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Friday Sep 18, 2009

Change is in the air

Tamale, where I lived in Ghana is apparently the fastest growing city in West Africa. In Tamale change and development is in the air like the mosquitoes. The issues of politics and development are apparent everywhere. You get into a taxi and invariably the program on the radio will the talking about development, often about really specific policy issues, people obviously care as this stiff really impacts them. It felt so different to the average British apathy to politics. The charity signs fill the edges of the streets. Advertising obviously echoes the psyche of the target audience, in Tamale the advertising is about development. The soap powder promises to be 'the one for development!' as if their clothes magic you out of poverty. The books I noticed were all comically rubbish get rich quick schemes because of course thinking positively will get you out of poverty.
 
The traditional ways are being questioned, the change of economics brining the change of culture. Technology is impacting cultural change.The phone companies are having a full out war for the Ghanian mobile monolopy. Vodaphone has just done a huge campaign, every street covered with Vodaphone red. People even have vodaphone T-shirts.Like a tribe or a football club the companies fight it out with their colours like war paint.  The same technology exists but can be used in very different ways. Apparently it is custom not to call someone who has a senior status from you, is its sign of dis-respect. The customs is still to physically visit someone who you deem as important not ring them. It was interesting to see how the same technology can bee appropriated so differently by another culture.  Internet cafes are common with face book and porn being their main uses, maybe some things are cross cultural!

I loved the little unobvious changes. Mud huts are still common but even those are changing. I was in a village and someone showed me their hut with not just mud but now cement!!!!! is being mixed in with the mud . To be honest don’t find cement that radical but then I realised maybe  him this was revolutionary to them. The traditional mud hut for hundred of years the same, now changing.

There is a mixture of shopping here, most clothes are hand made, and you buy material and take it to a seamstress. There are some western style clothes with jeans etc. I wonder in five years what people will be wearing.

Ghanaian music was three main categories, Religious music with Allah and Jesus being a main focus. There is always a spiritual message and lots of praising. The Ghanaian ‘R and B’ music had lots of praising too, with ‘big booty girls as the main object of worship. Thirdly my favourite cheesy pop was very popular, west life and Backstreet boys are big. On our way to safari the forty year old driver with a long beard played spice girls again and again to our delight. I’m pleased to say I still know every word of their first album.

Marriage is a really interesting issue for me with when looking at change and their gender roles. It used to be very much the girl had no choice in marriage, but a village woman told me things are changing. A guy asks a girl to marry first, they go on a lot of dates and if she likes him after a year of dating they marry. Apparently this is ‘because of human rights and things’. The traditional marriage gift used to be a special traditional drink but for some reason this has changed to Schnapps, why Schnapps I have no idea but it’s presented to the boy’s family. Same drink we drink in England very different context and way of using it. Has advertising of Schnapps reached even the village psyche?

Change is happening, but I would love to understand the relationship between economic development and cultural change. People were telling me about the fast pace of change and the New Ghana some liked it, some didn’t. What in ten years will Ghana look like?  Is Ghana driving the change or is it outside companies?

Is this the Ghanian dream or the American dream? Most importantly, is it the Ghanaians that are benefiting, or the multi-national companies?

Posted by Lucille ( 10:58 AM )
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