Search results for: Kukuo
Honoring mothers in Ghana
Foundation Beyond Belief would like to wish all mothers a Happy Mother's Day, and today we'd like to take a moment to focus on moms in Ghana. Officially, Mother's Day is recognized as a national holiday in Ghana, just as it is in the United States. Our Humanist Action: Ghana team members in the Northern…
Read MoreActions that speak: deepening and expressing humanist values through service
It’s time for nonbelievers to worry less about the perception that we don’t volunteer and more about the fact that most volunteerism is self-serving. Nonbelievers are keenly aware of the history of oppression in the name of service and, indeed, of continued oppression masquerading as service. We know that volunteering is not a yes/no binary.…
Read MoreI acknowledge you
Of the many different cultural adjustments to be made when coming to Ghana, one of the most important is understanding the process and significance of local greetings. There is a list of about ten different, basic greetings and connected conversational pieces to learn. These are relatively easy to learn and use, but the biggest challenge…
Read MoreFBB announces Humanist Action: Ghana fundraiser
You probably don't live in fear of being branded a witch. Chances are, you think of witchcraft accusations as a thing of the past – best remembered as a dark period in the history of seventeenth-century Salem. Still, you can imagine what it would be like to be blamed for a neighbor's miscarriage, a child's…
Read MoreExistentialism at the kitchen table
This morning I sat at our kitchen table and cried. Everyone else was asleep. The sun was coming up, and the cool winds of the night were dying down. I don’t know exactly why. I’ve been gone for months from home, and the bouts of homesickness are now fewer and farther between. When they hit…
Read MoreUnexpected news from HA: Ghana Ghana
Trigger warning: This post contains an image and descriptions that may be upsetting to some readers. While they are not graphic, they do talk about death and make references to murder. It is with great sadness that the Humanist Action: Ghana announces its volunteers are no longer living in Bimbila. Last Thursday, a chieftaincy dispute sparked…
Read MoreNaming ceremony in Ghana
This is just to give you a little glimpse into life in Ghana's Northern Region. This video was taken at a suna. In English, the locals call it an "outdooring," or naming ceremony. A week after a child is born, the parents introduce it to the community, and community members celebrate with the family. Gifts…
Read MorePlight of the village child in education
In my opinion, life without formal education is meaningless. Growing up as a child, my immediate guidance counselors were my parents and the various classroom teachers I had for my formal education. My counselors made me understand that there were several means I could adopt to develop socially, mentally, psychologically, and emotionally. I took to…
Read MorePower and authority in the witch camps of Northern Ghana
Two Simultaneous Systems of Government: Constitutional and Chieftaincy The women who have been accused of witchcraft in northern Ghana are all but powerless. They find themselves at the bottom of a traditional hierarchical government in which they have little to no say. This system runs alongside the national democratic government that has little to no…
Read MoreDogs, Gods, and Chickens: Excerpts from Jude’s latest piece for Applied Sentience
Kubolor The house here came with pets. We have two male dogs named Sonya and Kubolor and a cat named Zeus. The dogs have a very docile nature most the time but can bark and get aggressive if they sense something or someone unfamiliar near the house. They also have no fence. These dogs travel around town,…
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