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emilwallner | 1 year ago

tldr, most of technology in rural Ghana was considered magic, like phones and tvs, and the only explanation was that it came from "the white man". The chief had recently died and for most of the time I was the only caucasian person in the region, and i met many that had never seen a caucasian person before. The locals started joking by greeting my as the king, the joke picked up and soon most were greeting me as the king. I always though it was a joke, and went a long with it. However, one day I was summed by the neighbouring regional kings and the elders of the village I lived in. After chatting for 30 minutes in the local language, they were convinced that the dead chief's spirit had entered me and they asked in english, "So, do you want to be our king?", I asked what it meant, one person said, I would be given 4 wives and they would slaughter a goat and pour the blood over me, another said I should ask the king of Sweden what it meant, every person said a different thing. I sat there utterly confused, but thought to myself, yolo. So I agreed. I still feel like it was a dream, a surreal experience. The anointing ceremony was a lot of fun, since many of the people in the village were christians, the dropped many of the accent rituals since they were considered unethical under Christianity. There were a hundred or so people, many of the regional kings attended, they offered me a new outfit, a tunic, carved a chair out of wood that only chiefs can sit on, lots of music, dancing, and regional ceremonial aspects. Here's a pic from the ceremony: https://imgur.com/fNd55hB

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certyfreak|1 year ago

Wow, as a Ghanaian still living in Ghana, I find this to be interesting. Which part of Ghana? preferably the village name. And How long were you considered a chief?

> Most of technology in rural Ghana was considered magic, like phones and TVs I guess that's no longer the case. :)

emilwallner|1 year ago

Close to Nsawam, in the village Darmang, I was the chief for 2-3 months, and when I left they wrote on my door, "Never forget your king Nana Darmang", I don't know if I'm still considered the chief, although last time I spoke to them it seem that way. Yeah, during my time electricity was on and off, and there was no internet or cell connection. These days, many of them have facebook, which was a pleasant surprise.