West Africa

The lost-wax technique involves making and object out of wax, surrounding the wax with clay to make a mold, firing the clay, and melting out the wax, then having a mold to cast the bronze in. The Igbos were the first people to work with copper in West Africa, the Igbos did not know about raising, soldering, riveting, and wire making. They used techniques such as hammering, bending, twisting, and incising. Three places in Igboland have been excavated, revealing hundreds of ritual and decorative…

Nigeria, a country with over 140 million people is located in West Africa. Nigeria has over 270 ethnic groups, each group has its custom, tradition and dialect. Although diverse in their way of live, Nigerians are unified by the language of death. For the sake of understanding, there are three major ethnic groups in Nigeria, they are the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. Although rural-urban migration has caused us to live together, each ethnic group has its designated primary location. Although death…

Sadly, there is no cure for HIV. This virus can become deadly, but does have ways to control it. Without controlling the HIV, a persons T cells are destroyed, and the body can not fight off disease or infections. Where did HIV come from? In West Africa, scientists identified a chimpanzee as the source for HIV. They believe the chimpanzees were killed to eat, and the humans or hunters of the animal were put into contact with infected blood. The blood was infected with simian immunodeficiency…

surrounded on all sides by other tribes like Bini, Warri, Ijaw and etc (“Igbo People History”). The Igbo culture is very dynamic and fascinating and it says a lot about the Igbo people. Village life for the Ibo people is like many other villages in Africa but still unique (“Ibos People”). Ibos villages have anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand people (“Ibos People”). In an Igbo village everyone that live in that village is family. Family is a very important part of the Igbo culture.…

Background In Ghana—like it neighbors—mechanisms such as ethnic tensions, religious, political, and social problems persist. Despite these challenges, Ghana’s post-independence era evolved peacefully without a civil war or large scale conflict. In the past three decades, Ghana develops the enhanced capability to manage conflicting and competing social interests, allowing the country to pursue a peaceful economic development trajectory and a deliberative political discourse. In spite of Ghana’s…

Kory and I met our freshman year of high school. I sat behind him in Ms. Baldwin’s geography class. One day, he had gotten his Discman back from a friend he had loaned it too with the wrong CD in it (how dated is that sentence?!). It turns out, his friend had accidentally kept Kory’s CD and left their Tool CD in the Discman when they returned it. At this point in time, Kory was definitely not a fan. So, after I had sat down behind him and class had begun, Kory decided he was going to doodle in…

Ethnic groups like the Ibos still practice the same customs that they did when they first started. Ibos are located in Nigeria. The people, not just one leader, make decisions. These people are religious and worship multiple gods and reincarnation. Women aren’t always treated equally (“Froiland”). Many of the Ibo people farm. Their main cash crop is yam (“Fourie”). The Ibos practice arranged marriage and polygamy. Sometimes a man can request to marry a woman, or their families arrange their…

The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic minority group that has lived in Myanmar for centuries. Today, more than a million of Rohingya people are living in Myanmar, mostly in the western coastal state of Rakhine. They use their own language, and they have their own culture. However, Rohingya people claim that they have a long historical connection to Rakhine State. There are many conflicts and clashes between the Rohingya and the government, as well as some other ethnic groups in Rakhine. When Myanmar…

Sierra Leone is made up of some very harsh conditions in their country. The living conditions in this country are some of the worst in the world. The conditions, such as the housing, has not progressed in recent years. In fact, the so-called traditional house in Sierra leone is a clay and earth structure with a thatch roof (Henry). The houses are either round or rectangular with a veranda and two to three interior rooms (Henry). The kitchen is most often located outside of the house where the…

chocolate is not sweet and evokes sadness for the children who work in the cocoa fields. Western African countries such as, Ghana and the Ivory Coast supply more than 70% of the world’s cocoa. Food Empowerment Project states that “The farms of Western Africa supply cocoa to international giants such as Hershey’s, Mars, and Nestlé—revealing the industry’s direct connection to the worst forms of child labor, human trafficking, and slavery”(food is power). Over the years journalists have been able…