Improving African Futures Using Lessons from the Past

Making Communities

"Mu kre kee nga chiin?O lelԑԑlԑ na o tolԑԑlԑ na ja na nyu nunu pini mbe kala pe."

"Did you know? Our grandmothers and grandfathers knew how to come together to get things done."

The bonds of family and community are actively made through social activities. These include daily practices like people coming together to prepare and share food or care for children and elderly relatives. Social bonds are also made when people help one another in less frequent activities like building and repairing houses or maintaining communal resources like roads. Ritual activities like those associated with puberty, marriage or funeral celebrations and community festivals are important sites for community making, providing occasions for sharing the wisdom of generations past through stories, songs and dances. Whether they happen on a daily basis or less frequently, these social activities provide contexts for learning and opportunities to practice skills and transmit knowledge between generations.

The character of these social practices has changed over time as Banda area people have taken inspiration from neighboring peoples, adopted new technologies, and as people have come from other areas to settle in Banda. So too do many family and community members from Banda today live in different towns and countries. The digital heritage resources highlighted here showcase examples of how in the past, Banda area communities worked together to solve common problems and the ways in which knowledge and wisdom has been shared among generations through community-building practices.

"O lelԑԑlԑ na o tolԑԑlԑ pre naa muura kͻ mu chin."

"Our grandmothers and grandfathers were storytellers." They conveyed their wisdom through stories, songs and dances.

Storytellers performing at the Banda Heritage Celebration, Ahenkro, 2019

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