HOW I SPENT MY LAST WEEKS OF 2017

Wooooww….has it already been over a month since my last post? You’re probably wondering what rock I might be hiding under. Well, not so much a rock but country; if you follow me on my socials, mainly snapchat and Instagram you would have seen me post quite a lot while I was in Ghana over the last weeks of 2017. For someone who has not been home for a very long time, seven years to be exact, I could barely contain my excitement when it was time to fly back to Ghana my motherland. I was mostly looking forward to the food, family, culture and just the heat of the land. As expected, the food did not disappoint. During my time, I became obsessed with fried Yams; and I have the size of my thighs to account for that.

Being at home for five weeks over the Christmas period was exactly what I needed. I was able to reconnect with family members I had not seen or even spoken to in years. I also developed new friendships, making it a perfect way to end the year for me.

TRADITION! TRADITION! TRADITION!

I was received with great tradition during my first two weeks of being home. The Ashanti King was burying his mother the Late Asantehemaa (Queen mother) Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II. It took place over eleven days 1st to 11th of December 2017.

Below is my (very beginner’s) video that I put together from some snaps that I took and few recordings taken with my camera.

Small town Kings making their way to Manhyia Palace.

Traditional Funeral Rites

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brushing Shoulders with Royalty

Ejisu Queen

Everyone in Kumasi was invited to come to the palace garden and so I made my way there with my family. I took the opportunity to speak with the Queen of Ejisu. Ejisu has a great history in Ghana. Yaa Asantewaa (1840 -17 Oct 1921) was the queen-mother of Ejisu and led the fight against the British governor-general Frederick Hodgson of the Gold Coast; the previous name of Ghana before independence. He demanded to have the Golden Stool (this stool is the symbol of the Asante Nation) after the Asante King Prempeh I was exiled to Seychelles in 1896. At this period, the Asante Empire was not part of the British Crown. She was given the role to be a war leader after her speech in a secret meeting to stop the British from having the Golden Stool.

“Now I have seen that some of you fear to go forward to fight for our king. If it were the brave days of Osei Tutu, Okomfo Anokye and Opuku Ware I, chiefs would not sit down to see their king taken without firing a shot. No white man could have dared to speak to the Chief of Asante in the way the governor spoke to you chiefs this morning. Is it true that the bravery of Asante is no more? I cannot believe it. It cannot be! I must say this: if you, the men of Asante, will not go forward, then we will. I shall call upon my fellow women. We will fight the white men. We will fight till the last of us falls on the battlefield”

Most noteworthy, Yaa Asantewaa is the only woman to be given such a role in the Ashanti kingdom still to this day.

Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II. This is the current king of the Ashanti Kingdom. He is in a traditional attire which has been passed on from generation to generation.

Hope you have enjoyed and learned something in this post about my motherland, therefore it is only fitting that I end this post with an Ashanti Proverb.

“We must go back and reclaim our past so we can move forward; so we understand why and how we came to be who we are today”.

 

 

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