Telling The Story (standard:non fiction, 1054 words)
Author: osofoaddo	Added: Oct 30 2002	Views/Reads: 3371/4	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Pleasant Childhood memories of long ago that still linger on.

Most of the people who lived in my village when I was growing up were
divided, generally speaking, into three categories. We were either 
farmers, fishermen, or goldsmiths. According to how far one lived from 
the coast, the fishermen usually lived in the villages along the coast 
and the farmers occupied the villages inland. One could always tell an 
adult's occupation by knowing when that person was not working. 
According to the tradition of the elders, it was taboo for fishermen to 
fish on Tuesdays, and for farmers to go to the farm on Fridays. This 
system made it easy for families to get together with each other. The 
rainy season was the life blood of our community, because all the 
activities necessary for survival depended on the rains. When the rains 
were late, the crops suffered, and when the rains refused to come, 
there was famine and total disaster. It was therefore expedient and 
prudent for families to have extra food in storage and available for 
the lean times. Since there was no refrigeration, most foods were 
prepared for storage simply by drying and or smoking. Fishermen 
exchanged their catch for crops from the farmers in a simple barter 
system. This system worked well unless one of the partners got greedy 
or dishonest, then all hell broke loose and the system would break 
down. These processes had kept the Ga people honest and trustworthy for 
many generations, to the extent that the integrity of a Ga had become 
legendary. This was true, according to my grandparents, until the Ga 
people met the Europeans on their beaches over two hundred years ago. 
The cultural exchange and contact challenged and modified some of our 
traditional ways and values. A notable quality among the Ga people I 
grew up with was their pride, their self reliance and their willingness 
to share what they had, and a commitment to the wholeness, integrity, 
and welfare of all. It was said that a Ga would give you the clothes 
off his back if he found out that you needed it. People looked out for 
each other and were willing to share whatever they had. Not just 
neighbors, but even strangers were welcomed like family. Among the Ga 
people it was said that there were no orphans nor strangers. No 
children were ever rejected and the whole village Was responsible for 
all young people. It took the whole village to raise a child and every 
grown woman was called a Mother and every grown man was called a 
Father. Gas lived like one big extended family. Children had no 
cousins; all cousins were brothers and sisters, and the young men and 
young women were uncles and aunts to all children. All the people 
shared their wealth and all the villagers came to each others' aid to 
fish and to farm. When there was a task to be done, all the people came 
together to help and when one saw something to be done one went ahead 
and took care of it without any questions being asked. Mutual respect, 
care, concern, and reciprocity were the major traditional 
characteristics of our community. As long as there was food, no one had 
to go hungry. However, even in such a community as ours, there 
occasionally appeared a selfish individual who, because of selfishness 
and egoism, did not live or abide by tradition. My mother told me the 
story of such an individual. She began her story with the popular 
saying that if one does not like Kwe's mother then one should not eat 
her food... One fine Tuesday, a fisherman called Abokobi visited his 
relations in our village. The walk from the coast to the village took 
some time, and when he arrived at the village, there was no one at 
home. All the villagers were in the fields preparing for the planting 
season. Generally the Ga people planted their staple foods such as 
cassava, yams of all kind, peanuts (groundnuts), okra, all sorts of hot 
peppers (Gas love hot peppers), spices, beans, and corn (maize) to 
mention just a few. There were peppers, yams and cassava drying outside 
on raised platforms when Akokobi arrived. These were some of the 
ingredients used for the daily meal. After days of thorough drying all 
these ingredients were ground on a grinding stone and then stored for 
use in the daily preparation of food. Therefore, it was very important 
for the drying process to be carefully monitored. The foods being dried 
had to be brought inside every night in order to keep them as dry as 
possible. This became the custom because on the Accra Plains, the 
clouds could quickly became dark without warning, and soon after the 
rains would come. On this fine Tuesday, when it started raining Abokobi 
retreated into the house and waited for his relatives to return from 
the fields. He got hungry but did not find anything in the house to 
eat. He looked outside and saw the cassava being dried but did not have 
the common decency to bring them in from the rain. Soon the relatives 
arrived and after the traditional exchange of greetings and news the 
family asked Abokobi if he brought the drying cassava in from the rain. 
He had the audacity to attempt to defend his lack of concern and 
selfishness by reminding his relatives that he was a fisherman and not 
a farmer. The family asked him to hold on to that thought and they went 
inside and got some cassava flour from their stock and prepared their 
midday meal and ate the meal without inviting Abokobi to join as 
tradition demanded. Angrily Abokobi got up to go without saying a word. 
As he left, the Matron of the family was heard saying to him, "Abokobi, 
now when you return home do not forget to tell the whole story. The 
fact that we did not invite you to eat as is our tradition is only one 
part of the story." And so it has been since that fine Tuesday so long 
ago. When one is asked to tell the whole story, it means to tell the 
whole truth, for the Ga people strongly believe that "the truth does 
not need any embellishment; it can stand all on its own". 

Web Site: Ananse Chronicles 

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