durable like milk, cheese or yoghurt are rare in the countryside. The cooking is very diverse. Ghanaians use mostly local ingredients. Close to the coast, the rivers and the Volta lake lots of fish is eaten. Meals containing meat are also very popular but quite expensive. In Ghana people often eat porridge, sauces and soups. Porridge made from cassava and plantain is called Fufu and it is Ghana’s national dish. The children of our website show some other Ghanaian specialities and important ingredients.

Jollof-rice with beef or chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 kg beef or chicken • 6 tomatoes • 1 large onion • oil • 2 cups of rice • Salt and pepper to taste

How to do it:

1. Wash the meat, cut it into pieces, add salt and steam it. 2. Slice onions, chop tomatoes and add pepper. 3. Fry the meat in hot oil. 4. Add the onions and tomatoes. 5. Pour in water and add salt. 6. Wash the rice and add it to the sauce. 7. Reduce the heat on the stove and stir. 8. Serve hot when ready.

© 2009 PRIX JEUNESSE

WORKSHEET FOR TEACHERS | GHANA

THIS IS OUR FAVOURITE DISH

Peanut butter soup and Fufu

Ingredients:

• 1 cup peanut butter • 1 medium-sized onion • 3 medium-sized tomatoes • ¼ kg smoked fish • ½ kg beef • 8 cups of water • 1 piece of unripe plantain (green) • 2 small cassava roots • Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation of Fufu (Picture: wikipedia/aripeskoe2)

How to do it:

Peanut butter soup

1. Wash and cut meat into pieces and put into a saucepan. Add chopped onions, salt, a little water and bring to a simmer.

2. Wash and add tomatoes. 3. Mix peanut butter into the rest of the water and coat the meat with it. 4. Remove the tomatoes, chop them into small pieces and add them back

into the soup. Add pepper. 5. Prepare fish and add to the soup. Bring to a boil. 6. Cook for 30 minutes on low heat.

Fufu

7. Wash, peel and cut plantain and cassava into pieces. Wash thoroughly and boil them separately until fully cooked.

8. Allow to cool and pound separately in a mortar, starting with the plantain. When both are done, pound the two together until it becomes a soft mush.

9. Serve Fufu with hot soup.

Yam balls with beef or chicken gravy/stew

Ingredients:

• 2 cups boiled mashed yam (or potatoes) • 2 table spoons margarine • ½ cup milk • 1 egg • Salt and pepper to taste • Beef or chicken

How to do it:

1. Mix the mashed yam, pepper, salt and margarine together. 2. Mix the egg and the milk, Pour milk and egg into yam mix and stir it well. 3. Mould into balls and deep-fry. 4. Serve with the beef or chicken gravy/stew.

© 2009 PRIX JEUNESSE

WORKSHEET FOR TEACHERS | GHANA THIS IS OUR FAVOURITE GAME

The national sport in Ghana is soccer. Ghana was the host for the Africa Cup four times. In 1957 this cup took place for the first time and since 1968 it takes place every second year. The Africa Cup is a soccer cup which figures out the best soccer team on the African continent. Because music is very important in Ghanaian life, there are a lot of traditional dances.

The national board game in Ghana is called Oware. Oware is a strategy game which can be played almost everywhere because the game board can be easily imitated in sand or onto a paper and can be played with stones or seeds. The goal of the game is to win the balls (stones or seeds) from your opponent.

Oware Oware im Sand (Picture: flickr/AdamCohn) (Picture: flickr/super.heavy)

The stone game which the children from Ghana play demands concentration and coordination because they sing and play at the same time. Try and see if you can do it like the kids in the video. This is how to do it:

Children sit in a circle, each with a stone. As they sing the song below, each child moves his/her stone to the child on the right, and quickly collects the stone placed in front of him/her by the child on the left. When a child misses the rhythm and has more than one stone in front of him/her, that child has to leave the game. They re-start the game till a child misses the rhythm again. The fun of the game is to watch all the stones moving around the circle without any glitches.

The song

“AASHI EE TATALE “ “ PLANTAIN FRITTERS ARE COOKING” Ruf: Aashi ee tatale The plantain fritters are cooking Antwort: Aashi ee tatale The plantain fritters are cooking Ruf: Aashi ee tatale The plantain fritters are cooking Antwort: Aashi ee tatale The plantain fritters are cooking Alle zusammen: Ebe ebe ee tatale They are ready Nam[ baaye tatale Who will eat plantain fritters? Ebe ebe ee tatale They are ready Nam[ baaye tatale Who will eat plantain fritters?

(Credit: Ohene, O. Fun and Games for children. Accra: Educational Press, 1990)

© 2009 PRIX JEUNESSE

WORKSHEET FOR TEACHERS | GHANA THIS IS OUR FAVOURITE SONG Music and dance are very important for the people of Ghana. Everywhere in cabins, buses and during celebrations you hear music. The playing of the drum and also the construction of the drum is an important instrument in traditional Ghanaian music. There are many different kinds of drums. The “donno-drum” can be played from both sides. Do you know the speaking drums? In olden times they were also called bush drums. The people used them to communicate over far distances. The lan-guage is translated into drum beats.

Activity: Drumming

Drum your own rhythm alone or with other kids. You can knock on the table, on the floor or against a door. Invent a drum language with your friends!

Aside from the drums the traditional music encompasses other self-made instru-ments. In the south, rhythmic instruments such as rattles, gongs and cymbals play a role. In the north the xylophone is often used.

Activity: Create your own instrument: Rattle (or Maraca)

What you need: • An old light bulb • Glue • Old newspaper / coloured construction paper How to do it: 1. Put newspaper on your work area. 2. With the help of an adult mix the glue. 3. Rip the newspaper/construction paper into little pieces and glue

many layers thick around the old light bulb. 4. Let the light bulb dry for a long time. When the light bulb is ready

you can throw it on the ground or on the table so that the glass inside will completely break. If you want to, you can paint the newspaper before breaking the glass.

© 2009 PRIX JEUNESSE

WORKSHEET FOR TEACHERS | GHANA THIS IS OUR FAVOURITE SONG The Highlife style came from traditional Ghanaian music and was developed at the beginning of the 20th century.

Highlife/Hiplife

Highlife is a dance and music style, which was developed in the first half of the 20th century. It mixes traditional music with elements of jazz. At the end of the 20th century the style Hiplife was developed. It is a mixture between Highlife music and Hip-Hop imported from the USA.

The children from the Golden Age School in Abelempke sing the song “Moonlit-Night”. Here is the song text:

NY{NTSELE NI EJE (Mondlit-Night) NY{NTSELE NI EJE It’s Moonlit-Night W{ BA SHW}, W{ BA GBO We’ll play till we are exhausted NY{NTSELE NI EJE It’s Moonlit-Night W{ BA SHW}, W{ BA GBO We’ll play till we are exhausted