What's in a Ghanaian name?

Time is wrapping up here in Asamang and it is time for my last blog post. Thinking about what I would write about I decided it had to be about something I really loved about this culture. One thing that I wish I could dedicate a whole field study to here in Ghana is the folklore revolving around names. How Ghanaians value the names they give their children at birth, the way they name their towns, the nicknames you get at school, what your name says about who you are. These are questions I would like to study in depth because I have really enjoyed the small taste of what I've been shown here about names.

I'll start with explaining the name I have been given here. I go by Afua Asantewaa Heather, but have also been called or named Boatema, or Miss. Gemperline. The first name, Afua Asantewaa Heather, identifies me as someone born on Friday (Afuada= Friday), and named after a famous heroine of the Ashanti Kingdom (Asantewaa), followed by my given English name. I was given this name by my Mamma Doris (and everyone calls her and knows her by Mamma Doris because she takes care of so many people, even though they aren't really her children, she was a midwife by profession.) Mamma Doris called me Asantewaa because I am studying Ashanti culture (dancing, singing, drumming, etc.) and so I should be known as Asantewaa. I like this name a lot! I am proud of it and it makes me really feel like part of the Ashanti people. People call out random names frequently to get my attention on the street and I usually respond with looking them in the eye, pointing towards myself and saying "Ye fre me Afua." or "My name is Afua." I want them to know what my name really is and who I really am. The second name is Boatema and was given to me by a man who wants me to be his wife, and take him home with me. O by the way this is a normal request for any male stranger I might happen to cross paths with. His name is Boateng, so by giving me the female counterpart of his name he is attempting to win my attention. I was flattered but I just accepted the name and ignored the propositions, but I thought it was an interesting way to see how giving someone a name can be used as a tool to achieve something.

I have little internet time right now so I just want to leave with some of my favorite nick names the younger generation uses. My brother, King, goes by Mr. Slow. He calls his friends on the street Chaley or Boss, he says people like to be called Boss, makes them feel important. My friend Michael across the street is called Oboy, his has a friend we call Stone and another guy in the pack they call Chief, or Nana, because he's the oldest. My nickname to King is Miss. Gemperline because he goes with me for lots of interviews and observations and he thinks I am the boss so he calls me by the more formal name.

We'll see when I return home if i respond to just plain Heather anymore, I am really used to being called Afua.

Retreat

For our retreat Rebecka, Katie and I traveled to Accra to stay with a friend we met upon our arrival in Ghana. Her name is Mikayla. She and her husband James and 2 year old son Corbin are living in an expatriate community in Accra because James works for the U.S. Embassy. Our stay with them was very comfortable and Mikayla was an angel to drive us around to fun sites in Accra and to cook us delicious, nutritious, and a whole variety of American food. It was so nice to sleep in an air conditioned room; this really helped reduce my intolerable and constant heat rash. I was grateful for the opportunities we had to relax over retreat, call family, watch general conference, attend the temple and do some shopping but at the end of 3 or 4 days I was really ready to come “home,” back to Asamang.

I didn’t realize I was going to miss Mamma Doris and my life in Asamang so much. I found that showering with a real shower spout left me feeling less satisfied when I finished then I do when I take a bucket shower. I found I missed Ghanaian food! (Not the starch or lack of variety but just the fact that everything we eat at the house in Asamang is easily gluten free and no stress for me! Though I felt very loved at the efforts Mikayla made to make gluten free foods for me, it felt like a hassle and a burden for me still.) I missed Ghanaian people. I really loved talking with Mikayla and James, I received invaluable advice from Mikayla especially, and we had a great opportunity to play card games with some of their American neighbors and that was interesting and fun as well. But I found that I ached to be a part of the lives that were outside their neighborhoods’ gates, where people were living real Ghanaian lives.

I gained great appreciation for my cultural experience performing a field study here in Ghana. Living within the authentic culture and really applying myself to learning holistically about all aspects of Ghanaian culture (i.e. cooking, schooling, religion, dancing, drumming, etc.) has really affected my life and enriched my college experience. Living the culture alongside the people has taught me to love them. I found that the expats here are not here to live the Ghanaian culture. They are here to perform their jobs at the embassy while trying to maintain a lifestyle as similar to the ones they enjoyed back in the states. They are great people and I was happy to meet and grateful for their hospitality and generosity but their comments and frustrations about the culture saddened me at times and I felt sorry that they hadn’t been able to see the culture from the perspective I have, or at least that they weren’t at the moment. I realize their situation is very different. A two year working commitment in another country is loads different from a semester abroad studying as a university student. But I began to wonder if their lives would have been more comfortable and easier if they had adapted some healthy perspectives the culture has to offer. You know you can always wish someone or something would change but really the trick to feeling different towards something is to change yourself. And maybe they have adapted the culture in ways I can’t see in a weekend visit. I know I can’t judge, but I can say I am grateful for the experience I am having working on a field study project and living in Asamang.