Sunday 2nd August 2009 - CULTURAL GROOVE

Though this is an educational trip, it is not solely based upon lectures or trips to sites of educational value. There is a cultural exchange side of the trip with the Ghanaians and the Americans and the Brits given opportunities to find out about each other and the cultures of the various countries.

Personally, Americans and Brits get enough attention as it is and so I am going to concentrate on the Ghanaian side of things. A weekly drumming and dance and singing event was to be held near where we are staying in Kokrobitey and it promised to be fun.

I strolled over to the site with some British and Ghanaian colleagues and we had a real show: the drumming was astounding; the singing impressive but being a fan of dance, I have to say their skills in this area had the best music video dance routine look like the movements of a fat fish on dry land. The speed, the precision and the wit all left the audience looking on with huge smiles of enjoyment. The worst dance shows have you confused, 'what are they trying to say?' This performance however, was clearly a show that would be done for a celebration: perhaps a marriage or a birth. There are a couple of short, dodgy vids taken from my camera that I will try and upload.

Strolling back to the Kokrobitey Institute, I was stunned to learn that there are cultural lessons which are taught to all students. I thought WHAT a brilliant idea? Why shouldn't students learn about cultural matters? And when I say students I mean ALL students of all cultural backgrounds. There are always issues when Brits start trying to promote their culture but my personal belief is that every country should be able to do these things without worrying about how it is perceived or how it is insulting to other cultures or how the promotion of English or Scottish or Irish or Wlesh culture needs to be linked to putting another culture down. It does not.

When Obama and his family celebrated Chinese New Year, some US bloggers raised an eyebrow - so what? Surely, it is only people who are insecure about themselves and their culture who worry when other people are culturally proud or comfortable enough to partake of cultures not supposedly their own?

D