Ghana
by Alisa, Cara, Julia S.
Population: Population: 22,019,000 People Live In Ghana. Ghana Has A High Population Density With 22 Million People Living In ONly 92,100 Square Miles. That's More People Than The State Of New YOrk! Kumasi Is One Of The Most Populated Cities In Ghana With A Population Of 1.17 Million People In The Year Of 2000. Ghana Has Slightly More Females (51%) Than Males (49%). Ghana's Population Is Divided Into 75 Ethnic Groups, Making It One Of The Most Diverse C
3 Most Practiced Languages:English, Akan, Moshi-Dagomba are the three most spoken languages in Ghana. But English is the official national language with 67.1% of the population speaking English. English is universally used in schools in addition to nine other local languages. The most widely spoken local languages are: Ga, Dagomba, Akan and Ewe. Since Ghana has so many ethnic groups, tribal languages are still common, but slowly English is overtaking the population, hurting language diversity. Here are some examples of some writing in the Twi language which is one of the languages of the Akan ethnicity:
ɛ te sɛn -This small phrase translates into "Hello" and "how are you?" sɛdea re e yɛ ndɛ? - This phrase translates into "How are you doing today?" sɛdea re no busua? - This phrase translates into "How is the family?" haepalink - This means "Hyperlink", click on it to translate your own phrases! Major Religions:Religion has shaped Ghana greatly and has played a great part in the establishment of the country. The major religions of Ghana are Christianity, Islam, and the indigenous beliefs. About 70% of the country practices some sort of Christianity, with indigenous beliefs in the minority (about 10%). The Muslim population is mostly in the north of the country and about 20% of the total population practices Islam. To see a Ghanaian prayer video, please click here. |
Geography:The climate of Ghana is tropical, but temperatures vary from region to region. In the north, two rainy seasons occur, taking up half of the year. Ghana is a lowland country, but in the west the terrain is mostly heavily forested hills with small rivers. Lake Volta is the largest reservoir by surface area in the world! The area of Ghana is slightly smaller than Oregon. Ghana has two main seasons; the wet and the dry season. The wet season occurs between April to mid-November. June is the rainest month, with 14 rainy days a month and 7 inches of rain. Rain usually only occurs within the wet season, so during the dry season there only are a few inches of rain. Ghana is very warm with average temperatures around 70 – 80 degrees Fahrenheit, a climate much like California. Major Ethnicities:Some of the major ethnicities in Ghana are Akan, Ga-Adangbe and Guan. The Akan reside in the Gulf of Guinea. The Akan Language is also known as Twi-Fante. The
Akan people have cultural characteristics in common, most importantly the tracing of descent (your ancestors), inheritance of land, and progression to high political office. The Ga-Adangbe are an ethnic group in Ghana and Togo. The Ga people were originally farmers but nowadays they are fishermen and traders. The Guan people are believed to have migrated from the Mossi Region in 1000 AD. Currently they live in the Volta valley. They speak primarily the languages of the Niger-Congo. These are just a few of Ghana's diverse peoples. Music: Traditional Ghana Music Has Strong Repetitive Beats And Sounds Very Tropical And The Traditional Instruments Are Mostly Different Shaped Hand Drums. There Are Different Dance For The Occasion, Such As Celebration Or Harvest. Even Though These Are Different Dances, They Share Characteristics Such As Fast Beats, Drums And R Dance Moves Are Influenced By The Music. The Current Taste Of Music In Ghana Is Influenced By American Rap. A Good Example Is Alkayida (Boys Abr3) By Guru Sounds A Bit Like The Rap/Pop Music We Are Used To Listening To. Another Song That I Found Interesting Is Adonie By Sarcodie And Castro. Some Of The Songs Are About Not Losing Hope And About Religion. Lots Of Other Songs Are About Overcoming, Like The Lyrics Below: Listen! Don't Let People Take You For A Fool All The Shaking They Are Doing Is Because Of You. He Is Your Enemy, Leave Him. Let Him Steal! If They Won't Help You, Get Up And Push |
Ghana & Water
Even though Ghana is home to one of the largest reservoirs in the world, Lake Volta, Ghana has many problems with their water. Ghanaians illegally take water from pipes, accentuating the problem. Ghana's water pipes date back to 1914, and many are falling apart. This means Ghana can't deliver water to citizens large cities. Not having access to clean water leads to health problems for many; 80% of the disease in Ghana are caused by unsafe water. Ghana's problems extend far beyond the cities, in the rural areas of Ghana more than 50% of the residents are dependent on unsafe water sources. 38% of the water samples exceeded safe standards set by the World Health Organization and contained chemicals. The previous attempts to build wells end in scandal and debt. One of the main problems with the water is the pollution which kills 14,000 people a day. This is caused by inadequate landfills, toxic waste from illegal mining operations, and littering. All of this runoff and trash clogs gutters and leads to flooding.
In 2002, the United Nations approved the right to Water acts, which states that water is indispensable for progress to achieve human rights. Water is usually collected by women. They have the burden of collecting, often missing valuable education. When water is close, clean and safe we promote gender equality and let girls learn, benefiting them and their community in the long run. Water contributes to the eradication of extreme hunger and prevents families from losing children to diarrhea. 25% of all deaths in children under 5 are caused by diarrhea. Drinking water puts a drain on the budget of many families, so they go without it. This is a lose – lose situation; spend your budget and become poorer, or go hungry. However, when water is unsafe and polluted, this harms the environment and lead to a cycle of further harm. Waste water, is often dumped and harms the environment. The lack of access to safe drinking water and to basic sanitation harms economic development, thwarts progress towards gender equality and puts the health in danger.
There are many different organizations that are working to help get clean water to places all around the world. The Ghana Water Company currently owns about 82 urban water supply systems covering about 40% of the country’s population. A lot of organizations around the world are helping Ghana buy wells, sanitation stations and helping to educate children about sanitation and how to use and fix the wells so that they can get the most they can out of them. Another example of people trying to help is the Safe Water Network organization. It began helping in Ghana in 2009 to prove that locally owned Safe Water Stations could provide reliable, affordable, safe water to communities who really needed the new world. They build water pumps and send sanitation supplies to places where clean water is scarce. Yet another organization that is working to get clean water is Water.org. Currently, they are working in two rural areas in Ghana, the Volta Region and the Upper East Region which borders Burkina Faso and Togo. Both areas are extremely poor and don’t have access to sanitation facilities. Both of these rural areas suffer from water borne diseases such as diarrhea. Water.org works with many other organizations to create water wells, latrines (which is a communal toilet) and biosand filters (which remove pathogens and other things) in Ghana and educate the people and children there on good hygiene. Because of these companies, girls are able to stay in school and get a proper education. In addition, hand-washing by children results in gains in global development quotients such as height, weight and social skills. Not only does it improve health but it also ensure that babies will be healthy and will have a higher chance of surviving as well.
In 2002, the United Nations approved the right to Water acts, which states that water is indispensable for progress to achieve human rights. Water is usually collected by women. They have the burden of collecting, often missing valuable education. When water is close, clean and safe we promote gender equality and let girls learn, benefiting them and their community in the long run. Water contributes to the eradication of extreme hunger and prevents families from losing children to diarrhea. 25% of all deaths in children under 5 are caused by diarrhea. Drinking water puts a drain on the budget of many families, so they go without it. This is a lose – lose situation; spend your budget and become poorer, or go hungry. However, when water is unsafe and polluted, this harms the environment and lead to a cycle of further harm. Waste water, is often dumped and harms the environment. The lack of access to safe drinking water and to basic sanitation harms economic development, thwarts progress towards gender equality and puts the health in danger.
There are many different organizations that are working to help get clean water to places all around the world. The Ghana Water Company currently owns about 82 urban water supply systems covering about 40% of the country’s population. A lot of organizations around the world are helping Ghana buy wells, sanitation stations and helping to educate children about sanitation and how to use and fix the wells so that they can get the most they can out of them. Another example of people trying to help is the Safe Water Network organization. It began helping in Ghana in 2009 to prove that locally owned Safe Water Stations could provide reliable, affordable, safe water to communities who really needed the new world. They build water pumps and send sanitation supplies to places where clean water is scarce. Yet another organization that is working to get clean water is Water.org. Currently, they are working in two rural areas in Ghana, the Volta Region and the Upper East Region which borders Burkina Faso and Togo. Both areas are extremely poor and don’t have access to sanitation facilities. Both of these rural areas suffer from water borne diseases such as diarrhea. Water.org works with many other organizations to create water wells, latrines (which is a communal toilet) and biosand filters (which remove pathogens and other things) in Ghana and educate the people and children there on good hygiene. Because of these companies, girls are able to stay in school and get a proper education. In addition, hand-washing by children results in gains in global development quotients such as height, weight and social skills. Not only does it improve health but it also ensure that babies will be healthy and will have a higher chance of surviving as well.
Photographs are courtesy of the following websites:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yendi,_Ghana.JPG
Image of Yendi, Ghana
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ghana_in_Africa_(-mini_map_-rivers).svg
Map of Ghana in Africa
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ifcinfrastructure/4664499012
Image of child getting water
https://www.travelblog.org/Photos/6756857
Market Place
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Ghana
Picture of Lake Volta
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinking_water
Water Pollution
https://www.tititudorancea.com/z/ies_ghana_population_millions.htm
Population Graph Image
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashanti_people
Language Image
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghanaian_people
People Image
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub-Saharan_African_music_traditions
Traditional African
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhythm_in_Sub-Saharan_Africa
Rhythm Image
http://blog.compassion.com/the-prayer/
Praying Ghana Person
https://www.flickr.com/photos/noramorgan/6639776507
Ghana Map
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yendi,_Ghana.JPG
Image of Yendi, Ghana
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ghana_in_Africa_(-mini_map_-rivers).svg
Map of Ghana in Africa
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ifcinfrastructure/4664499012
Image of child getting water
https://www.travelblog.org/Photos/6756857
Market Place
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Ghana
Picture of Lake Volta
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinking_water
Water Pollution
https://www.tititudorancea.com/z/ies_ghana_population_millions.htm
Population Graph Image
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashanti_people
Language Image
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghanaian_people
People Image
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub-Saharan_African_music_traditions
Traditional African
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhythm_in_Sub-Saharan_Africa
Rhythm Image
http://blog.compassion.com/the-prayer/
Praying Ghana Person
https://www.flickr.com/photos/noramorgan/6639776507
Ghana Map