<![CDATA[One cannot do without culture because it defines who we are as indivuals. It is in view of this that the delegates for miss malaika@10 had a night of cultural display from their respective communities.
The delegates dressed in traditional attires represented their cultural backgrounds and each delegate spoke extensively about their culture whiles seated in a form like the good old folk tale night.
Aunty Dzifa who has mostly been the godmother for the cultural night was present; the organizers this time added a bit of a twist because the delegates were not only observed by Aunty Dzifa but also Courtney and Annalia both foreign students from the United States of America and Saskia from Germany.
The three were to learn about the cultural background of the delegates and score in their own sense who informed them the best about their culture. Frances and Sharon both from James Town popularly referred to as British Accra because the colonial masters who once resided there.
They spoke about the festival celebrated by the Ga’s that is the Homowo festival celebrated to hoot at hunger and the kpoikpoi food prepared from maize for the festival. Regina, also a Ga, presented a different aspect of the Ga culture, she acted as the Okyeame in a marriage ceremony and gave reasons why some demands are made when asking for a lady’s hand in marriage amongst the Ga.
Edlyn a Ga Adangbe said the Adangbe’s are believed to have migrated from Israel and Nigeria and are expert in fishing and maize farming. Ella and Sadia are both from the Volta Region. They explained that the present Volta Region came into existence when its first settlers escaped from a wicked king in Togo called King Agokorli by dancing backwards amidst drumming and singing. The backward dancing was done to confuse the wicked king.
Ella from Keta gave the meaning of Keta as ‘land of sand’ and explained how children are named according to the situations surrounding their birth.
Sonia and Ama are both from the Ashanti Region spoke about the tourist attractions of the Regions such as the Lake Bosomtwi and the rich Kente cloth woven in the Ashanti region. Both delegates had fufu and bush meat soup as their favorites dish and Akwesidae as the festival to look forward to in the Region.
Anima from Aburi in the Eastern Region dressed as a queen mother’s in full regalia. She educated the other delegates and the foreign students that not all people from Aburi inherit patrilineal but also practice matrilineal inheritance. She spoke the akuapem dialect which is considered in Ghana to be one of the romantic dialect. She ended her presentation with a traditional dance the music from the Fontofrom which represents traditional authority.
The final delegate Aisha, who hails from a village called Tumu in the Upper West Region spoke about ‘tuo zaafi’ the favorite dish of her people and how everyone eats together signifying unity in her community.
Aunt Dzifa was overall impressed with the performances from the delegates and said she has also been educated on the various culture of Ghana. Courtney, Annalia and Saskia scored according to the performance they enjoyed the most and Anima, Sadia, Regina and Ama were highest. The three expressed their gratitude to the delegates for educating them on the rich and diverse Ghanaian culture.
Meanwhile, viewers are encouraged to vote for their favorite delegate by texting their names to short code 1757 to win the cultural task and also to visit the Malaika Facebook page for more updates.]]>
