GHexpat

I always find it funny - for lack of a better word - how historically the American media has depicted Africans as being primitive or intellectually inferior, yet now, in the information age, some Americans      are so intimidated by African fraudsters that some don’t trust any netizen from the Motherland.   I’ll admit that the fraud situation is a lot worse in Ghana than it was a generation ago.   But to help put things in perspective, look at it like this.   In the U.S., disenfranchised and disillusioned youth tend to get into drug dealing in the name of generating income.   But in this part of the world, those same type of people take up fraud, most often via the internet. I was inspired to write this post by a Ghanaian friend who recently told me he came across a video whereas an African-American couple, apparently with their children, decided to move to Ghana, got beat in the head by fraudsters and responded by damning the entire country.   ...

I'm not really the picture-taking type, nor do I believe in randomly snapping people without their consent.  So these are just a few random pics I wanted to share with the public, nothing spectacular if you’re already used to Ghana but may may stand out to those who aren't. This is the main pathway leading into the house of one of my homeys.   For the most part, the compound is surrounded by mango farms.  And there stands a couple of mango trees on the left: This is a mango stand on the road leading into Somanya, a town located in the Eastern Region of Ghana.   The primary economic activity of the town is mango farming.   On this part of the road and especially during mango seasons, these types of stands are everywhere, being managed by female entrepreneurs: On the left is natural tobacco.   I heard that it’s now kinda common in the United States, though I can’t say I remember regularly coming across some while there.   I don’t think the stuff i...

I remember when I was a child, growing up in the 'hoods of New York City, witnessing hordes of women, including my own mom, struggle with single motherhood.  Back then, I was naive and unlearned in the ways of the world.  In fact, it wasn't until I got into the college and began formally studying social sciences that I really came to appreciate how important responsible fathers are to the upkeep of a family. Later, upon moving the Africa, I also began to understand the role that actual patriarchs play.  But even as a child, I was able to gather that something was wrong, that single mothers were under an inordinate amount of pressure, especially financially. In my naivete, I was under the impression that my generation was the first and also would be the last composed of a high population of single-parent children.  My mother, Gloria Hayes, grew up under a committed dad.  Moreover the television, arguably the most powerful form of socialization in American society...

I've been working for a globetrotting Ghanaian homey named  Kojo Enoch for a couple of years now.  He's an internet-based entrepreneur who has embarked on a number of projects, including a YouTube channel called Explore With Kojo .  I recently began assisting him in terms of creating content for that initiative.  And I wanted to use this post as an opportunity to share a short interview video from his channel that I recently starred in, since it in large part encapsulates the mission of GHexpat . That video is titled  "Why I Left America for Africa: What They Don't Tell You About Living in Africa" .  The interview questions were provided by Kojo himself.  I don't want to go into too much detail but rather encourage readers to check out the clip themselves.  What I will say is that it offers some practical advice - based on my hard-earned experiences - for expatriates and others who may be considering an extended stay in Africa: Also, especially i...

I had written before about how one of the most difficult adjustments to living in Ghana has been in terms of dietary changes.  More specifically, the foods I grew up enjoying in the United States tend to be either difficult to find, uncomfortably expensive or outright unavailable in this part of the world. And I know, from chatting with a couple of friends, that Ghanaians face similar challenges stateside.  For instance, one homey from Ghana told me how when he's in the States, he makes groundnut soup from peanut butter. Normally, groundnut soup is made from groundnut (aka peanut) paste, which itself is produced naturally.  Meanwhile, peanut butter is a processed supermarket food, besides being sweetened, thus meaning it's not an ideal alternative for groundnut paste when it comes to making soup.  But you do what you have to do when you're living in a part of the globe you're not accustomed to. PROLIERATION OF WESTERN-LIKE SNACKS IN GHANA When I first came to Ghana,...