Your entry points out the problems so eloquently but I think we do ourselves a great disservice as Ghanaians by pointing out the problems without figuring out a way out. I know how easy it is to point the index finger away from us, I find myself doing it sometimes. However, according to the Ghanaian proverb, while the index finger points away from us there are 3 pointing back thus the responsibility we have as individuals to curve the ball in our favor.

All the things you are speaking to concerning a loss of our culture are all somewhat accurate and are happening. However they are by no means helpless. It's not what "Ghana" ( I don't know what people mean when they say this) can do that matters, it is what you can do as an individual that really matters. I find that it is necessary that whatever we do as individuals about our loss of culture be creative so people can respond and must carry a message of self love and self worth.

Everything down to our education system glorifies western superiority and by so doing creates a sense of inferiority for us. I am not advocating that we do drastic things like suddenly withdraw English as a language spoken in Ghana but we can use English as a means and a tool to carry on our culture. You and I can write books in English about us and how important it is to be proud of ourselves and how it was in the past just like you point out in this blog.

We can write and sing songs, write poems about how we love being who we are and how being us is appreciated and embraced in its authentic state anywhere else. The sad part is we look to the west for even an expression of our creativity when we can develop our own from what we have. Let's return to the Koo Nimo and Co. style of music, AnansesEm written in the "crass" forms. Who says we can't make up anymore AnansesEm, we have creative minds that can. The sad thing is that we have people writing poems and "spitting" it to foreign audiences who applaud but don't know anything about what we speak. We need to find the correct audience--our people!

The only way we can keep the wonderful culture we so love is by showing that we can creatively continue it even with the so called foreign tools we are saddled with. The problem is here but the solution is found when we don't just throw stones in the very glass house in which we live. Blessings!
-B

Mandock, I completely understand that culture is dynamic! However, there are various ways through which culture could evolve: People normally adapt their ways of life when factors (environmental, socio-economic, etc) change. Hence, I rationally don't expect funerals to last as long as 10 hours (in the future) as it's been in the past and even in present days. As more jobs spring up in the Ghanaian economy, the opportunity cost of such cultural events would rise and thus people would be less willing to spend an entire day at a funeral ceremony. On the other hand, culture can change because of misguided copy-catting. This is the one that my article stresses because it's detrimental. It's okay to learn or imitate a good practice from elsewhere but Modern Ghana (or her majority) is now fond of seeing Ghana's traditional practices as inferior to those of the west. Most Ghanaians are caught on to the jingle that if it's best, it must be from the west! This is a major problem because i believe we have some favorable and enviable practices that need to be preserved. Regardless of one's admiration of Michael Jackson (and i am talking to you, Mandock ..lol), the adowa dancers in ashanti region, the atofo dancers in the western and central region, the "palongo" and "koogon" dancers in Greater Accra region, the Agbadza dancers in Volta region,etc are equally skilful. The trick is if we fail to appreciate our own culture, we make it easier for a foreigner to disdain it.

Secondly, most people (except Omanba, lol) didn't like my argument about the deteriorating cooking skills of the modern ghanaian woman. Omanba rightfully questions why cooking should be the woman's job; Mandock surprisingly comments that it's natural and hence not a big deal for a modern Ghanaian woman to not know how to cook. Mandock, to those of us who like fufu and groundnut soup, it's no doubt a big deal. We place lots of weight on good ghanaian dishes. I would therefore address Omanba's question.
Omanba, the notion that women should cook and men should paint is no different from why Ghana produces Cocoa and Japan produces cars. It's supported by the law of comparative advantage which, in simple terms, say that every entity (nation or individual) should specialize in what he/she can easily do. Women are naturally better in home management than men: Women plan better (and that's why my wife does my budget for me; she is from kwahu too so that's a plus!), manage better and cook better. On the other hand, men paint better and are relatively stronger to do the menial jobs like removing trashes, and moving huge items. Therefore, ceteris paribus, men should cook while women should move the TV as last resort. The wife who forces the husband to cook puts her stomach at risk (unless the husband is of course Abocco). It's just prudent to apportion the home assignments on grounds of efficiency. As our ancestors say fe na efe se obaa eretu mirika a, oso ne nufu,na enye se ebe tete agu nti a! (A running lady holds her breasts because it looks nice but not because the breasts would fall off...... I must admit, this proverb is one of the tough ones to translate)

Gyasi K Dapaa

Everybody is got a point in this debate on both the proposing and opposing sides of the issue but the fact remains that when talking about culture we need to look to ourselves first and closer to home before making allusions to other ones. So even in a strictly Ghanaian context we will find out that what used to be a woman's lot in the olden days i.e; cooking, childcare, home economics and all the multitasking that went on was solely because men were the main bread winners and out during the day working their muscles off to bring bread to the home so it was a fair share of responsibility.

But to bring that context to modern day living means it doesn't hold that much water as women are by themselves equal bread winners and financiers of family. Hence for a man to be sitting at home tapping his toes, reading his newspaper or watching football waiting for the woman to come home to cook when he could easily have put the rice or yam to the boil and warm the stew since he got home first is actually inexcusable based on the fact that its a woman's prerogative. Its a different thing if the dish is complex and the man cannot handle it.

Moreover its a bit sexist to think that cooking is for women and painting is for men. That sort of dynamics is a fallacy, for until a woman proves she hasn't got the ability nor strength in her arms to use a paint brush that notion doesn't apply to all. A lot of women paint, chop wood, break stones, weed plots and do a mean job at fixing car punctures and so on.

As for women who cannot cook nor keep house, i still maintain that it is a disgrace and just an aquired taste for laziness and so called social class standing. For what is a woman's worth if she cannot feed her own family nor keep her own house but has to rely on somebody. Is it any wonder that the husbands end up admiring the maid servant instead? A house help is exactly what it says, somebody to help...not the lady of the house. So i would expect any woman no matter how posh they think they are to have a hands on approach to home life. It doesn't make them less of a lady nor a career woman.

Now coming back to the general issue of culture i will agree with GK that we often get misguided and sway off course on ideologies when we do too much copying. Sometimes when in Rome one has to conform and do as the romans do, but it doesn't mean forgetting about your Ghanaian roots and good ideologies (good ones, mind) that shaped you altogether.

But having said that, there are times when i wish a bit of foreign influences will rub off a bit on us because lets face it we do lack a bit of finesse in certain attitudes and could learn a bit from other cultures as well. I guess the same applies the other way round. But Its sad to see Ghanaians in the diaspora do certain things that makes you want to hang your head in shame. For whiles that might not be culturally representational, the observer knows no better and we all get tarred with the same brush

THE CRINGE FACTOR! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT GOD MADE THREE WORLDS AND THAT I COME FROM THE THIRD WORLD. THE ISSUE OF RACE IS GEOGRAPHICAL AND NOT A STATUS SYMBOL AND NEITHER IS MY SKIN BLACK NOR YOURS WHITE.