This term I am serving on a committee that collates and posts Monthly Test scores. I was responsible for entering in Excel all the scores for all Form 2 (Sophomore) students. Most students take 8 to 10 courses, so I spent a lot of time with these lists. During this process, I came to learn more about common names or trends in names in Ghana, or at least here at Achimota.
There is a student who goes here named Desmond Tutu, he is not one of my students, so I do not know if he is any relation to the Bishop from South Africa; it is certainly a big name to live up to! It is a tradition in Ghana (within all ethnic groups, I do not know) for children to be named after ancestors in the hopes that the child will exhibit their characteristics. One ethnic group (which one currently escapes me) often names children for virtues they want the child to have: Justice, Mercy, Peace Pearl, Perpetual, and Prosper are all Form 2 students here.
Another thing I have noticed is that children are often given names that would be considered "old fashioned" in the US today (unless you are Julia Roberts or Michelle Williams), and some of these names show up numerous times within the school: Florence, Gertrude, Hilda, Matilda, Millicent, Rhoda, Winifred. For boys, Ebenezer and Theophilus crop up.
Emmanuel is probably the most common name for a boy in Ghana, just from my very unscientific paying-attention study. Gifty is a very common name for girls, one I had never heard before coming here. Prince and Princess are both common, too. Nana is popular for both girls and boys and means "grandfather's father" in Akan, or more loosely translated, king or chief.
One Form 2 class includes 2 boys named Adolph, one named Elvis, and one named Justice. The battle for my favorite name though is currently stuck in a tie. There is a boy here named Smyly and a girl named Creamilda. Maybe I will put it to a vote in the future!
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4 comments:
The first king of the Asante people of Ghana, who reigned in 1701 was named Osei Tutu. Tutu is therefore an old Asante name and has no relationship with the South African Tutu. There is also a town in Ghana called Tutu. It appears your blog bears a curious resemblance to your colleague at TEMASCO's blog. Please exhibit a little bit of originality in your postings. Unlike your postings, your colleague at TEMASCO gives a more comprehensive account of her experiences. I bet she is a wonderful teacher. I can sense that from her writings. She offers solutions when a problem is encountered.
This is why I love having a blog - I learn new things all the time! Thank you for sharing about Osei Tutu. I am not surprised you find similarities between my blog and Leslie's - we are both here on Fulbright teaching exchanges and are friends. We have similar experiences and talk about them regularly. And I agree that Leslie is a wonderful teacher; the students at Tema are lucky to have her.
Thanks for sharing our experiences by reading our blogs!
Rebecca Watt
Rebecca, Matthew and I are the three Fulbright Exchange teachers for the 2008-2009 school year in Ghana. As I'm sure they can tell you, the selection process was rigorous. We are ALL good, caring, teachers hoping to learn, share and grow from this experience. I have seen Rebecca and Matthew in action and they are great.
We, along with the Fulbright student researchers, spend time together whenever we can, to enjoy each other's company, compare notes, participate in cultural activities, and even travel. We have a lot of similar experiences but interestingly enough, although we are in three quite well known schools in Ghana: Ashimota, Accra Girls and Tema Secondary Schools, our experiences can differ too. I love that about this experience because in a way I'm learning about 3 schools instead of one.
A final thought about our blogs. A blog is just a diary of sorts- our audiences are different and our thoughts are different. My feeling is that the great things about blogs is that the WRITER defines them-Am I going to write about experiences? Am I going to write about my personal feelings? Am I going to share information that I learn? Who is MY audience...
So I ask that readers support all of us in this year with encouragement. We aren't experts, none of us has ever done anything like this before-giving up friends and family for a year and jumping into another culture. Ask us questions-we'll repond or try to find out the answers. Just my 'two cents'-gotta go-water for coffee is boiling!
Leslie
While the blogger is at liberty to dwell on what he or she chooses to write about, the comment section also allows for input in the interest of free speech or other perspective. When a beautiful 400 acre Achimota campus is merely reduced to an abode of termite mounds, free range chickens, solitary roaming hogs, phantom cholera pandemics, inept library cataloging and poor grading system based on rote learning; Oh, they do sports; and entertainment is about cross dressing and debauch dancing. It is time to call attention.
Living in America, so much of the reporting on Africa feature such leanings. I know Achimota is much more than the blog seems to convey. I spent 7 years there. I have spent several more years here in America.I can tell you that a lot of Americans think that Africans are basically tree dwellers with an ocassional mud hut.Some of my school mates here in America used to ask me whether there are houses in Africa and I would reply that I lived on a tree and they really believed me! They were really shocked that I could speak english, being that I had not been in the country that long.
There was a time that the Pope visited one African country. They showed the Pope on TV coming out of the plane, but immediately switched to a woman in some remote parts carrying a heavy load of firewood which had no relationship with the pope's visit.
I am just asking for a more balanced blog. Not the blog that seems to feed on people's prejudices.
The whole point of the Fulbright fellowship is based on symbiosis. I hope you learn as much from your subjects as they will learn from you.
The Achimota campus is one of the most beautiful campuses I have seen. A montage of the different buildings will be an eye opener to your students in Northern VA.
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