The Cultural Subtleties of Ghana
Fufu with turkey in light soup
“I’m here for the show,” she says, looking at me unboxing my lunch. My coworker was just about to leave the lunch table when she saw me with my meal.
“What do you mean? I feel like such a spectacle now. Hah!” I reply.
Today, I picked fufu and turkey in light Soup from the lunch menu. We had other kinds of options like shawarma or a salad. But I wanted something different. Knowing that fufu was eaten using my hands and dipping the dough around in the soup, I wasn’t sure what to expect.
I slowly unwrapped the beige dough from its plastic wrap and slowly dropped it into the soup bowl.
One. Two. Three. I counted in my head.
It’s all or nothing. I told myself.
More of my colleagues gathered around the lunch table to see how the foreigner would handle it.
“You’re brave for trying it!” someone remarked.
If the warmth of the soup and turkey bones didn’t freak me out, it was definitely the soft dough that did. Once mixed with the soup, the dough became less sticky and more slippery. I had a hard time grabbing it at first, but I needed to pull it together (yes a pun on the dough, but more on my composure).
People were watching!
Slowly, I got the hang of it. First, rip a piece of meat from the turkey bone, then grab a small piece of fufu. Then, sandwich the two together. Did I mention you’re eating with your hands?
Quickly! Shove it in your mouth before it slips away back into the bowl of soup abyss!
“You eat it just like my son!” the colleague to my right says while laughing. I can only assume her son eats haphazardly, just like me.
“I really like it!” I say, giggling along with my coworkers.
First day internship jitters!
I started my internship at Innova DDB Ghana, an “award-winning marketing communications agency” three weeks ago. It has been such a rewarding experience, and I am so excited to continue learning from my team for the next two weeks. Currently, I am working with the Strategy Team in their Digital Media division.
What I truly love about the internship is being able to use the skills and knowledge that I’ve learned from my Master’s program – seeing my work in action in a real setting. Also, it goes to show that my degree has equipped me with the right skills for this kind of work. *wink emoji*
Throughout my journey here in Ghana, I’ve had the chance to try different kinds of food, meet various people, enjoy travel culture, and even work in various creative capacities. Ghana has been so kind to me. Yet, the more I’m here, the more I notice tiny subtle cultural differences between the cultures I grew up with (West Coast American and Vietnamese culture). Below are some subtle differences I’ve noticed while in Ghana that make me more curious about the culture—my experiences, of course, are different from other people’s (so make sure to read the other blog posts).
In my many years of being alive (yes, I am old), I have observed the working culture in many parts of the world. From working in the US to South Korea to Vietnam and having friends located in Europe, I’ve been able to learn about the work culture from these respective parts of the world. However, working in Ghana was my first experience. It might differ from company to company, but Innova DDB has been such a joy.
The first day, we started with a work meeting. Pretty normal, but we ended the meeting with a prayer. I’m used to praying because I grew up in a religious household. However, Ghana is predominantly Christian, with 71% of the population identifying with said faith. Even while walking into the workplace, we had a plaque outside with scripture from the bible. The workplace isn’t religion-enforced, but it’s part of the Ghanaian culture to have Christian practices. Prayers at the beginning of the week are seen more like a group mantra or “cheer” to get our minds focused and attuned to the week’s activities.
The workplace atmosphere? Lively. It is an open concept where people have assigned seats but move around and work from room to room.
That’s not what’s lively.
It’s the norm for a coworker to start singing a song out of the blue, and another jumps in. Just yesterday, someone started singing a gospel song, and someone else joined, then someone played the actual song.
Various types of music play throughout the day from the corner of the room. From gospel music and worship songs in the morning, to 2000s throwbacks in the afternoon, we’re constantly jamming and bopping our heads. Of course, many choose to listen to their music with headphones on. You’re not forced to listen to Destiny’s Child or Backstreet Boys -though you really should.
This is very much in contrast to the many other working spaces I’ve observed. Many different places feel so - “you come to work, set your laptop up, work, do it all in your bubble” - type of vibe. So, having the contrast of being a bit more communal in the workspace was a nice change!
But! Don’t be misled that singing, dancing, and bopping our heads is all we do at work. My team is so hardworking. My deskmate, Emma, who is a copywriter, tells me that there are times when work is slow, and there are times when you’re working intensely. So, she advises using the lax time as much as you can before it gets real.
I felt this switch from lax to intense on a particular Wednesday when I was about to head home. Usually, work is from 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM. However, there are times when we need to stay back longer for later meetings – that Wednesday, I stayed back until 7:30 PM reviewing an ideation slide deck for a client. So the term work hard, play really goes hard here.
The work atmosphere feels communal, welcoming, and connected. We have discussions while working, which is amplified when we’re in meetings brainstorming and sharing ideas. I feel like, even as an intern, my ideas are encouraged and used.
On Fridays, the team schedules learning opportunities where we listen to a lecture and discuss a community topic. One topic that I was interested in was Embracing Neurodiversity and Inclusion - a lecture from Jennifer Delasi Brock, the Co-founder and Director of Haven International, a school in Ghana that provides learning opportunities for Neurodiverse individuals. Jennifer brought attention to the lack of resources from the government and state to support neurodiversity in mental health. This reminded me of my personal experiences with mental health in Vietnam. Similarly, the nuance of someone being “different” was because they’re difficult, often using corporal punishment to instill normalcy. It’s so disheartening.
Our community lecture for this week was centered around "Embracing Neurodiversity and Inclusion"
Growing up in the States, I didn’t realize that mental support through education programs wasn’t common in many other countries. As a young child, associations of the "short yellow bus" transportation for neurodiverse individuals - were something sort of common. Just the fact that there were resources and funding for these individuals was something I didn’t realize was a "luxury.” It should be a necessity for everyone. Especially in Ghana, where 38.7% of children under 14 years of age have Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD), compared to the global average of 6.2%. It shows how important it is that there is support and resources available for neurodiverse individual and their families.
Jennifer ended the session with a Q&A where many people asked questions about the signs of neurodiversity and the steps to take to help those individuals. From early detection signs to the crucial need for early treatment, it was a learning lesson for everyone. Because someone being neurodiverse is negatively associated with punishment for a sin or a fault against God, many in Ghana are shunned from society. Some are even sent to prayer camps where they are chained, deprived of food, and put in poor sanitation just to “cure” these individuals. Truly, it was so sad to hear about. It was such a powerful lecture to see how much care support Ghana needs when it comes to mental health - I hope that many can receive proper care without stigmatization.
A man crossing the road wearing a Thwab, similar to a Vietnamese Áo dài
Ending this blog, I want to share a similarity I found in Ghana with Vietnam. On my drive home, I noticed a man wearing a long shirt crossing the street. I call it a long shirt because, in Vietnam, we have a similar traditional costume. The direct translation in Vietnamese is “long shirt” – áo dài, which originated in the 1700s in Vietnam. In Ghana, this is called a "Thwab," mainly worn by men in the Arabian Peninsula, Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, North Africa, and some countries in East and West Africa. In both, the long shirts are worn because of the breeziness and ease during hot climates.
I loved seeing bits and pieces of culture and traditions here that remind me of home. For example, the fufu and turkey in light soup. Though using the hands part was different, the soup and turkey were so similar to a Vietnamese dish, Coconut Chicken Curry (Cà Ri Gà). Though, we dip bread in this soup (with our hands)!
It was so nice to see something that resembled a bit of home.
Let’s learn some Twi today! Today, I’m going to teach you how to say, “it was delicious.”
Eye de.
It was delicious.
The roads of Ghana are filled with goats and chickens! Look at this cute little guy.
Medaase,
Tai Le