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Zimbabwe has the Victoria Falls, Egypt has the Pyramids of Giza, Mali has Timbuktu and Ghana has more, but it takes three to know Ghana. Three? Yes three; that number that resonates as a symbol of perfection and essentially speaking, Ghana is perfect.
The third month in the calendar is the Heritage Month where everything Ghana is celebrated by natives of the glorious West African nation wherever they are on the globe.
It is a proud thing to represent the great things about your nation every day, but some occasions are just tailor-made to be special and March is that time when everything Ghana is made special.
March is the month a great nation, forged by the grandeur of its history, its resilient people and those who came before them and its ingenuity, was born in 1957.
A heritage month to show the world what makes this land such a marvel beyond its literal place at the centre of the earth. A heritage month to know more about the land that produced Africa’s harbingers of emancipation and sparked a wave of assertiveness against those that stood in the way of freedom and a clarion call to destiny’s realization.
Tourism, Investment and Film were the three tenets, Managing Director of Citi TV and Citi FM, Samuel Attah-Mensah, gave the world as the company’s direction to celebrate Ghana’s Heritage Month and these three elements would form the basis of the theme, “Make It Ghana”.
In the wee hours on Saturday, March 4, amid the last remnants of heavy clouds that gave way to a sharp rush of rays from the strong equator sun, many gathered to embark on a trip that captured Ghana.
Three buses filled with people of the world eager to see what Ghana has beyond its bustling and ever-colourful capital offered, were primed to discover what makes this country so unique in the most unique of continents on earth.
Three buses carried the present and future generations of Ghanaian ambassadors to discover Ghana on a road trip for the ages. Show me 14 of 16 regions of a land and I will show you a full-blown nation. Show me 14 distinct regions with folktales, stories, artifacts, landmarks of natural creation, landmarks of man’s creation, wildlife, sand, sea, forests, the savannah, the escarpment, a glorious culinary experience, exhilarating dance routines and brilliant show of culture and I will show you Ghana.
A touch of Africa goes beyond just Ghana; as such, the caravan trekked over Ghana’s border with Burkina Faso and touched base briefly in the land of Pan-Africanist Thomas Sankara to boot. Spending time with crocodiles at Paga, getting a feel of Islam at the Larabanga Mosque and making the trip to Mole National Park offered Heritage Caravanites an encounter with over 90 animal species.
Aside seeing elephants, hippos, the Roan Antelope and the endangered Red-flanked Duiker and White Colobus Monkey, they also got to walk through sections of Ghana’s history via the Red Clay Studios artifact collection to sum up the Northern experience.
The West African sub-region is noted for its variations of the Kente cloth with Cote D’Ivoire, Nigeria and Liberia offering something different from the Ghana version. Bonwire in the Ashanti Region is synonymous with Kente but beyond seeing the kaleidoscope of dizzying splash of colours seamlessly blended together, patrons of the Heritage Caravan got the chance to try their hands on weaving the famous cloth.
While learning the ropes of the complex weaving process, the Caravanites were briefed on the history behind the makings of the cloth and what makes it such an immense part of Ghana’s rich culture.
In the south, the beaches of the Gulf of Guinea also serve as a pathway for the world to connect to Ghana and through the many forts and castles that dot the coast, they connect the past and the future. Through the brutalities that took place in such imposing structures and scarred our heritage, a new light shines through the creases of the dungeons and cells of the castles and forts.
Descendants of those who were taken away from the source of their identity and stripped of their humanity are returning to the place that hitherto had no welcome for them.
Sons and daughters of the land from far and near have come; from Michelle and Barack Obama to Kamala Harris, they have come home to mark the shaping of a new phase of humanity where tolerance trumps all.
A Ghanaian heritage month celebration is never complete without a taste of the country’s plentiful delicacies at the Back to Your Village Food Bazaar. A taste of native Ghanaian dishes from the three regional layers of the country are put on full display for all to indulge in.
Fante Fante, Fufu with various soups, Apaprensa and Abetie headlined the Akan Village. Fetri Detsi, Aboloo, Akple and Agbeli Kaklo were the main attractions of the Southern Village while Tuo Zaafi and Tubani represented the Northern Village.
Capturing images and videos on film of Ghana’s splendour, patronizing Ghanaian products via indirect investments and touring the nation is the essence of making everything in the month of March, Ghana’s birth month as a country, worth celebrating.
Like many lands, Ghana has great food, great music and natural wonders but what makes Ghana special beyond all this is the beauty of its people’s harmony, hospitality and humanity. Born in the third month of the year, March is the Heritage Month, March is Ghana.
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