Afishapa: Christmas In Ghana (standard:Inspirational stories, 496 words)
Author: Peter Addo	Added: Oct 30 2002	Views/Reads: 4263/0	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Here is another way in which Christmas is celebrated in another culture.

"Afishapa" Christmas in Ghana has always been for us one of the most
important and joyous religious festivals. It lasts for many days in all 
parts of the country. It is the time for beautiful Christmas music on 
the streets, on radio, television, and everywhere. As a religious 
celebration the churches start preparing many months before December 
25th. The preparations are so intense that one really feels as if the 
whole country is actually preparing for the birth of the baby Jesus. 
Christmas in Ghana is the time when relatives and friends visit each 
other from town to town and from village to village in all regions of 
the country regardless of their Religious Persuasion. One may see 
people in cars, buses, and Lorries brightly decorated with Christmas 
themes traveling all over the place with the usual Ghanaian Joy. Many 
people try to at least get home by Christmas Eve to visit the Ancestral 
home and to visit with families and friends. 

The traditional Christmas Eve Dinner consists either of a specially
cooked rice and goat or chicken stew or soup and is eaten before the 
Annual Christmas Worship Service and all friends and relatives as well 
as strangers are invited. The food consumed at the Christmas Day 
dinners may include rice, chicken, goat, lamb, and fruits of various 
kinds. There may be mangoes, oranges, pawpaw or cashew fruits. The 
families always brightly decorate the houses with beautiful paper 
ornaments specially made for the occasion. A tree in the center of the 
courtyard is also decorated. It may be a mango tree or a guava tree or 
a cashew tree. Usually the children and the young people in each family 
do this. Not only homes but also schools and neighborhoods are brightly 
decorated with colorful crepe paper while we look forward to the 
Christmas Eve Services at the various churches. 

After the service there is usually a joyous procession through the
streets led by local bands and Christmas Revelers which is joined by 
all. The dancing in the streets may continue till the wee hours of the 
morning. The gala mood continues night after night for a long time. 

On Christmas Day everyone returns to the church in his or her finest new
clothes and the churches are generally full. At the church we hear 
again the story of the first Christmas in all the ethnic languages 
along with the singing of traditional carols in our own ethnic 
languages reminding us of the meaning of the blessed birth of the baby 
Jesus. After the Christmas service young people receive special gifts 
such as special imported chocolate, special cookies, and special 
crackers. They are told that the gifts come from Father Christmas, (a 
carry over from the colonial days). The young may also receive new 
clothes and perhaps new shoes or a diary or a book. Meanwhile, 
throughout the celebration, everyone is greeted with the special Akan 
greeting word, "Afishapa," meaning Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 


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