Asase Ba Podcast - S2E2: Who Are You to Stop It? (Aunty Janet's Ghanaian Story)
Transcript
[Asase Ba Theme Music]
Michelle: Hello and welcome to Asase Ba, a podcast that honours oral tradition and shines light on Ghanaian cultures and stories that are often untold or silenced. I’m your host Michelle, and my pronouns are she and her.
Woo! I’m lowkey out of breath saying that.
But anyway, we’re back again with episode 2 of season 2! Thank you to everyone who has shared the podcast, retweeted things or just amplified it on social media, Instagram. I really appreciate it. And I also wanted to just shoutout specifically the storytellers, the griots, the people telling history, the digital archivists, the digital curators. I really see you guys. I really see all of you.
I’ve just come across so many different pages on Instagram and on Twitter of people documenting and preserving different moments in time in Ghana and just different cultures in Ghana. As someone who is also in that field and trying my best to just document our stories and kind of keep that oral tradition going, it’s so great to see this community of people. A lot are Ghanaian women who are doing this work and it’s just like “yes, I love to see it!”
I love all the aesthetics, I love all the knowledge, I love all the learnings and everything. That’s so dope. So shoutout to all the digital archivists and digital curators making ish happen. Yeah, I definitely see you. I’m definitely excited to be back for episode 2. This is a podcast that’s every two weeks so I’m glad to be back for episode two with more stories. In case you don’t know, this season, season 2 of Asase Ba, focuses on the elders—their stories, their experiences and all of that jazz.
Before we launch into this episode, there are two ways to support the podcast: number one is share the podcast! Sharing goes a long way. If you’re enjoying the episode, if it resonates with you in any way, or you think someone will really enjoy it, share. Share on your Twitter page, share on Instagram, share wherever on social media or you can tell the elders in your life about the episodes.
You can say “hey, I came across this podcast. It’s talking about elders, especially this season. Check it out.”
Just tell your network, your friends, your family, whoever. Just share, share, share. Just to build this community and keep these stories going and heard and all of that.
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Alright, now let’s get into this episode! This episode was conducted pre-pandemic. So just in case something comes up, just thought I’d give that context.
So in this episode, I interview Aunty Janet. And I learned a lot throughout talking to her. Just a lot about her experiences and also Ga culture and traditions and all of that. And it was just really cool to sit down with her and talk about some of the experiences she’s had in life and just her observations and all of that. And I think a lot of people will enjoy this kind of intimate look into Aunty’s experiences.
So in this interview, I talk to Aunty Janet about growing up in Accra, Ga culture—customs and traditions—schooling in the Eastern Region of Ghana, her passion for art and theatre, tips for making good Jollof, differences between Canada and West Africa, and much, much more.
Without further blabbing on, here’s episode 2, season 2 of Asase Ba. Enjoy and I will catch you after.
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Michelle: Hello. Today I have with me Aunty Janet. Aunty Janet, welcome to Asase Ba. Can you introduce yourself?
Aunty Janet: Hi everyone listening. This present moment, my name is Janet Ayorko Okerchiri.
Michelle: Aunty, when were you born and where were you born and raised?
Aunty Janet: I was born in the 50s, in the mid-50s and I was raised in Accra, La to be precise. In Ghana.
Michelle: What were you like as a child? What three words would your parents or maybe your siblings use to describe you?
Aunty Janet: When I was born, my dad was traveling a lot due to the nature of his job so I lived in my mom's family house of La. It was quite a big family, the Angus family or the Naa Ara Betty family of La. It was so beautiful a family. Everybody's child is everybody's.
There was no discrimination. You wouldn't know whose child it is or whose child that one is. Every child in that house belonged to every adult and parents in that house. It was a very lovely house where parties were happening every now and then.
Michelle: So it was a big family?
Aunty Janet: It was.
Michelle: How many people were in your family?
Aunty Janet: We’re eight siblings of my mom. Together with my mom, there were eight. My mom happened to be the last child. My mom and our aunty—she was the last one—were the sole caregivers or caretakers who took care of us. So even though we had several aunties in the family taking care of us, my mom and this particular aunty were our moms. The two really did the job.
Michelle: That’s nice.
Aunty Janet: Yeah.
Michelle: So there was a lot of women energy and you had women that you could look up to in the household.
Aunty Janet: Yes. Exactly.
Michelle: And how many siblings did you have or do you have?
Aunty Janet: I had six siblings but somewhere last year, we lost one. Actually, we are all females and the one who passed away was our only brother. He passed away last February.
Michelle: Sorry to hear that.
Aunty Janet: That's okay. He is with the Lord.
Michelle: Exactly. So there was a lot of women energy which is cool. What did you notice about your home life in terms of having all these women around and your interactions and stuff like that?
Aunty Janet: I learned a lot from them. How to be a good mother and how to interact with other women, not feeling like I am more womanly than another person or acting like I am a better or more beautiful. I learned that every woman has to watch the back of the other.
Michelle: That's beautiful. That is so good and, it’s amazing that by being around a lot of women, you learned how to be supportive of women. So about your mom, aunties, and siblings, how will they describe you as a child, when you were about 10, 5 years old? What words would they use to describe you?
Aunty Janet: For some reason, in the family house where we grew up, all the aunties were making babies around the same season, around the same time so we were all around the same age. And my age group was largely made up of boys so I became a tomboy. I was doing everything that the boys were doing: climbing mango trees, going to my grandfather’s property at La-Abormi to pluck cashew nuts, guava, mangoes, and going with them to the La Burma camp area which was like a bush or forest to gather snails.
We called it “Alukutu.’’ You remove the meat from inside the shell, clean it and shape it into a cone form and play with it. You twist the bottom and it will spin. There’s a technique where you use your hand to stop it from spinning. It had to either fall aside or turn upside down. When it turns upside down, it means you’ve won and your prize will be fresh cashew nuts.
Michelle: How often did you win?
Aunty Janet: I was winning. I was like the boys so I copied their skills. I was like a boy, flying kites and chasing after birds and lizards. I did it all. Going to the ocean at La Palm. There was no La Palm at the time, it was La beach.
I wasn’t talking too much by then. I was very quiet, but I was aggressive in my way, and I wasn’t stepping into anybody’s space just for my pleasure. I was kind of aggressive in achieving what I wanted but not to harm anyone. I was very playful.
Michelle: Wow. It sounds like you had so much fun as a child and have so many memories.
Aunty Janet: Absolutely. There are so many memories of growing up in that family house.
Michelle: So when you got to the age where you started going to school, how was your experience in primary school?
Aunty Janet: I started primary school at Labone primary school in La. I had some wonderful teachers that I miss still today. Education in that school was awesome. We were taught whatever we needed to know: discipline, music, acting, and academics. It was also challenging. My elder sister who I was born after attended the same school.
Four of my siblings attended the same school and my elder sister was doing marvelously well. It was like she had a computer brain and she was first all the time. First-term, which you’d call “first semester” here, she would take all the prizes. Second term, she would do likewise.
I said to myself “I must be like her” and lo and behold I got there. Whereas she was good in all subjects, I was very weak in maths. Because for some reason, we had one teacher who was…I can’t use the word “mean.” I think he wanted us to be good.
If you couldn’t answer a question, he would hit you on the head with a ruler so I hated maths class. Whenever I went to that class, I wasn’t very happy so my mind would be elsewhere and that was my only downfall. Otherwise, I was an all-round student and I was involved in everything. So I was good in all the other subjects till I got to secondary school.
Michelle: What were your favorite subjects in primary school?
Aunty Janet: In primary school, I loved all the subjects because I was very good. I loved math. I loved Ga. I did dance studies, I loved Ga, English, geography, civics, and history. I’ve forgotten the number of subjects we did but it was about twelve subjects. I loved all the subjects.
Michelle: So you enjoyed school then.
Aunty Janet: I enjoyed school. What will make people not enjoy school is when they are not getting what they are being taught but you just teach and I grab it. So I enjoyed it and I wanted to learn more. I was reading on my own, I was reading anything.
Michelle: What kind of books?
Aunty Janet: My mom was a teacher. She retired and we had so many books that we could read such as the Arabian tales, Greek mythology, and Bible stories…
Michelle: Within your family and the things that you did together and living in Accra, what kind of cultural things do you remember engaging in as a child? Were there any Ga customs and traditions that you can speak about?
Aunty Janet: I can speak about our outdoorings and about “Otofo’’ which is when a girl reaches puberty age. Otofo is a customary rite that is performed to introduce her into the society as having reached adulthood.
And the rite depends on the clan you come from. I didn’t come from that clan, so I didn’t do it. Moreover, Christians don’t do such rituals and customary rites so I escaped that because certain parts of your body has to be revealed. It is a beautiful culture, I won’t lie about that. It’s so beautiful. But my family didn’t have such customs and traditions.
Michelle: So what customs and traditions were your families engaging in?
Aunty Janet: My mom’s background is of Dutch descent. She was partly Ga and partly Dutch and Gas take after their paternal side. I grew up in my mom’s paternal family and they have this missionary background so they were not involved in the traditions and customs of the people and I grew up in that family. All we knew was music.
I am from the Royal family of La and a lot goes on in that family, a lot of rich culture and other performances that Christian families saw as “heathen, earthly” sort of things. But those are traditions of the people and customs of certain families of that time. So you can't really argue about that. It's a rich culture but there were some performances I would see personally that I would say were extreme. Do you understand what I mean? So we don't delve that much into such activities.
Michelle: What kind of activities?
Aunty Janet: There were some rituals that had to be performed for the royal stool every year. It had to be brought out and certain rituals will go on, not with blood such as the slaughtering of fowls or human beings, but there would be pouring of libation, and washing the faces of everybody in the family with water received directly from the rain.
The stool of that family will be placed in a bowl of rainwater and seaweed is put in that bowl and people will queue up to go and put some coins into it, and the elderly woman of the family will wash your head and face with some of that water.
It was purifying you and asking for blessings from the god who guards the stool. That particular god is regarded as the god who watches over or protects the family. It’s a stool that was brought from ancient Israel. The people you know as West Africans are regarded as Hebrews.
Not too long ago, I went to the world’s largest library in downtown Toronto and I read about the Hebrews of West Africa where we migrated from before coming to settle at the west coast of Africa. So they brought some of these traditions along with them and other practices. That can be another chapter at a different time. So that really goes on in my family and when you are not raised in that family some of the practices would look rather strange to you and you will try to alienate yourself from that.
Michelle: It doesn’t sound strange to me. You are just honouring your people and your ancestors. It’s that kind of stuff, right?
Aunty Janet: Yeah. But then believing that there is a god that protects the family apart from the Supreme God is the problem that I have. Otherwise, I am very proud that I was born in that family because there are some really special and honourable people from that family.
Michelle: And during that time, were there a lot of people that engaged in those kinds of customs and traditions or did more people look towards it in a certain way like they didn’t like it?
Aunty Janet: In the town?
Michelle: Yes. In the town.
Aunty Janet: Seven brothers migrated from ancient Israel and traveled through several empires. There was a time they got to a place called Ile-Ife in Nigeria but after they had stayed for some time, the people of that town felt threatened because our people were multiplying.
Their main intent was to come to the coast of Ghana which was the Gold Coast but they felt so comfortable that they didn’t want to continue with their journey. They forgot about where they said they were going until the people of Ile-Ife drove them away and then they continued through Dahome which is now Cotonou in Benin, through Togo, Aflao, and the Akuapem area. They had wars all over before they got to Labadi.
Michelle: So that's how the Ga people migrated.
Aunty Janet: Yes. They migrated in families, Ayikushie and his people went to the Ga- Mashie side and then we came to La. Seven brothers led their families to La. When they came, after a while they built their own homes so there were seven family heads. All these families have the same customary rites and traditions. And in all these families, there are some who took to Christianity and so they kind of feel that the customary rites in some of the traditions are too extreme and then started withdrawing from it. So it's not like it’s my family alone or me alone who is trying to see it as something not right in the sight of God. There are other families too who see it the same way.
Michelle: And just to go back to growing up in Accra, Ghana. You mentioned before when I was talking to you pre-interview that you are currently involved with the high school you went to and you’re planning some stuff for them. So what was your high school experience like?
Aunty Janet: Well I went to study so my whole heart was there because I had been put there to go and study. I came from the Greater Accra area of Ghana but I schooled in the Eastern Region, the Akuapem area of Ghana. I fell in love with that area because the atmosphere was very favourable for studying.
The weather there was like spring or fall here in Canada so I fell in love with that kind of weather and then the environment was very, very favourable for studying. I loved to study so I was doing very well. You wouldn't believe that a Ga was topping the Twi class. It's true. I was topping the Twi class whereby my Twi mistress of that time would say “she deserves to be given 100 marks” but it wouldn’t have been fair to the others so she would put down a 98 or 99.
I was very good at all the subjects. I don't know why but for some reason I was very good at science. I was having problems with physics because the math solutions became too much for me so I dropped that one and I was told that they went to a staff meeting and my course master complained that I was one of the best science students and he was not too happy that I dropped the subject.
I was equally very good at art. I was very good. I think it runs in the family. Being a good artist is something that runs in the family and I also took after that. So I focused all of my attention on that but aside from that, I was doing geography. I was good in government, history, and maths. But I wanted to focus on the arts. So arts became my favorite subject but I was into acting.
Michelle: So I’m going to ask you some questions about art being something you love and acting. But before that, you mentioned that you moved from the Greater Accra Region to the Eastern Region where there were a different culture and language and stuff like that. So is that where you learned Twi?
Aunty Janet: Yes.
Michelle: And like even transitioning from Accra to the Eastern Region, did you notice any cultural changes and maybe how people viewed you? What kind of things did you notice?
Aunty Janet: Actually when I left Labone primary, I attended Aggrey road in Tema before going to the secondary school and Tema happened to be a harbor city. People were coming from Takoradi to Tema because these are the two port cities.
The main languages spoken by then were Ga and Fante and my dad was being transferred from Takoradi to Tema so we were going back and forth between both places now and then. So we started speaking fluent Fante until I went to the Eastern region. In the Eastern region, all I was hearing in my ears was English and Akuapem Twi.
Before I knew it, my Fante had become adulterated with the Akuapem Twi. And so when I’m speaking you can trace everything else. Up until now when I say I’m speaking Twi, people ask “are you an Akuapem?” Sometimes other people ask “are you a Fante”? I didn’t realize what I was doing because that became part of me.
Michelle: When you were there, were there other cultural things you noticed moving from Accra to the Eastern region? Were you adjusting to a different culture and environment? How was your experience like?
Aunty Janet: Not really. I was in a boarding house and there wasn’t anything specific except that we sometimes had programs where we would have to portray our culture. We would do our cultural dances. Gas will do their Homowo dance, the Akuapem will dance to their Fontomfrom and then the Fantes will come and do their own... So we were doing those festive things in school and nobody’s traditions or customs comes into the way of anybody. After all, we are there to study.
Michelle: That’s cool. And you mentioned that you love art. What kind of art were you doing?
Aunty Janet: I was doing steelwork, figure drawings, painting and I was very good at it.
Michelle: Do you still do it?
Aunty Janet: Sometimes in my leisure time, I try to sketch some things. It's a talent so when I take a book, before you know it, I have sketched clothing, a dress which was my own design. But I didn’t pursue that. I would have become good but I just left that interest.
Michelle: So what did you end up pursuing after high school? What was your journey?
Aunty Janet: I had catering skills so I became a caterer at one point where I was catering for people’s parties and some schools which I still do. I still do some catering here and there.
Michelle: That's cool. So what is a strong memory or something that you really remember about your high school experience?
Aunty Janet: My high school experience was a fantastic one. I was a brilliant student and in the area of sports, I was good at netball. I was an outstanding player as the remarks will state on my report sheets “Janet, an outstanding player.” And in the area of acting, I was outstanding so much so that we once went to the art theatre to perform and a group of Americans who came to watch us wanted to give me the scholarship to come and do film and theatre studies in America.
Michelle: Did you pursue that?
Aunty Janet: Unfortunately I didn’t. I was like 16 years old and I didn’t have much control and I was also in a boarding house, in the hands of my masters. The principal and the masters controlled everything, every aspect of my life while I was in the boarding school. So the decisions had to come from them but then it didn’t happen because of how Africa was by then.
It happened that some of the masters had relatives in the group so they were not too happy that among the whole, I was the only one who was given the scholarship to go and study abroad. They were not too happy so when it came to voting to agree that they were releasing a student to go and perform or continue her education abroad, they didn’t want to yield to it.
But the mistake that the headmaster did by then was that my family would have had the last say. They should have called my parents to say “this is what’s coming up for your child. What do you have to say about that?” And then they can say maybe “she’s too young to travel abroad to study or we would prefer she finish school before going.” It was up to my parents to decide what to do but it didn’t happen.
Michelle: And you think the reason was that they had other children or family that they would rather give the scholarship to. Was that why?
Aunty Janet: Yes. Somebody from the meeting came to tell me. It’s not the whole world that will hate you. Some will hate you and some will love you. Some people didn’t like what was happening so one of them slipped out to tell me what was going on at the masters’ meeting.
Michelle: That must have hurt you.
Aunty Janet: I was really surprised because I was so good and everybody on the staff loved me. In the whole school, my name was on the lips of everybody. Janet Okakyire here and there. Yeah. So it was quite strange but I didn’t get hurt. I was surprised and that is when my eyes started opening to know that what you see around you is not all that it seems. And that not all the teeth that laugh with you really love you. That was when I started getting the awareness of what life is really all about.
Michelle: Did you face any other type of discrimination like that while you were in high school?
Aunty Janet: No. No, I didn’t. I was doing everything right and everything I was doing was to the good name of the school so everybody was pleased with me. I was really good. Whatever I loved, I put all my heart in it. Whatever I’m passionate about I go all out to get a good result. People around me would attest to that so nobody discriminated against me.
Michelle: That’s good. And in terms of the time that you were going to high school, was it in the 60s?
Aunty Janet: No. I was born in the 50s, my primary education was in the 60s and my high school education was in the 70s yeah.
Michelle: What was happening at the time in Ghana? Like the political climate. Do you remember anything?
Aunty Janet: I am the product of Kwame Nkrumah, our first president. I am a product of that era. Ghana was like Great Britain. Everything was going on very well and life was very comfortable. We had this free education thing going on and everything was supplied freely in the schools. All you had to bother about was how to feed your children and things were not expensive.
It was fun, fun, fun. Christmas was fun, we had imported biscuits and juices and wines. Ghana was really good during that time. We were all very happen. There was also a very good atmosphere for learning because we didn’t lack anything. You go and then they place your new books, smelling good with fresh paper and ink.
We loved it when they put new exercise books before us. We were happy. Every child who grew up at that time was happy. You will not be happy when you can’t learn. There were some children who were born with such intelligence that as soon as the teachers taught something, they absorbed it.
And there were some who would learn and learn and it will never stick. So those are the people who will say they are not happy. And you could tell in the classroom that some didn’t know why they were there. They were observing while some of us would be answering questions. In Ghanaian classrooms when a teacher asks a question you shout “me, me, me, teacher, call me, me.” It was quite challenging and everyone wanted to show to the teacher what they knew. It was beautiful and those ones will be sitting down or sleeping.
Michelle: Well maybe sometimes things are going on in their houses or families which impacts their ability to retain information. Or maybe they do not even learn in a way that will be best for them because there are different ways that people absorb information.
Aunty Janet: Yeah. I saw a lot of that.
Michelle: After you finished high school, what was the plan for you?
Aunty Janet: I didn’t want to do anything. I had a friend who I shared a dormitory with. When I went to form 1, I was put in the prefects’ dormitory and we were sleeping on bunker beds. So one girl who became my best friend and like a sister was sleeping on the top part of the bunker bed whereas the house prefect slept on the one underneath.
And there was another girl who slept at the bottom part of the bunker and I slept on top. Whereas the other rooms in the dormitory was loaded with people, ours contained only four people.
And that girl became my best friend and we both decided that after school we didn’t want to do anything. We wanted to become air hostesses. Because when you are young, you have all the qualities to become that. You’re slim build and everything about your looks and composure will tell you that “I can be like those people in the air.”
Unfortunately, that girl fell seriously ill and she died and I said to myself “I’m going to live that dream for you, wherever you are. I’m going to pursue it.” But in Ghana at the time, it was all about who you knew. You really had to know someone even though you had all the qualifications to get that job.
But you had to know someone who could hold your hands to the authorities to say ‘this is my man, take him”. That was what was going on and I didn’t get through. I went to the interview and they said they were going to call me for the second interview but I didn’t get it. Nobody called me back so I lost it. And when you lose it, the following year your age increases and we had an age limit.
Michelle: At the time were you still in the Eastern Region or you had moved?
Aunty Janet: I had come to Tema, Accra.
Michelle: And once that didn’t work out, what were your plans after?
Aunty Janet: I decided to travel.
Michelle: So what was your first destination?
Aunty Janet: I went to Nigeria and I became a teacher.
Michelle: Oh that's cool. Okay. How was it like moving to Nigeria?
Aunty Janet: Nigeria was very good by then. The living there was very comfortable but after some time they shifted into a political era and people were dying here and there. To the extent that when you were driving out, you must have a branch put on your windshield tipped up to show that you belonged to a particular party. Otherwise, they will drag you out and kill you. There were some senseless beatings here and there.
And around that same time, my sister who had been here early on asked that we join her. My dad was the sole applicant and I became a co-dependent child. So I came here with my dad.
Michelle: So while you were in Nigeria, it was a whole new country with different cultures there. How did you adapt to the new environment?
Aunty Janet: I wasn’t involved in their cultural activities but I was loved by people. People love me. Who wouldn't love Janet? I'm lovable. I adapt quickly to my environment and they love it, especially the Yoruba.
They love it when you come to their territory to feel at home and feel you’re part of them. So when they are having their marriages, they will tell you what they are doing and ask that you involve yourself and with my catering background I could help them in cooking. They were looking at me when I started cooking our Jollof. If the Nigerians are hearing me, Ghana Jollof is always the best.
Michelle: I see you're sparking the Jollof wars again eh?
Aunty Janet: I would cook the Jollof and they will ask “how did you do it? This is different.” Because we begin by making the stew and frying the rice in the stew and make the rice absorb the stew so it gets that tender delicious taste. And that’s our secret. They had their own way of preparing Jollof which is not really what we do in Ghana.
Michelle: Shady Aunty!
Aunty Janet: I don’t want to teach them on the phone. They can contact me
Michelle: So you moved to Canada with your brother. What era was that? What year was that?
Aunty Janet: In 1996.
Michelle: And when you moved to Canada, when you first stepped out of the plane, what did you see and how did you feel about moving?
Aunty Janet: When I moved out from the baggage area onto the main pavement by the roadside, I saw my sister, my uncles, my sister’s daughters…. Everybody was there and I was happy to see their faces after a long flight. And then I was greeted with the cold because I went there in November when it had snowed. But it was raining and it was very cold.
Michelle: Did you even have a jacket Aunty?
Aunty Janet: Yes. My sister met us with it. But I only had a sweater on at the time. But she brought us coats. She really prepared well for our coming. She had bought coats for everybody so immediately we stepped out of the door, she threw the coats on everybody and then we went to where the car was parked. And I was looking but I didn't really see much because it was very grey. It was winter. I moved to the Toronto area, Etobicoke.
Michelle: So once you were in Canada, you said you had the catering that you did. Was that what you were doing?
Aunty Janet: Actually I didn’t do that. I started working for agencies, one agency after the other. I had to work in the areas I knew best, where I could handle food. So I worked with Campbell soup. but before Campbell soup, I had worked with other petty agencies. So when I got to Campbell soup I was very happy I was handling food and then I heard that the flight catering services were hiring at the airport, so I went to work with them.
Michelle: So at that point did you stay in Canada as a forever thing or you went back?
Aunty Janet: Yeah. I came to stay. So I stayed in Canada without going back.
Michelle: And from living in Ghana, then Nigeria and then Canada, what were some things that you noticed about living in Canada versus West Africa.
Aunty Janet: As a matter of fact, you know how in Ghana we had a good season all year round? Nigeria had a similar climate but in Canada, it's winter, spring, and fall and you could tell that winter takes most of the months. So when summer is here, before you know, it the cold weather is coming back already.
So you don't have many fun times whereas in Ghana it's sunny and bright although it can be very hot. We get a lot of vitamin D from the sunshine weather. When it came to having activities, the weather wouldn't restrict you except for the rainy season but you know when to plan your outdoor activities knowing it's going to rain. So it was a really fun time in Ghana. It’s like what they have in the Caribbean.
What I like (comparing Nigeria and Ghana to here) is that we have a lot of benefits here. In Ghana, our politicians are so corrupt that whatever they promise, they will go in there and they will start looking the other side so that we don’t get satisfaction from why we put them there. Here it's not like that.
Everything is structured in such a way that even when you don't have a job, the government can take you up till you are able to secure a job. And if it’s for clothing you can go to the Salvation Army to pick up something to manage with before you can get back on your feet.
The medical system here is very good although when you are not working and you're not on any form of disability you won’t have those benefits but nobody is left out here. Even when you come as a new immigrant, you are directed on where to go and do some basic studies in the area of computer or carpentry, any handy work that you would like to start life with.
Michelle: Okay. So in terms of the culture, it is very different for Africans, Ghanaians, and Nigerians. How did you feel? Was there a cultural shift?
Aunty Janet: No. It's like everybody is minding their business. Nobody really tries to stop anybody from coming up with their cultural rites. You can continue with that but I don't really see culture here.
Michelle: What do you mean by that?
Aunty Janet: In Canada, except for immigrants who have come and stuck with their culture, it's a political state here where you have to follow what is expected of you as a citizen. You can have your cultural displays in your communities. Look at the Caribana thing going on and we have our Homowo and nobody comes to say that “you can’t have your cultural displays here” because this is Canada.
Except for religious displays or acts openly, you are not restricted in any way to have your Christian religion. People take offence to you going out there to evangelize and the government hasn't said so but you begin to step on the toes of others. People who are not into Christianity get irritated when you want to lift your religion higher, but that is the only thing. Culture-wise, you are not restricted in any way.
Michelle: And just like connecting with the Ga community here in Toronto, first of all, have you? And what kind of cultural associations or groups do you participate in?
Aunty Janet: I would say the Ga Homowo festival. I am not in the Ga Association but I have lots of friends and extended family who are in it. So when they're doing the Homowo, you don't have to be in the Association before you go to their parties and celebrations. So when my first cousin is here—and she and her husband are strong members of the group—and the Homowo festival is approaching, my cousin notifies me whether I would like to come.
I do go sometimes and it's a beautiful display of the culture but again, they are doing it very well, they tried to do it the way it was done back home. In certain areas of it, some of us as Christians frown on that. There is a performance which to us…but they can't change it because it has been there from time immemorial. Who are you to stop it? You can't stop it.
Michelle: So you have your friends and the festival which is so embedded in the culture. So just in general, like in terms of connecting with the Ghanaian community at large, where do you go? How do you connect with other Ghanaians at large?
Aunty Janet: Oh I have lots of Ashanti friends, lots of friends in all the tribes and I have been to the Akuapem durbar of chiefs and it was such a beautiful display of elegance. It is so beautiful. I have not been to that of the Ashantis. I have been to funerals where I have seen displays of royalty among Ashantis.
I mean, with any tribe at all, I have friends within all the tribes. If anyone is having any kind of ceremony, whether naming ceremony, funerals, or marriages and they invite me, I do go. I respect every tribe. I get along with every tribe very well
Michelle: What is something that brings you joy right now in your day-to-day life?
Aunty Janet: Like activities?
Michelle: Yeah.
Aunty Janet: I love the church. I am church and church is me. That comes first. Number two, whatever I can do to make people happy. I love to come to the needs of people. I love to bring people together and there's an area where I'm already doing that. I started that already about three years ago and I have to applaud myself for being able to do such fabulous work there. And I love keeping my family together and making my family happy.
Michelle: Also, what words of wisdom would you give the younger Ga people, younger Ghanaian people because you have a lot of life experience and some people are searching for answers to certain things. Just in general, what words of wisdom would you give to the younger people?
Aunty Janet: What I would like to tell them is to feel proud of whoever they are. Well, you ask some Ghanaian kids “where are you from,” they say “I'm from Canada or Canadian but my parents are Ghanaians.” Well that is what they have been taught and that is ok but don't forget your roots and seek to know your culture.
We have a very rich culture, beautiful culture. We have history, beautiful history. Maybe that would be another chapter. I know my history. I seek to know about my tribe, and how we got to settle in Ghana. I seek to know why my name is “so, so, so.”
I'm a Ga but my last name tells me I am an Ashanti or Twi but there is a history attached to that because I wanted to know so I asked and they told me why we have that last name. I advise other young people to also know, to ask their parents. We have some beautiful backgrounds. We have a beautiful history.
You have to know. Seek to know. Your dad knows and will tell you. Your grandmother knows. If grandma is not here with you in Canada, whenever you get a chance to talk to her on the phone, say “Grandma, where have we come from?” Seek to know. Any questions that you can think of. What made up your family and how come you have this name because we all have our traditional names.
Michelle: I totally agree with you, that's why I started his podcast so that I can talk to different people from the Ghanaian community and we can talk about our different stories, experiences, our culture, and histories. And our cultures because there are so many different cultures in the Ghanaian community. So I'm so glad that you feel that way and that was your response
So thank you, Aunty, for answering all those questions. I also learned a lot from you about Ga culture. If anyone wants to connect with you, how can they connect with you once they hear this interview?
Aunty Janet: My email address is jayork8@gmail.com.
Michelle: Thank you so much and I'm going to put that information in the description below.
Aunty Janet: You are welcome.
***
Michelle: Alright so thank you so much for listening to episode 2, season 2. Hope you enjoyed this conversation. I definitely did and I learned a lot about Aunty’s experiences. It was really cool just listening to her journey growing up in Accra and going to school in the Eastern Region and just her experiences abroad in Canada. So it was really cool following her journey.
I hope you also enjoyed this conversation. Again, if any of this resonates or you have any comments, hashtag #AsaseBaPod on Twitter, Instagram, and wherever you are on social media. And follow @AsaseBaPod on Twitter, Instagram and email as well if you have any feedback. The email is asasebapod@gmail.com. And this podcast is published every two weeks so I will see you in two weeks! Take care, everyone, bye!
[Asase Ba Theme Music]
Episode Notes
In S2E2 of Asase Ba, Michelle talks to Aunty Janet about growing up in Accra (La), Ga culture, migration of Ga people, going to school in the Eastern region of Ghana, her passion for art, making jollof, Homowo, her love of church, and much more.
Join in on the conversation! Use the hashtag #AsaseBaPod.
SUPPORT
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SOCIAL MEDIA
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GUEST
Aunty Janet
Email: jayork8@gmail.com
HOST
This podcast is produced, edited and hosted by Ghanaian Canadian Michelle (pronouns: she/her). She is also the creator of the theme music.
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