Transcript Document

We set off at 6am on thursday morning for the experience of a lifetime
- two nights in Bonwire Kente Village and a night in Kumasi.
Initial opinions about the trip varied from the very excited to the few
who were hesitant because they were missing the opportunity of
another night out in Osu.
Our journey was
long but fun and
we announced
our arrival in
Kumasi (after a
brief lunch stop)
with a visit to
Manhyia Palace
& Museum.
The palace itself is the seat of the Asantehene who is the absolute
monarch of the Ashanti region and people. At the museum we learnt
about the history of the monarchy which dates back to the 1600s. We
learnt about the Ashanti stool and its significance to the Ashanti
people. In addition we explored the famous names such as Otumfuo
Nana Prempreh I whose Queen Yaa Asantewaa was famed for her
protection of the golden stool and the war that resulted from her
defence of the stool – there are statues in Ghana in honour of her
efforts.
Following this we visited the market to do some shopping – so many
people, even more things!
Then onto the rural home stay! Bonwire Kente Village is about 20
minutes outside of Kumasi and is the Kente making capital! Everyone
was dropped off at their house and introduced to their home stay
family. The first night included foufou for some, church for many others
and questions for everyone.
Read about Mary Kate Wheeler’s rural homestay experience:
http://mktravelstoghana.blogspot.com/2014_03_01_archive.html
The next day everyone got to visit the community centre where the
men making the Kente were and we were taken through the history of
Kente making and got to see the different kinds of items made.
After giving into the involuntary urge to
buy things and picking up a couple of
items, we headed off to Ntonso Adinkra
Village. The Adinkra symbols were
originally created by the Akans and
represent concepts or aphorism. They
have now become particularly popular as
elements of fabric design. After a
thorough explanation of the Adinkra
stamp making process we got down to
some stamping of our own.
While we stamped somebody got a free lesson on weaving! After we all
returned to our families for another night.
The last day was spent in Kumasi. We first visited the Kente chief to
learn more about his role in the Kente process. We were welcomed into
his home and into more of the Kente making history.
This was certainly a trip to be remembered!
Written by visiting staff
Jesse Twum-Boafo
CIEE Cape Town Study Center
South Africa