As someone who has traveled extensively across Ghana and the world, I invited Malcolm to share his experiences as an American living in Ghana. His unique perspective of the country sheds light on some fascinating cultural differences, which I think you’ll find as eye-opening as I did. Here’s his story:
First off, let me state that this post is not meant to offend or criticize anybody. In anthropology, we practice an ideology called cultural relativism. Most simply put, that means as an outsider living in another’s culture, you should not judge the practices of those people. That’s easier said than done. But I’ve been living in a foreign country long enough to appreciate that different groups are indeed shaped by their respective environments.
So the observations listed below should not be taken out of context, as if I’m dissuading anyone from visiting Ghana or anything like that. Indeed, I first came to this country decades ago, and many of the cultural shocks I’ve experienced, the factors that caused them have since changed.
You can’t move from one part of the globe to another without expecting to see or experience things that are outside of your comfort zone. So without further ado, as someone born and bred in the U.S.A., these are culture shocks I’ve experienced in Ghana.
Having first come to Ghana in 1998, I’ve seen some things that are no longer prevalent. Since then Ghana has urbanized significantly, and places aren’t as isolated from outsiders as they were before. But let’s just say that public nudity of certain varieties is a lot more acceptable here than it is out West.
I’m talking about two types of public nudity in particular. One is these crazy people who you sometimes see on the streets exposed. This is not a common phenomenon per se. But at the same time, seeing a mad person walking around half or completely naked, it’s like onlookers feel powerless to take action.
In the States, someone like that would usually be picked up by social services expeditiously. One of the disadvantages of living in a country like Ghana, where governments are not as well funded, is departments which are designated to help people lack resources. Or at least that’s the way I see it. Some feel that govvie and law enforcement should cater to such people nonetheless. And in these cases, that seems like a valid point. Seeing a person like that is not only disturbing but also sort of a blight on the entire community, if not nation.
The second type of nudity that I still have to adjust to is that of small children, not babies, in households where they are allowed to walk around naked or bathe in front of others. In these settings, some of the adults may also be less apprehensive about appearing nude.
This is something that took some getting used for me. Growing up in New York, we were not expected to appear naked before anyone, except our parents when we’re like really young. That’s in part because there are a lot of sickos stateside. Nudity is definitely not as taboo in Ghana as it is in the States.
For instance, I once briefly lived in a certain, remote town. How I unexpectedly ended up there is a long, complicated story, like I never even knew the place existed beforehand.
They are amongst the communities within that area that have an annual ritual whereas mostly teenage girls basically walk around topless in traditional garb. As Ghana modernizes, the increasingly-fewer individuals who still adhere to such practices do so more privately. But back when I was in that town and that time came, again without my foreknowledge, I was very uncomfortable. Talk about a culture shock. That’s definitely something that a person has to grow up in to be used to. If you rather come from a culture where bare female breasts are considered sexual, it’d be hard to adjust to a setting where they’re openly displayed.
That’s can even be true when it comes to women breastfeeding, which is commonly done in public in GH. It doesn’t make uncomfortable, but at the same time I don’t necessarily want to see it.
New York is far from the cleanest place on Earth, but at least govvie is trying. In Ghana, the most-prominent public-sanitation organization is a non-government entity known as Zoomlion. And I haven’t been seeing them like that lately.
As far as cultural shocks I continue to experience, filthy environments by far are at the top of the list. Coming across places that are disgustingly dirty is a pretty standard experience in Ghana. It may be overcrowding, like a shantytown setting. But more commonly, it’s something like an unofficial landfill or congested, open sewer.
So I’m not simply talking about pollution caused by discarded plastics, which is a major issue itself. Most plastics, even though they blow with the wind and spread all over the place, can be collected and readily burned. If they’re allowed to lie around and the ground becomes wet, they often end up being buried.as pictured above. Under those circumstances, it becomes a lot more strenuous to collect them. That said, living in an area solely littered by plastics is tolerable. But when the plastics are mixed with all sorts of other things, including dirt, then the need for sanitation reaches a higher level. If nothing else, being surrounded by loose and half buried plastics is an eyesore, at least to me.
Another contributing factors to the proliferation of makeshift landfill is there being a lot of private-land ownership in Ghana. So if garbage begins to accumulate somewhere and the owner is not vigilant against dumpers, the place can turn into a hellhole. You, as someone who doesn’t have authority over the land, can’t tell people to stop dumping there. As such, this phenomenon tends to happen on vacant lots (in heavily-populated areas) which the landowner, often being absent, is disinterested in keeping clean. And that can include government lands.
Overall, based on what I’ve observed, average Ghanaians are more or less apathetic towards garbage accumulation and disposal. The overwhelming majority of people out here do not have the benefit of garbage trucks. So the onus is on the residents themselves to not only collect garbage but also burn or otherwise dispose of it properly.
Even though households tend to sweep their grounds every morning, few take proper garbage eradication really seriously. Higher class localities, where people can afford luxuries like garbage trucks, are usually cleaner. The likes of estates and walled grounds can be kept tidy more effectively.
It’s sad to see at times. You have these areas that are naturally stunning, marred at ground level though because residents are not vigilant against trash. It feels sorta like they don’t appreciate what they have. But the conclusion I’ve come to is that Americans aren’t any cleaner. Rather, our local governments do the heavy sanitation lifting for us. Moreover, the law stateside is more serious, to varying degrees, in terms of penalizing offenders.
In Ghana, you may be surprised by the number of households you come across that don’t have toilets. Or they may have a toilet that so many people are using that it makes you uncomfortable.
Building a house without a toilet is a traditional, not modern, practice. Back in the day, there was a lot more bush around for people to relieve themselves. Also, outhouses as opposed to internal bathrooms was the thing, though outhouses are a lot less common these days.
The compound shown below is a sound illustration of the type residential transition mentioned above. On the left side, there’s a traditional compound house structure, which does not have an internal bathroom. On the right is a newer residence that has been built on the compound, complete with its own bathroom facilities.
Now, a lot of places that used to be bush have become parts of town or cities. In those areas, the option of relieving yourself in the field gradually decreases until it sometimes becomes nonexistent.
I have nothing against going to the bush, when there’s enough of it around. I remember my dad, who was sort of this countercultural Black Muslim, once telling me that it’s better to squat than sit. And based on my experiences that’s pretty much true, unless maybe you’re too sick (i.e. weak) to squat.
Or unless you’re in an area where too many people are doing it. Bushes are most limited in heavily-populated areas. So often, they’ll be more than one disadvantaged person using a patch of bush. When a number of people start using the same patch, it can quickly degenerate into a disgusting place.
In some vulnerable localities, public toilets have been erected. They tend to be most common (i.e. needed) in urban areas where traditional housing still stands. They’re not like the public toilets you’d find in, say, NYC. People use those facilities when they’re on the road, far from home. The ones in Ghana rather are some peoples’ main bathroom.
Let me just say that you’d have to be accustomed to these facilities in order to use one. Public bathrooms that are found in transportation hubs may not be that bad. But as for those the ones located in certain communities, such as those pictured above, they often become sort of these landfills of their own. I personally couldn’t imagine even entering one of these structures. But again, some people are used to them.
This is one of those phenomena that I witnessed in the past but is now outdated. Nowadays, there are a number of ride-sharing apps operational (in places like Accra). Also, public transportation has become a lot more decentralized and affordable with the likes of okada (i.e. motorcycle taxis) and motorized tricylces (like the one shown below). Before, it was only trotros and taxis that were available.
A trotro is what we would call a dollar van in NYC. A van is outfitted with rows of seats, and passengers pay to travel along heavily-patronized routes. Trotros are still common in many areas, though I would say motorcycle taxis especially have helped to relieve the burden.
That’s good, because boarding a trotro can be a very unorganized affair when there are more customers than seats. No one wants to be standing at a roadside or station for hours on end, while more aggressive rivals get to where they’re going. So at the more popular bus stops, where there were a number of people waiting to get on the same trotro, there tended to be a whole lot of pushing, shoving and bumping going on upon boarding.
I don’t see that type of thing happening anymore. Not only are there more commercial vehicles on the road, but the trotro drivers have become more organized
Back when the wrasslin’ was going on, it was definitely a culture shock. When actually in that situation, as an American it’s sorta like you don’t know what to make of it. You see the people are being physically aggressive, but they’re not actually fighting.
For instance I remember this one time around the University of Ghana, these people like totally wrassled this Asian girl from entering a trotro. She was someone who was visibly a newbie and furthermore not as strong as Ghanaians. Once that became apparent, after she was denied a seat and the trotro was about to takeoff, one kind passenger disembarked so that she could get on.
I once got muscled out of entering a trotro, by a woman at that, in Osu. I’m African-American, so it’s not like you can just look at me and be like ‘oh, he’s not from around here’. So I was just assed out, lol.
I could’ve boarded if I were more aggressive. But again, coming from a place like the U.S., it was sorta like why are people fighting to enter public transportation? But there’s a practical answer. If you didn’t, back under those circumstances, sometimes you can left be standing a bus stop indefinitely, as new, hungrier passengers are always entering the fray. So thank goodness, as far as I can tell, that problem has been resolved.
In the States, you can have a neighbor who blasts music everyday like it’s 1999, or others who haphazardly throw dance parties. But in certain areas, the noise pollution in Ghana is on another level.
There’s currently this commercial on air starring Ghanaian football legend Michael Essien. As with others who really excel at the sport, his career has been mostly overseas, in Europe. So the commercial is contrasting his “life in Denmark” with that in his native land. And one of the things Michael dislikes about living abroad is “the silence”. I found that pretty funny, because I’m always trying to tell people how Ghana can be extremely loud.
Some of the worst offenders are churches. I always dread living close to a church. All of that “love thy neighbor” stuff usually goes flying out the window when it comes time for them to do their thing. Some churches have programs where they’re polluting noise throughout an entire week. But it’s all a matter of perspective. Enough people obviously find value for it to be a common practice.
Other regular offenders include mosques (at certain times of day) and drinking bars (all day sometimes). It’s a culture shock because in the West, once a person gets pissed off they can easily file a noise complaint. The police are only a phone call away, and that fact is in the back of the mind of both offenders and neighbors
But in Ghana, it’s not like that. Asking someone to turn down their noise is seen as an even more of an infringement on their rights than it is in the States. So annoyed neighbors only tend to take action under extreme circumstances.
For instance once in Atua, I remember a group of men came and demanded some younger dudes turn down the mega speaker they set up in front of the house on day, because there was elderly people inside. I also remember reading about a church that was successfully sued – I believe in Dome, Accra – by an organized and I would presume more upper-class type of community, that was tired of the disrespect. But in many other places loud music (or preaching) being rendered on a predictable basis, even throughout the entire day, is accepted. Under a victim of those circumstances, it’s hard to really focus on anything that requires serious thinking, as well as to sleep.
I would presume that culture shocks are a common experience amongst people who travel to parts of the world vastly different from what they’re used to. I had quite a few of them in Ghana, mostly in relation to traditional practices. As such, my culture shocks have been significantly mitigated as the country becomes more modernized. Ghana is on the rise, not the decline.
So I’m not crying about anything I’ve experienced. Adjustment challenges persist – in some way, shape or form – to this day. But it’s the ability to endure and understand that has given me the strength to stay and the flexibility to move about dolo.
